Miles: 16.5 miles RT
Elevation Gain/Highest: 3,373/5,230ft
Map: Green Trails Benchmark No 144
My favorite places to stop post hike with friends are: Grilla Bites, Route 2 Taproom and Grazing Place, Good Brewing Company, River House Cafe, Espresso Chalet, Gustav’s, Yodelin’s Broth Company, South, Dan’s Food Market, or just Pack A Cooler. You can learn more about these places in my Must Hike Must Eat Eating Out Guide.
Find out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. Pretty please.
Hike Details:
Meadow Creek Trail to Fortune Ponds and Pear Lake is one of two of my favorite trails as it accesses my favorite places: Pear Lake and Benchmark Mountain. When I first started going here, it was just to Pear. Then, I discovered I could get to Benchmark as a part of the trip and it made it even more lovely. Meadow Creek is a easy going river valley walk up to Fortune Ponds, a tranquil stop in its own right. From here, it is a set of steep switchbacks up and over Frozen Finger Gap to Pear Lake and the Pacific Crest Trail 8.5 miles in. You can scramble Fortune Mountain or over a ridge to Peach Lake or head north or south on the PCT to wherever you might wish to go! Odds are you will find me making a trip here every year…
My hikes:
7/26/2020 (16.5 miles plus 12 more for Benchmark)
A general synopsis of this trip would be an optimistic 3 night trip to basecamp at Pear Lake with a day trip to Benchmark north and a day trip to Grizzly Peak south on the PCT. I lasted two nights with the heat and bugs.
This is an annual trip, whether I hike in from Smithbrook or Meadow Creek. Typically to scout for trail work for the PCTA. This thing called COVID has made all that rather complicated, so I was not technically “scouting” for this trip. A pleasure trip you might say.
Smithbrook was a no-go, so Meadow Creek to Fortune Ponds to Pear it was. No traffic driving up Sunday morning but a whole whopping 6 cars at the traihead. That never happens, I think the most ever has been 4. What was surprising the most was the shear number of people car camping along the road. Wow. Glad folks are getting out, but wow.
Still, no complaining relative to the state of affairs right now. Plenty of room on this trail.
I was hiking a little after 9am and passed a few hikers walking out. I was doing a little math in my head about the cars at the trailhead and who might be left at Fortune or Pear. The trail was in good shape as far as only a few logs down and the usual overgrown meadowed avalanche slopes that last mile before Fortune Pass. The Meadow Creek crossing did not require a ford but the rock hopping was strategic. Lots of streams across the trail and a few leftover patches of snow before Fortune Ponds. Everything was lush and green, wildflowers popping. I stopped for cold water at the stream before the lower pond.
There was a couple camped right next to the lower pond and as I continued on for the switchbacks towards Frozen Finger Gap, I could see another couple begrudgingly ascending in the heat. My guess is to stay ahead of me and assure they had a spot at Pear Lake. I was a little concerned about how many were at Pear myself, but purposely paused in the shade of each switchback turn to enjoy a breeze and keep them in front of me. Age before beauty, right?
Pear was glistening as we descended on the other side. There turned out to only be one camper at Pear but he was in my favorite spot, close to the western toilet. The couple ahead of me took the little spot in the middle which left me the large site closest to the PCT. Great for hammocking but leaves one open to sharing with PCT hikers. I debated continuing on but decided I was done for the day and was soon cooling off my feet in the refreshing water and swinging in the sun.
I did end up sharing the site with 3 other hikers but they were relatively quiet. And for some reason I woke up in the middle of the night just in time to see a large fireball shoot across the sky!
The next day I took a day trip north on the PCT to the junction with West Cady and up to Benchmark Mountain. The PCT had a few spots of snow, especially in that large talus field before it hits the crest on the west side where the snow covers the trail and you have to traverse at an angle. Since the runout is not horrible it isn’t tooooo sketchy but it slowed me down to kick steps in for secure footing. I passed three hikers camped below Saddle Gap who had come in Meadow Creek last night (doing the Skykomish Loop) and the meadowed slope up towards Saddle Gap is just as deteriorated as the last few years. In fact, it now has some good size holes in addition to tread creep and sloughing. I’d be nervous on a horse. There were a few trees down but nothing that couldn’t be climbed over or under.
The trail up to Benchmark was in fair shape and had a few moderate patches of snow covering the trail so I had to keep an eye out for where it came out ahead of me. Like on the PCT, the north side had some snow covering the trail on the traverse before leveling at the base of Benchmark and kick steps were needed.
I walked up West Cady to the west approach and took the straight climb up. No snow here was surprising! Arriving at 10am, it was just me and the bugs at the summit and I drank in the 360 views for over an hour. Periwinkle mountain lupine and magenta heather decorated the top and one of the tarns in the bench below still had snow.
