Quick notes:

1.  Arrived at the trailhead parking lot at 11:30 am and the lot was full.  There was parking available at the adjoining camp ground.  FS70 off of Hwy 410 is paved and in good condition.  The right turn off of FS70 to the trailhead is not signed and is ~9 miles once you turn onto FS70 off Hwy 410.

2.  The trail is in good condition.  A super hike for families as there are lots of interesting outdoor things.  At least seven major (and several minor) bridge crossings, lots of creek and lake access points, and interesting forest and canyon views.

3.  No bugs.  Toilets at the trailhead (no plumbing) if you need them.

At our departure time (3:00 pm) the parking lot was only half full.

Trail was great and maintained well. Green water lakes were very beautiful and echo lake very peaceful. Some new bridges have been made to cross the streams/river.

Great day hike. 3 miles to green water lakes. 7 miles to echo lake.

Great trail, nicely shaded. Passed two work parties repairing sections of trail - thanks!

I'm nursing an ortho problem so this easy hike was a perfect choice. We only hiked to the Lost River Camp just beyond the 2nd Greenwater Lake. 

The 9.4 mile long forest service road to the trailhead is all paved and a pleasure to drive.

The highlight of this hike is the lovely old growth forest.  It starts at 0.2 mi and extends to the lakes.  Most of the trees are very old Doug Fir.  They are in the 3-6 foot range, so they're not huge, but the forest as a whole is outstanding. I counted rings on a 4 foot cut windfall and it was somewhere between 450 and 500 years old!

The lakes are small and shallow but very nice.  The first lake has a nice access beach on it's south end near the horse ford.

One very nice feature for July was a near complete absence of bugs. We didn't use repellent and only saw a few flies and mosquitos.

After the hike we drove another 2 miles up the road (mostly gravel) to an excellent viewpoint above the Greenwater Valley.  It is above some very interesting steep rocky cliffs.  This gives you a view of the Greenwater old growth forest as well as a small glimpse of the mountain top area burned by the 56,000 acre Norse Peak Fire from 2017.  This was one of the largest fires in Western WA history.  Apparently it burned most of the forest around Echo Lake which is further up the trail. We are so fortunate that it didn't burn further down the valley to the Greenwater Lakes area!

6.9 mi RT, 600 ft

I spent 8 days exploring Norse Peak Wilderness both on and off-trail 7/8 - 7/15.

This is long and fairly detailed. Please forgive me for not doing a shortened version!

8 days starting and finishing at Greenwater Lakes TH.

Day 1 - 2.57 mi. +529’ -86’ Greenwater Lakes 1176 Late afternoon at TH to Lost Creek camp. Trail and crossings are in fantastic condition and this is a very beautiful, well-traveled riverside trail.

Day 2,3 - 7.53 mi. +3406’ -483’ Lost Creek to Echo Lake via Greenwater Lakes Trail 1176 then south completely off-trail to Airplane Meadow approximately .7 mi. west of PCT. This was the most difficult day of travel I’ve ever had. The Greenwater Lakes Trail to the south side of Echo is great. After hooking around the south end of the lake I headed up what once was Arch Rock Trail 1187 which is comprised of various elk trails that come and go and are made of very soft sand, dirt and a considerable amount of ash through the burn areas. Travel was extremely slow climbing through the giant ashtray and oh it rained for about 36 hours. Weeeeee! The meadow is absolutely thriving with elk, birds, frogs, pollinators, many wildflowers of all colors and the water is incredibly refreshing at the source! Stayed 2 nights in this area with the second day spent mostly in my tent hanging out with the mosquitoes under my soaked rain fly recording birds. A huge bull elk came trotting by the tent after I startled it with human noise. I only heard (and felt) it then by the time I was able to peek out I only saw its big ole butt running up into the forest.

Day 4 - 8.13 mi. +1470’ -3142’ Another epic off-trail day. Airplane Meadow to PCT north to Raven Roost 951 where I shared some homemade cashew butter with a SOBO couple. I then trekked down the ridge to see the lakes below. Three Sombreros, Janet and the other Crescent Lakes are totally engulfed by severe burn and deadfall yet remain beautiful. Scratch camping there though. Turned back towards the PCT and headed south to Peak 6161 where I headed west where the old Tin Shack Tie Through 1165 trail was. Again, the elk are the trail engineers here. Very steep descent down the spine and dropping down into the massive Greenwater drainage. This area is stunningly beautiful with waterfalls, cascades and a thriving forest floor. Continued to traverse west climbing up and down, over and around, into and through more burn towards Hidden Lake. I approached from the north side of the lake and as I popped up over the crest there was a herd of 16 elk enjoying the sunny day in the shallow lake. I was absolutely dead at this point and had to immediately take over the lake. I popped out my camera and started walking towards the lake and the elk all ran through the sparkling water and bunched up then funneled into the forest on one of their main trails. This was an event that I will never forget! Stayed on the north side of the lake. An Osprey was hunting over the lake while two families of ducks and many other birds enjoyed the evening.

