Dark Meadows — Saturday, Jun. 27, 2015

South Cascades > Dark Divide

We hiked from the White Pass CG trailhead to Dog Lake on day hike. There were several LARGE downed tres (6-8) and some required quite a bit of finesses to cross for both humans and dogs. Despite lack of maintenance and the big treets, the trail otherwise was in pretty good condition. The trail starts branches from the PCT a little over a mile form the White Pass CG trailhead (NOT .5 miles from the trailhead as listed in some books--that's an old maintenance/jeep road). Stay on the PCT, cross the jeep road, and then follow to the split in the road--the Dark Meadows trail splits to the right and is labeled. You start the Dark Meadows trail as a slightly downhill to moderate slope, and from there there are a lot of ups and downs along the trail--as some guidebooks list it is relatively flat, it is not. Maneuver around downed trees, but take note in the solitude, we saw no other hikers on this trail the entire day. Dog Lake is a heavily used, campground and lake right on the side of Highway 12, do not expect solitude there, but nonetheless fine for a quick lunch before heading back. As the trail climbs down to get to Dog Lake, expect a bit of a scamper back up for the first .5 miles on the way back. Also, be sure to note the way you arrived at Dog Lake--there is the Dumbell Lake Loop trail and several other small spurs around the start of this trail, but the route on Dark Meadows is marked. Perfect hike for solitutde.