I did this hike from the Salmon la Sac campground, where we were staying 7/12 - 7/15. It was surprisingly difficult to find the trailhead, but finally found it by following the dirt road that goes past the horse camp.
This is a fairly steep trail (felt similar to Mt Si), rocky in places, dusty in places, but overall a very satisfying hike and I saw ZERO other hikers on the trail (there was a couple who started out with me, but apparently turned back shortly after starting). Being there on a Tuesday probably contributed to the lack of other hikers, but even in the snowy areas there were few obvious signs of recent hikers.
1085 Cooper lake
The hiking book warned of fast waters potentially at the creek crossing, but as you can see, it was no big deal (despite mid-July and hot temps).
1088 "Major" crossing
1090 First views
The following two descriptions show the limit of my knowledge of alpine flowers. Anyone know what these are?
1094 Lavender flowers
1095 Pink flowers
The ridge top of this hike is very "ridgie", with steep dropoffs to either side. (I love trails like this, at least when they're not slippery!)
Wow can't believe there is still snow up there this late in the season. Jolly Mt. is a great viewpoint but you still get plenty of nice views up high on the trail anyway. BTW the first picture is of Cle Elum Lake, not Cooper.
Wow can't believe there is still snow up there this late in the season. Jolly Mt. is a great viewpoint but you still get plenty of nice views up high on the trail anyway. BTW the first picture is of Cle Elum Lake, not Cooper.
Whoops! Thanks for the correction regarding the photo.
Yeah, I was surprised by the snow on the final part of the hike ... but then, given how much snow I've been running into lately, not very surprised.
Yes, the views, especially towards Mt Stuart, were great.
I looked over to Jolly from Sasse last summer and made a mental note to get up that one sometime. Good photos and nice to know it's still not melted out like so many other destinations this year.
I had trouble finding the trail out of Salmon La Sac too a couple years ago. But once you're on it there's no problem following it. Thanks for TR and the reminder of a great hike.
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