We did a 4-day/3-night loop from the 4th-7th of July, heading up the Shetipo Trail to meet the Garland Peak Trail. We followed the ridge with a climb of Rampart Mountain on the way, dropped down to Larch Lakes, further down to Myrtle Lake, and exited via the Entiat River Trail.

ROAD: Long, but managable in a normal car. There were a few bumpy/rough spots, but most of the road was in good shape. Outhouses were clean and stocked. NW Forest Pass/America the Beautiful for parking.

We parked at the Entiat River TH and walked back down the road to the Shetipo Trail near Cottonwood Campground to kick off our loop.

SHETIPO TRAIL: We crossed paths with trail reporter westcoastpj who wrote a detailed report for this section so I won't add much. Only one of the blowdowns was tricky for short-legged me, and I had to take my pack off and hand it to my friends so I could get over it.

Water was quite prevalent, and we filled up where the creek was last marked as close to the trail on Gaia at 5,500', but our last water crossing on this side of the ridge actually ended up being higher up at around 6,000'.

UPPER MAD RIVER TRAIL: From the pass, we headed down this trail for a short distance until we found a flat meadow/campsite at around 6,150'. There was a small stream (Three Creek on Gaia) running through this area, and we decided to set up here for the night. Bugs were horrible, and a cloud of mosquitoes followed us wherever we went.

My friends hit up Chickamin Ridge in the evening while I stayed in camp.

GARLAND PEAK TRAIL DAY 1: Long story short, this trail could definitely use some love and maintenance! If you head here just expect route-finding, off-trail travel, the usual obstacles (burned areas, blowdowns, brush, loose ground underfoot), and limited water.

We backtracked to the pass and headed up the Garland Peak Trail in the morning. It started off well enough, but eventually the trail started becoming fainter and less-defined. The theme of the day eventually became a game of hide-and-seek with the trail, with some sections of decent trail, other sections where there was maybe an idea of a trail, and lots of times where there was simply no trail, and we just ended up going cross-country, especially through the multiple burned areas. 

There was no running water on the ridge, and no snow patches until we got higher up (over 6,600').

We eventually reached a saddle at 7,300' close to where the Basalt Ridge Trail intersects on the map (I don't recall seeing the actual junction though). There was plentiful flat space to camp in the open, but we ended up climbing up a little bump just next to the saddle in order to camp near some trees as the wind was whipping and the saddle area was completely exposed.

There were numerous snow patches here and we melted snow for water.

We had great views out over the valley and of Devil's Smoke Stack and Garland Peak from camp, and the giant plume of smoke from the fire by Lake Chelan. Bugs were not bad this evening, as the winds were strong - strong enough to keep me from sleeping well, as numerous gusts shook my tent for hours.

GARLAND PEAK TRAIL DAY 2 & RAMPART MT: We left camp in the morning - bugs were worse now as the winds had subsided - and continued up the ridge towards Rampart Mountain, the trail still fading in and out.

We dropped our packs at 7,280' and headed up to gain Rampart's SW Ridge. It was a pretty straightforward climb along the ridge to the top with some minimal boulder-hopping, and a small snowfield to cross near the summit. There was not much room on the summit itself for hanging out.

After enjoying the views for a little bit, we returned to our bags and continued along. We eventually managed to pick up the faint trail as it descended a thousand feet (it was not exactly where it was marked on Gaia though, which was also a theme for this trip).

We finally crossed a creek shortly after we entered the Glacier Peak Wilderness at 5,850', (creek marked on Caltopo but not on Gaia) and we luxuriated in the access to running water, had lunch, and filled up on H2O, as we knew the trail was heading right back uphill shortly.

And uphill we went after lunch, up up up the brushy trail, climbing up to 5th of July Pass. The trail did start improving greatly at this point - we had a little trouble picking it up in the steep scree section just past the pass, but there were actually cairns to follow, and the closer we got to Larch Lakes the better and easier our navigation became. 

There were some snow patches to cross - the largest being over a stream crossing - but none of them posed us trouble without traction.

LARCH LAKES: We eventually reached Upper Larch Lake and found a nice spacious campsite for the evening (yes, the bugs were also horrendous here). One of our crew took a dip in the lake, although there weren't really any great entry spots - one had to wade in through grass/mud.

We left camp in the morning and hiked down past the Lower Larch Lake (there were also nice camping spots available here, but less of a view). The trail out and down was hot and exposed down the switchbacks (this section would definitely be rough to ascend on a toasty day), but thanks to the recent trail work it was pretty cruiser, and the views of the falls coming out of Larch Lakes were lovely.

