Pete Lake, Escondido Lake, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) Section J - Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens Pass & Waptus Pass — Friday, Aug. 11, 2017

Hiked into Pete Lake via the Pete Lake trail.  Trail is in great shape with no blowdowns.  Some annoying mosquitos in places but they weren't too bad at Pete Lake itself.  From there I hiked up to Waptus Pass.  That trail was also in great shape with only one easily passed blowdown.  Very warm and humid.  From the pass I hiked up to Escondido Lake since I'd never been there.  It's a pretty little lake, though shallow and muddy.  Nice flower meadow behind it.

From Escondido I decided to head upslope and catch the PCT to make a loop out.  Initially I followed the outlet, a bit surprised not to find a waytrail or boot path.  A promising game trail led me up the east slope of the valley which worked well enough until the last 200 ft below the PCT.  From there it was quite steep, rocky, and loose in places.  Type2 fun for sure and I wouldn't recommend my route.  Far simpler to just hike over Waptus Pass to the actual PCT and complete the loop that way, unless you're set on seeing Escondido Lake up close.

Paid a visit to pretty Escondido Tarns.  Of note, there are signs requesting people to camp elsewhere than the tarns. There are plenty of great campsites along the PCT with even better views than from the tarns themselves.  Made camp on the ridge with great views across to Overcoat and Chimney Rock.  Bugs weren't bad until the afternoon heat diminished and then were a bit annoying.  Hiked out along a nice waytrail until I got a view down to Summit Chief Lake.  Pretty little lake.  Skipped the descent to the lake and returned to camp to lounge around and enjoy the views.  Smoke cleared up right around sunset for a really nice show!

In the morning I hiked down the PCT into Delate Meadows, crossing paths with a half dozen PCT hikers and several Snoqualmie to Stevens section hikers.  In the meadows it began to rain!  Great to finally have moisture in the mountains again.  I didn't even put on a raincoat since it was still near 70 degrees.  The drizzle became a real rainstorm by the time I returned to my car at the now very full Pete Lake trailhead.