The aim was a dayhike to Golden Lakes Camp, but we started on the Paul Peak Trail - same distance, but the trailhead starts much lower than Mowich Lake, so the final climb out is easier. The weather forecast included possible showers and later, possible thunderstorms, but none of this transpired, so we got foggy territorial views in exchange for pleasantly cool temperatures.
The Meadow Creek bridge (.75 miles in on the Paul Peak Trail) is indeed, still missing, but there is a passable series of stones to cross instead. The main story here is crossing the South Fork Mowich River, which had been putting me off this hike for years because the river keeps knocking out the bridges, thus requiring a ford or an improvised log walk (and you get to do it twice for a dayhike). But this year it appears the South Mowich jumped most of its volume to a side channel, turning the river ford into a hop across a creek.
After you hit the Wonderland and make your way down to the river, there is a clear deviation to the right (west) for a new log bridge that crosses the whole Mowich and puts you out on the rocky, wide channel where the South Fork used to run. The confluence of the two forks is just to the east, and you then ascend to a skinny forested section between the former channel and the new channel (this section is also where the South Mowich Camp is located; its unclear to me if there is any good water source for this camp, so you should probably not rely on any water between Meadow Creek and Golden Lakes Camp; I have no idea if there's any water between Mowich Lake and the intersection with the Paul Peak Trail). After the South Mowich Camp, cross the old channel again, crossing over 2 trickles and a more substantial section of the river, about as wide as Meadow Creek. There's no official bridge here, but there is a very sturdy log or you can descend and make it across with a rock and a hop. The trail picks up at the other end of the log, and from there you start going up.
Almost all wildflowers are in a short ridgewalk after you finish with the switchbacks, and at the Camp, which features at least one nice spot to hang out on the rocks by the lake and eat your lunch. It's 20+ miles roundtrip, and took me about the same time (4.5 hours) there as back, even though there's much less elevation gain on the way back. This was mostly due to fatigue and an ankle injury that makes climbing hard, particularly after 17 miles.
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