MYRTLE LAKE: We took the connector trail to Myrtle Lake, which was also in good condition with a few log crossings to get over the creeks. We walked down to the far side of the lake to check out the campsites, but since the lake water levels were high (thanks to the beaver dam) and there was no great water access for swimming, we decided to just hike the rest of the way out instead of spending a 4th night here. Surprisingly enough, there weren't really any bugs at Myrtle though!

ENTIAT RIVER TRAIL: This was a hot, dry and dusty exit, an unremarkable several-mile slog out through the burn. We had meant to have lunch and fill up water at Anthem Creek but didn't realize it was further east than marked on the map, and we ended up stopping for our break before we reached it, whoops.

Once back at our car, we headed back to the Cottonwood Campground where there was good river access for dip in the cold water - much welcomed after four very hot, sweaty and buggy days on trail!

This route was a good choice for solitude - we only saw two people on day one, and four people on our last day out. There were a couple more peaks along our route that we didn't have time to climb - Devil's Smoke Stack, and 5th of July.

For more photos/adventures: follow along on Instagram! @thenomadicartist 

Road 6510 to the Basalt Pass trailhead is in good condition and should be ok for all cars. From the trailhead I went up the steep and often brushy trail and eventually connected with the Basalt Ridge trail and went right. 

This ridge trail has some ups and downs, going in and out of burned areas, with lots of views and wildflowers. I accidentally took the spur trail down to the meadow camping area. 

Back on the ridge trail I connected with the Garland Peak trail. Coming up to the saddle and seeing the Devils  Smoke Stack was amazing!  

From here to Garland Peak was a bit challenging. The trail starts off good but then disappears and was not much to follow. Using GPS and Gaia I took off from where the trail showed on Gaia and headed from there to approx. SW direction from the summit. I picked my way through trees, dirt patches and some snow which was easy to cross with no scary runouts. 

This is a great hike to a beautiful high alpine area with pumice basins, steep meadows covered with wildflowers, larches and amazing views!

11 miles, 8 hours, 4,400’ gain. 

To provide some context, I am an inexperienced backpacker, but I am hoping to make more trips out there.  I was looking for something closer to home (I live in Wenatchee) that I could bring my dog and had cool destinations to look at, so I settled on Ice Lakes, Mount Maude, and Larch Lakes.  

I had to call a few audibles on the route, so Mount Maude did not happen this time due to weather at Ice Lakes and me realizing that there was no way my dog was going to get up it safely.

Started out the morning of Wednesday August 23 with the intention of a single overnight.  Left the Entiat River TR at 6:15 AM.  The Entiat Trail was new for me, so I found the burn area interesting to look at.  The trail surface is a sand like material.  I learned later, its because the fire burned so hot the organic material that burn pretty much turned into moon dust, so its a combination of that, ash, and sand.  Its walkable but does feel like a beach.  It is very flat and easy to navigate.  I could see how it could get boring if you did it frequently.  

In this first stretch, I ran into two USFS trail maintenance employees.  They were very helpful and informative about trail conditions. I then made it to the turn off (about 8.3 miles) to Ice Creek  / Ice Lakes in a little over 2.5 hours.  It was not super clear where to cross the river and there are a couple of little finger trails to camp sites, but you can see the trail across the river.  There was no maintained river crossing, so shoes and socks came off to wade the river.  Where I crossed, it was briefly up to my knees but low current.  Still ice cold though.

Ice Creek trail is less maintained.  Easy to still follow.  Through the burn area when it starts, growth is taking over the trail but its easy to still find your way.  On the way up, I was trying to find Pomas Creek trail, but there is no signage and no visible trail.  I had my Garmin GPS which showed the trail, but I could not find anything that resembled a trail (more on this later).  

Ice Creek is relatively flat with a slight incline for the first three miles or so.  Then, it becomes a scramble straight up.  It was worse than I expected with Asgard Pass type vibes, but with less of a trail.  There are cairns on the way up to follow.  If I would have known what my plan was going to be, I would have stashed my overnight bag in the woods below.

Finally, made it up to Ice Lakes.  I thought it was pretty incredible.  It was raining slightly, Mount Maude was in the clouds, and I could tell it was way too exposed to try and conquer it that day with my dog.  So, stopped for a lunch break there, and headed back down.  Down actually seemed easier, which is sometimes not the case, but I thought I had good footing all the way down.  