I took my descent on the southeast side on the unmaintained trail as it is easier to distinguish from the top. The brush isn’t that bad, it is mostly the adolescent pines that have invaded the trail making it necessary to step around. Got to remember the Silky next time.
When I got back to the lake, I quickly went over to see if my favorite spot had been vacated and it had. So, I moved my hammock and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. I debated scrambling up to peer at Peach Lake like last year but couldn’t find the motivation in the heat and bugs. The bugs were not Oregon-bad but enough to keep you inside netting. I had bug spray but with the heat it meant reapplying every hour if you did any movement at all! Only one other set of hikers camped that night, a set of three from the PCT.
The next morning I got up to head south with even less enthusiasm. I made it as far as Wenatchee Pass, thought about the climb up to Grizzly Peak, and then turned back for my hammock. Grizzly is amazing but after Benchmark not completely unique. And it was so hot and buggy. There is still a log across the junction with the horse camp but the camp was in good shape. If you are looking for water, it is not the best spot, you have to walk out in quite a bit of marsh to get it. The better spot is just a bit north where you first hear the creek alongside the trail loud and it levels out. It is possible to find a faint boot path (loks like a drain) and drop down about 5 feet to the water.
Anyway, I hung in my hammock at Pear about 3 hours debating if I was going to stay another night or not, I am not really a hang around camp all day person. I decided to pack up and begin my hike out. If Fortune was empty, I might stay there. I could explore the upper pond or scramble Fortune Mountain, or se how far I could get on the unmaintained PCT.
But there was someone camped there (all decked out in netting) and I just decided to call it. The campsites are not as private at Fortune Ponds unless you camp way back before them. Heat alone is one thing and bugs alone are another. But all together it is time to head home. One weird thing, the campsite at the lower pond right next to the shore had a dozen or so planks at it, made into seats. Like 4x2x10 treated planks, not something a hiker would just carry in. Leftover trail maintenance?
I stopped at the new BBQ spot on HWY at Skykomish and devoured their BBQ bowl and sweet potato fries. They had a large open patio and the food was delish!
All-in-all still a great trip, despite the 50 or so bug bites…
10/12/2018, 14.5 miles RT, my GAIA
After spending the morning slogging up the trail to Rock Mountain, I made my way down and over to the trailhead for Meadow Creek and weighed my options. I wanted to get to the saddle overlooking Pear Lake and back again in one night and hopefully get home at a reasonable time Saturday night. So, even though is was already 5:30 pm, I threw on my pack and headed up the trail with my headlamp ready to go. Some habits die hard after miles hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.
I wouldn’t normally do this with sunset quickly approaching at 6:21 pm but I have hiked this trail multiple times and had confidence that if I didn’t make it to the established campsite 4.3 miles away, I would be able to find a stealthy spot along the way.
Meadow Creek is a mellow hike starting out in the forest at just under 2,000 ft, slipping into the Big Sky Wilderness within a quarter mile and then running along the valley wall above Meadow Creek in and out of trees and talus. My worst fear was running into wildlife at this hour so as I donned my headlamp I began talking out loud to anything that might hear me.
I crossed into Henry M. Jackson Wilderness at 2.35 miles into my hike without fanfare. Not sure why I took a picture because I have multiple of this particular sign. Maybe because this time it was in the dark?
I must admit I am stubborn, anyone who has been following my blog for awhile knows this well. In fact, the last time I was on this trail I was persistent enough to lose some skin. But not because I chose to hike in the dark.
So, instead of stopping at a few reasonably flat spots along the way, I made it all the way to the campsite near Fortune Pass at 3,900 ft and 4.5 miles from the car where the trail crosses back over Meadow Creek again and set up camp in the dark. Not a first for me. It wouldn’t have done any good to take pictures so here’s a snap of GAIA.
It was freezing but I had come prepared with extra layers and a down comforter in addition to my sleeping bag. I threw my food bag up on a bear line, also not the first time I have done that in the dark. I was tucked in nicely by 8 pm hoping not to hear anything rustling around me. Last time I was here there had been bear prints in the snow.
I awoke at 5:30 am to crystallized condensation on my tent walls and quickly packed up to hike up to Fortune Ponds. Since I knew I was only going up as a day hike, I left my tent and sleep gear set up in hopes that the morning sun would melt and dry it while I was away. One could hope, right?
Hiking at 6:10 am with headlamp in commission again, I set up through the forest headed into the dark but only for about 40 minutes because the sun was soon coming up in the sky and lighting my way. I was careful at about .3 miles from camp where the trail switchbacks up but looks more like a creek bed. Someone had put down plenty of branches to keep me from continuing straight. Looks like you should go straight, right?
