Windy Peak Loop, Windy Peak, Horseshoe Basin, Middle Fork (Toats Coulee) & Boundary Trail - Pasayten — Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025

Horseshoe Basin area is beautiful and the expansive views to the west are great for sunsets. We only saw one solo backpacker and a group of 2 people and 4 horses. The trail is within the 2006 Tripod Complex fire zone for the majority of the hike (essentially anything on trail that is south of Sunny Pass). The trails are sun-exposed and dusty, but in good condition and easy to follow. There were several large blowdowns with established paths around them, and just a couple blowdowns that required stepping over. For a Pasayten Wilderness trail that previously burned, the trail is very well-maintained. No matter which direction you approach Horseshoe Basin from, you will need to pass through large burn areas.

Road: Paved until 100 yards before Windy Peak TH, then it becomes gravel. Road has sporadic minor potholes and easily passable in a sedan. Overall, the road is in good condition until Windy Peak TH. We were the only car here. Long Swamp Campground was empty (and quite small). The toilet was clean and had toilet paper.
Several groups were camping near the Middle Fork Trail TH.
Watch out for cattle on the road especially around corners. We encountered cattle several times in the road.

2 Days, 1 night; 28.3mi

Route:
Start: Windy Peak TH
Day 1 | 12.7mi | Windy Peak Trail --> Windy Peak Summit --> Sunny Pass
Day 2 | 15.6mi | Sunny Pass --> Boundary Trail (towards Louden Lake) --> Armstrong (Boundary Monuments 103 & 104) --> Boundary Trail --> Sunny Pass --> Boundary Trail (southbound) --> Connector trail (westbound) --> Middle Fork Trail to TH --> Windy Peak TH
End: Middle Fork Trail TH (with 3.6mi road walk back to car at Windy Peak TH)

Trail Notes:
- There are a few established campsites in the trees near Sunny Pass
- Unable to find the summit register at Windy Peak
- There is a slight trail change on Middle Fork Trail at junction with Clutch Creek Trail that moves the trail downhill and slightly west. The trail is not up-to-date on all maps, so don't be confuse if the trail deviates from your map a bit here. It will merge back with the original trail route after ~200 yards.
- Basin Creek Trail Junction at 48.939, -119.974 for Chewuch River. There is a pink ribbon on the junction sign with the following message: "Basin Creek is clear to #510 Chewuch except for 150 yards of trail before ridge end @ 6800' Need to log it out. Passable to patient hikers. C.G." (See Christian Gustafson's report from July 4, 2025)
- Clutch Creek Trail appears faint and unmaintained (from the Windy Peak Trail & Clutch Creek Trail junction). Not sure what the rest of this trail looks like.

Water sources are drying up and a bit limited this time of year.
- Creek near north of Sunny Pass at 48.96501, -119.93734 is flowing very well. This is the best water source we found and used it multiple times.
- Horseshoe Creek at 48.98077, -119.93946 is flowing really well.
- Louden Lake still has water in it, but is low. The nearby meadow ponds also have some stagnant water.
- Small creek north of Windy Peak near 48.94061, -119.96748 is flowing, but is low and difficult to fill up from.
- Creek near 48.94963, -119.96527 is stagnant and looks dirty. We did not want to fill up here.
- Creek near 48.95588, -119.95729 is flowing well, but hidden in brush and bushes.
- Creek at Horseshoe Pass at 48.97928, -119.93514 is flowing.
- Clutch Creek at 48.92827, -119.91245 is flowing.
- Smith Lake was not visited, so not sure on how much water is left.
- Lake north of Windy Peak at 48.93728, -119.96750 was not visited, but appears to still be full of water.