My plan was again to find Pomas Creek.  Headed back down Ice Creek, I ran into two other hikers.  They advised that a ranger told them that it had pretty much returned to nature and there were 30-40 down trees, so I knew I didn't want to deal with that and following GPS points.  It sounds like higher up, the trail is more passable but through the burn area it would be bush whacking.  

Crossed the river again, headed back south on the Entiat Trail until the turn off for Larch Lakes.  It was about 3:15 at this TR and I wanted to camp at Larch Lakes for the night.  The trail up to Larch Lakes was my least favorite.  Pack horses have destroyed the trail, and it also suffers from the moon dust consistency.  I was also tired, so this also probably didn't help.  Its fairly steep in places but not a scramble like up to Ice Lakes.

Right near the top, I ran into two cowboys and about a dozen horses coming back out from setting a camp at upper Larch Lakes.  I decided to set up camp at lower Larch Lakes because I was the only one there.  There were a couple easy camp sites to chose from, so I took one easiest to a water source.  Made camp and called it early as Day 1 was a 25 mile day.

Day 2 started with frost everywhere.  Made a rookie mistake in leaving my shoes outside and was greeted by a layer of frost on everything shoes included.  Thankfully, I did have pants and coat which made things nicer to start.  Went up to Upper Larch Lakes to start and immediately saw this is the lake you want to camp out.  Much more impressive and more areas to choose from.  Walked around the lake, greeted the campers from the horses (it was like glamping over there, campfire, kitchen set up, multiple tents) and continued up Garland Peak trail.  

This trail was a surprise in that it was awesome.  Great view points, good trail surface and a lot of variation which made it more fun.  I hiked about two miles until I came to the intersection with Cow Creek.  This trail is also much better than Larch Lakes as there is no horse traffic (I would recommend accessing Larch Lakes this way - its longer but better).  Cow Creek has great view points, the meadow below, and good footing all the way down.  Stopped again at Myrtle Lake for a snack and so that the dog could swim, and then headed back out to the Entiat Trail.

The four miles from Mrytle to the Entiat Trail TR were a little rough.  My feet were in bad shape, the sand surface seemed a lot softer and I had to stop multiple times to shake out my shoes.  Perhaps the morning before, there was still enough moisture in the sand to make it firmer from the night.

Still, it was not terrible and finally made it to the parking lot at 11:30 am or so.  The parking lot had grown from 1 other car, to about a half dozen cars but you don't see anyone out there.  I also ran into one of the cowboys from the evening before coming back with his horse to go look for a bear he saw the night before.  So, its that kind of country up there.  We had a good talk and he knew the area very well and gave me some recommendations for other trips.  

Overall, the Entiat feels very raw but is still close to home (for me).  I want to make more trips up there and hopefully tackle some of those peaks or maybe coordinate a point to point trip where I end up in Holden and take the Lady of the Lake back out to Chelan.  Good weather, no people, and lots a fun stuff to look at, and importantly for me, I got to bring my dog.  Looking forward to next time.

Cow Creek trail is in great shape up to Garland Peak trail. Water available at 1 mile above Myrtle Lake and at Cow Creek Meadows. Only a handful of trees down and all easy to navigate. Sections are steep and hot due to no tree cover, but views are outstanding. Water source just past the junction with the Garland Peak trail and next source at Upper Larch Lake. No downed trees on this section.Larch Lake trail has a few downed trees and one jumble of several trees but again easy enough to get around. Was unable to find the connector trail from Larch Lake trail back to Myrtle Lake though the junction is obvious enough on the Myrtle Lake side. Forge or logs exist at the Entiat River for crossing. Saw very few people at the lakes along the length of the route. Camps at Cow Creek Meadow and  lakes.

The good weather stretch seems like it will never end. Hiked to knoll (7338') just N of junction of Basalt Ridge and Garland Peak trails. Great snow free spot to soak in the 360 amazing views of everything from Rainer to Stuart Range to Monte Cristo to Glacier to Dome to Maude and Fernow.

Road is quite good shape. Trail to Basalt Pass in good shape and buggy. After Basalt Pass at around 6000, lots of blow downs to navigate, but manageable. Intermittent snow on ridge at around 6200, but easy to avoid or walk on. NO bugs on ridge when terrain opens up. More snow on Garland Peak trail. Early for flowers, but a few nice patches of anemone and avalanche lily. Surprised a bear hanging out in the snow on the ridge - he bolted. Couple of marmots.