I reached the meadows around Fortune Ponds at 4,750 ft by 7 am, another 1.5 miles from the trailhead for a total of 6 miles up the trail. From here it is another half mile to the junction with the old Cascade Crest Trail and the campsites at Fortune Ponds.
Everything was frozen and crunchy!
This is one of my favorite places to hike into and it didn’t disappoint. Despite hearing faint gunshots off in the distance heralding the beginning of deer season, I took some time to enjoy the painting-like quality of the water’s surface and the surrounding landscape. I also made use of the privy that I couldn’t find last time I was here because it was buried in snow. There isn’t one at the campsite at Fortune Pass.
Now onto the saddle overlooking Pear Lake. I crossed the talus field under the ridge to reach the tiny set of switchbacks climbing up. The view at the saddle itself is not much to brag about but the mountains I could see as I ascended are a great lineup, including Rock Mountain where I had stood the day before. Jove, Union, Labyrinth, Mastiff and Howard lined the horizon as it turned pink with the early morning sunrise.
I made it to the ridge at 5,230 ft a little after 8 am and crossed over and down a short ways until I had a view of Pear Lake. I have to say this is one of my favorite places in the world and even though I was here just in July to watch the sun go down, it never gets old. I enjoyed breakfast before making my way back down to my tent.
I will note here that as I walked through the meadows of Fortune Ponds picking frozen blueberries I was surprised to encounter, the gunshots rang out much closer than before. Even though I was wearing some hunter orange, I found myself calling out to make sure they knew I was there. It was a bit unnerving and I did pass 6 more hunters on their way in before I made it back to my car.
I was back at camp by 10:30 am and most of my tent had defrosted. I stuck it on top of my backpack for the trip out so I could give it a good drying at home. The the rest of my hike was uneventful except for the fact that I could see everything now and there was no shortage of fall colors!
6/16/2017
Starting out on the Meadow Creek trail at 4pm with plans to see how far I could get up to the PCT. I knew there would be snow, so I was prepared with ice axe and spikes, as well as not coming back until Sunday.
The trail was in fairly good shape in the Wild Sky section, mostly huckleberry and ferns beginning to encroach on the trail after snow has melted off. I caught a few glimpse of the sky and mountain at a mile and a 1.5 miles in, otherwise it was in the woods. Startled a bear just after that, only saw his black rump take off away from me.
Snow began in patches on the trail about 3.16 miles in, but there was enough trail to follow for about 15 minutes. After that, the rest of the trail was under snow until the pass at 5 miles in. I tried following the creek as much as possible but after a few deep postholes into marshy goodness that thoroughly soaked my feet, I headed up slope and with GAIA’s help aimed for the pass over streams, washes and downed logs. I knew what I was looking for, a bunch of cut downed logs that my friend Gwen (who wrote the trail description for this trail here on WTA) had helped log out recently. If you ever find yourself off trail, always look for cut logs!
By the time I made it to Fortune Pass at 3900ft just before 7:30pm, I was tired and a bit beat up from having slipped several times in my battle with the slope. There is a campsite here, but it was completely under snow. And when I say pass, there is no view here. It is just where the creek runs the two slopes before dropping off on the other side. I wanted to make sure I got to this point, because this is where the trail takes you up the slope and to the ponds. Missing it could have meant not making my destination tonight and sleeping on the slope of the mountain. I guess I could have stopped here, but I wasn’t quite ready to give in for the day yet. Plus, seeing bear track just a few hundred yards before had me pressing on.
Interesting enough, up from the pass the trail was bare and I was able to be on actual tread for the switchbacks that take you up and start you on the contour trail around to the ponds. If you haven’t been here before, there is one tricky spot about 4080ft where the trail switchbacks up but it looks like just a stream coming down (the water is really coming down ALL the streams along the trail right now).
Soon, though, the trail was gone and I was plotting a course on the wooded slope towards the ponds just trying to stay as level as possible on snow that was 3-4 feet deep. It has begun to sprinkle back before the pass and now it was turning into more foggy low level clouds. I knew that where the slope leveled out the trail was more open, so I kept looking for areas with less trees but the same compass heading. Despite the waning sun, things did start to look a bit more familiar.
Around 8:45pm and almost 7 miles in, I could see the wide open area that is Fortune Ponds. The sight was rather eerie with the dark pines lining the barely melted out pond and dark fingers the only indication of where the water’s edge was. Thankfully, I have been here several times and knew to keep pretty wide. Making my way along the left hand side, I was able to see a bit of trail freed from winter where it ran next to the trunk of the trees.
