Spectacular partial loop hike from Salmon La Sac Trailhead along Waptus River trail to Waptus Lake, up to Spade and Venus Lakes, along Waptus Pass trail to Pete Lake and back to Salmon La Sac TH along Pete Lake and Cooper Lake trails.
Camps: We camped at Waptus Lake near the trail to Venus Lake. This area had less of a view than at the SE corner of the lake and was filled with late-arriving PCT hikers, even though it was Monday. It was cloudy and showered that night, so we didn't have much of a view until our return anyway. Camped at a small peninsula about halfway along Spade Lake. We didn't see a lot of camp options, due to the steep and marshy terrain, but there was only one other backpacker, that we saw. We meet women hiking to and camping at Venus Lake, where there are three small tent pads among the rocks. At Pete Lake, we camped among rocks and had a great, but cold dip in the lake, our first night when it was warm enough to consider a swim. The prime spots to the east by the toilet were occupied.
Mosquitoes: Very few mosquitoes. The worst was between Pete Lake and Cooper Lake.
The Waptus River trail is pretty easy, with comfortable grades up and down. While it is not a spectacular trail, the forest had an interesting diversity of vegetation with lower elevation hemlocks and Douglas fir along with western white pine and pacific silver fir. There were also ripe huckleberries.
The hike up to Spade Lake was very steep, gaining 2300' in less than 2 miles. It was made more difficult by about a dozen downed trees over the trail, not counting those that were easily stepped over. But, it was worth it! We set up camp at beautiful Spade Lake and then day hiked to Venus Lake. Venus Lake is a gorgeous alpine lake set below Mt Daniel. The short hike to the saddle to the west of the lake was pretty easy and well worth it for better views of Venus Lake and the surrounding mountains. Women we met told us we could have climbed to the saddle to the east for a view of Circle Lake, but we were on our way down by then. The views of Spade from the trail down were amazing and also at sunset from camp.
The next day we returned to Waptus Lake and then took the Waptus Pass trail to Pete Lake. While the Waptus Pass trail is relatively steep, it is much easier than the climb up to or down from Spade Lake and the trail was in great condition.
The hike out from Pete Lake was easy and we were back to the trailhead near noon. The trail from Pete to Cooper Lake is very wide, with many bridges, likely as it is a popular equestrian trail. While we did not see any horses, we did see recent evidence of horses along the trail. The trail narrows from Cooper Lake to Salmon La Sac and unfortunately seldom provides a view of the beautiful Cooper River. The Salmon La Sac trailhead was packed upon our return with people jumping from the cliffs into the river.
Fantastic trip! We saw a couple of Marmots on our way to Spade lake and an otter in Pete lake. Our favorite lakes were the highest, Venus and Spade, but Waptus and Pete Lake were also lovely.
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