Day 5, 6 - 1.95 mi. +1170’ -30’ Hidden Lake southwest along the gorgeous Greenwater drainage. This untouched creek is quite special! Turning south and climbing up into what’s known as Engineer Meadow. Words cannot describe the scene when the meadow and Castle Mountain take over the landscape after cresting at the north end of the meadow. Every footstep in the meadow was placed in thick grass or on elk trails. The micro ecosystems here are sensitive but absolutely thriving. I was able to find a flat spot to pitch my tent on an elk-trampled area at the north end of the meadow. A few massive boulders start to dot the north end and are covered in various life such as lichens, succulents, wildflowers and of course a wide array of mosses. Honestly, everywhere I traveled on this trip was absolutely busting out with life in one way or another. I stayed 2 nights here exploring the area extensively. Again, the elusive elk were constantly moving through the forest bugling and knocking rocks and branches around. Both nights there were coyotes communicating and they were SO loud echoing off of Castle Mountain through the meadow. I was woken by them three times! Another unreal experience and glad I was able to record some audio. Woke up, did laundry with the frogs and tadpoles then headed out to see what sights and sounds were in store for the day.

Day 7 - 6.49 mi. +1265’ -1135’ Engineer Meadow north dropping down along the creek then traversing off-trail up through the burn glancing back at the pristine meadow perched perfectly with Castle Mountain on full display. Wow! I finally met up with Greenwater Lakes Trail 1176 at the top of the bluff and headed west then north through Corral Pass. This section of actual footpath is in pretty good shape. I was flicking trip hazards and removing small trees along the way. I did not explore the campground. Continuing on the road then hopping on Noble Knob Trail 1184 where Tahoma is just BAM… right there in front of you! Trail is in great condition with only a few soft spots on the edge with steep drop below. Had T-Mobile service along the ridge to junction with Deep Creek Trail 1196. Keep going north through junction with Dalles Ridge Trail 1173 then past Lost Lake Trail 1185 traversing then around the ridge dropping down to George Lake. The trail on my route was fantastic. This basin was receiving rolling clouds and eventually became socked in. I decided to camp here at this perfect lake. Heard elk moving through and more coyotes in the middle of the night. Awesome!

Day 8 - 9.39 mi. +702’ -3683’ The morning sunshine scene at George Lake was a masterpiece. I stuffed camp in my pack and took the same George Lake Trail back to the top of the ridge then onto the trail along the ridge to Noble Knob. I had cell service in this area. There is an absolute abundance of flowers, succulents and other mountainside goodies along this trail and then continuing down the south side of the peak to head east on the Lost Lake Trail 1185. I had planned and packed for 11 days but my body said it’s time to go home. I prepared myself for the massive descent back to Greenwater Lakes TH. The trails down were clear and I was able to fly. I stopped and filtered water at Lost Lake while the Violet-green Swallows were showing off their moves feasting on insects. Went on down and stopped at Quinn Lake. Watched the ducks swim in this emerald jewel! The remainder of the hike was spent enjoying open trail and the hard work trail workers put in building steps, bridges, log crossings etc etc etc. Thank you for making this amazing journey possible!

This trip was a major physical challenge off-trail through the burned, cluttered forest but the payoff was wayyy beyond worth it! It was a true spiritual experience. I enjoyed each camp alone and only encountered a few people along the way. If you made it this far, thanks for coming along!

Birds heard and/or observed:
Great Blue Heron in the river on the road to TH
Osprey
Hermit Thrush
Varied Thrush
Dark-eyed Junco
American Robin
Common Raven
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Spotted Sandpiper
Brown Creeper
Western Wood-Pewee
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Townsend’s Warbler
American Three-toed Woodpecker
Steller’s Jay
Canada Jay
Cassin’s Finch (possibly heard)
Chipping Sparrow
Mountain Bluebird
Pine Siskin
White-crowned Sparrow
Yellow Warbler (possibly heard)
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Rufous Hummingbird
Wilson’s Warbler (possibly heard)
Northern Flicker
Clark’s Nutcracker (observed cracking nuts!)
American Goshawk
Fox Sparrow (possibly heard)
Violet-green Swallow
and last on the list is the only Bald Eagle I saw. It was hunting, successfully, along the ridge above George Lake.
There are definitely more species out there that I heard but could not identify. There were at least 4 different Warblers, for instance, as well as various Finches and what I thought was a Vireo of some kind. Oh and I’m pretty sure I spotted a flying Evening Grosbeak. They were all simply perfect!

Other wildlife seen or heard:
Elk - either Roosevelt or a hybrid species. They were huge!
American Pika
Townsend’s Chipmunk
All the squirrels
Coyotes (heard at night)
Lots of evidence of many different burrowing species like gophers, moles, voles and others
3 different unknown frog species and a gazillion tadpoles