I made camp here and took up the rest of my journey in the morning (I write about that in the link below). So, the next day my story continues:
There was no trail to follow due to the snow, just my memory from previous trips and GAIA for reassurance (I had Green Trails and Halfmile’s PCT maps in my pack just in case). This was my third time taking this route to the PCT and I knew where it went in general. But if you have ever visited your favorite summer trail offseason, you know snow changes everything. Especially when it covers the gully that usually has tight switchbacks up to a ridge. Water running down underneath that snow makes for hazardous route finding, not to mention a slick ride down if you don’t get it right.
I made my way around and after a few minutes came to gully on my right that looked to be a safe route up. Inside I knew I was just a bit early but there appeared to be a ridge above that could at least give my a clue as to what I was getting myself into. It turned out to be the route to the upper Fortune pond at 4855ft, which was even more ice crested than the one below. It sits nestled at the foot of Fortune Mountain.
What this side trip meant, however, was that I needed to make my way laterally and up to meet the “trail” to the saddle in the ridge above Pear Lake. I already knew that to go up the ridge straight from here would not give me views of Pear. I had a general sense of how to do this, I just hoped the gullies I would have to cross to get there weren’t too sketchy.
So, the next 50 minutes had me crossing over gullies onto treed rock bands, repeating until I was below the saddle I wanted. I eventually made it up to the ridge at 5277ft and the view of Pear Lake that I love. The lake sits at just over 4800ft and had just barely begun thawing out. If you want an idea of what it looks like on the PCT and north of Stevens Pass right now, this is it. The trail from here descends in a few long switchbacks over a large bouldered talus field and circumnavigates the lake to the north towards the outlet where it joins the PCT and runs about 50 feet below where the lake water flows out under more large boulders.
I walked the snow covered ridge back and forth and found a good resting stop to take in the amazing North Cascades. I debated continuing from here down to the lake, but honestly, the thought alone of coming back up was exhausting. I also knew that even if I made it around the lake to the junction with the PCT I would end up stopping there as the trail is a set of steep switchbacks to a gully. There was a slight possibility that section was more thawed out but based on what I was seeing I didn’t think it was worth the gamble. I decided I had already had all the adventure I wanted to by myself. Plus, I still had to get down from here back to camp.
I opted to make my way directly down from here closer to the actual trail. This turned to be pretty efficient, even though I could neither glissade nor plunge step. I didn’t want to run the risk of hitting a tree or postholing into the water I could hear running underneath in several places. I stuck closer to the rock bands until I ran out of room on the gully where it flowed over a cliff band in a waterfall. I, then, hopped over one more rock band to another gully heading down and eventually came out where I imagine the trail leaves the flat pond area and makes its way up to the ridge on the trail. From here I turned west and headed back to camp at Fortune Ponds. For more of this adventure, read What’s A Little Loss Of Skin In Trade For Adventure?
7/24/2016
9/11/2015, 19.5 miles RT
Another quick overnighter after work, couldn’t stop taking pictures it was so amazing. The fall colors made it feel like walking in a painting. The trip started on the Meadow Creek Trail as it follows the creek 6.5 miles gradually up to the set of Fortune Ponds that sit below a pass over to Pear Lake. The Cascade Crest trail once ran through here and I could see the old trail on the slope beyond the ponds.
From the ponds (the trail only goes past the lower one, the upper one sits up higher and I would have scramble up to it), the trail took a steep turn up tight switchbacks another half mile to a saddle below Fortune Mountain and I could see Pear Lake below me with the Cascade Mountain range in the horizon. It was stunning and is now one of my favorite places to view the North Cascades! From here, I took a long switchback over a large bouldered talus field down to the lakeside.
Pear Lake was a little crowded, so I headed to Top Lake off the PCT and was rewarded with silence and solitude as the sun went down. Except for the lovely deer roaming my camp.
I xplored the outlet for Pear Lake the next day and scrambled up Fortune Mountain on the way back, probably would have been better without the full pack and if there had actually been a trail to follow. The more popular scramble route starts down at the ponds but I left the trail on the switchbacks below the saddle and followed drainages to the ridge.
There were nice views of Peach Lake and Glacier Peak and quite a bit of a scramble on the way down but I did get to explore the upper Fortune Ponds because of it!
Directions: From Everett drive east on Highway 2 for 50 miles, turning left onto Beckler River Road. Continue north for almost seven miles to the end of the pavement and a three-way junction. If you cross a bridge over Rapid River, you’ve gone too far. Turn right onto FR 6530 and proceed for almost 5 miles to the TH on the left side of the road. There is room for about 3-4 cars on the right hand shoulder just past the TH. You will need a Northwest Forest Pass.
Editor’s note: I wrote up a more detailed hike guide for Washington Trails Association, you can find it here.
For more hikes in the area, visit my HWY 2 page!
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