Directions: From Seattle drive east on Interstate 90 to Exit 47/ Asahel Curtis/Denny Creek. Turn left over the overpass and proceed to the stop sign. Turn right and travel one-quarter mile to Deer Creek Road/Forest Service Road 58.Turn left, drive 2.5 miles, turning left on the paved road just after the Denny Creek Campground trailhead is at the roads end. Do not block the driveways when you park here.

Trail Notes:We started off today with the destination of Melakwa lake in mind. However as we found out there was still significant snow remaining from the winter. The trail itself starts off quite easy spending the first 20-30 minutes workings its way towards the pass crossing swampy boggs gradually ascending up and under I-90. Crossing under I-90 makes one aware of the amount of engineering that went into the creation of the raised highway which travels for miles raised up hundreds of feet in the air. As you pass under the freeway you can hear the whisper of vehicles traveling overhead unaware of your presence underneath. You also wonder what they are going to do in another 20-40 years when the trees under I-90 reach up towards the roadway.

Moving up passed the I-90 underpass the trail steepens a bit though is still generally easy en route to Slippery Slab where families with children are almost always encountered during the summer months. Supposidly you can slide down the rocks as if you were riding a waterslide though care should be taken to not slide much past the bridge crossing Denny creek as there is a significant waterfall beyond. Glimplses of this waterfall can been had approaching Slippery slab though the vantage is somewhat muted.

Past Slippery slab the main trail takes a switch back along a ridge working its way up the valley. Shortly thereafter the trees yield as one progresses up the valley. It appears the denudation can be attributed to avalanches from the Western slope of the valley. The undergrowth is typical of disturbed avalanche areas and in our case afforded some very nice pictures of wildflowers coming into bloom and many avalanche lilies.

Beyond this the trail picks up a little more steepness (see a trend?) and several more switchbacks are encountered. The trail is somewhat rough with boulders and roots on the trail. On the Eastern corners of the switch backs one can appreciate the route as the drop is precipitous to Denny Creek now far below. If you have children and have traveled this far care should be taken so they don't just run off the edge as that would surely be a one way trip. After about 15-20 minutes of ascending these switchbacks you arrive at a relatively flat area which is were we really began seeing significant snow about 3 feet in depth.

Continuing along the level area quickly arrives at a foot bridge crossing Denny creek which has now risen up to again be along side the trail. The bridge isn't difficult to cross when not covered with snow, but in our case was covered with snow and was a bit of a trick to cross. If there is snow covering the bridge when you are there you might consider just crossing Denny Creek as the water isn't that deep and you can probably find nearby rocks to make the crossing all that much easier.

From here the snow completely covered the trail but one could still find their way as many feet had beaten the path. After about 20 minutes or so you emerge from the trees into the open valley and can see the ridge line (Hemlock Pass)off in the distance. It looks closer and less imposing than it is. When the trail is evident gaining the ridge isn't that much work though it still takes about 45-60 minutes. In the snow with no trail this was a bit more work. As the trees fade you begin to have views back down the valley though Mt. Rainier is out of view due to the valley's aspect. Also it would again appear the reason for lack of trees past the upper crossing are due to avalanches.

The way steepens as you continue up the valley. The trail for us was lost near the headwall leaving the route determination to be one straight up the slope. In places it was steep enough that it seemed like two steps forward and one back. The trail itself has a series of switchbacks which gain the ridge but with snow a more direct approach is best. Also worth consideration is that as you get near to the headwall it is necessary to cross the headwaters of Denny Creek again. The natural geography led us back to the trail for this crossing but the trail itself is quite narrow as it approaches the creek and the down slope is a cliff. On this trip the snow was still about 3-4 feet deep and at a 45 degree angle. Care should definitely be taken approaching the creek. As I approached the creek the snow bank crumbled under me. Fortunately, I had grabbed onto a fir branch in anticipation of something like this. The result was that I was very glad the branch was so strong as it held my weight while I dangled over the cliff. I was able to swing my feet up onto the lip of the falls and move on. Still this area should be treated with care when present.

Beyond this we found our way around several rock outcroppings and once around them made our way straight up the ridge under the cover of many old growth trees. The going near the top were steep enough to require all fours and toe punching into the slope. After reaching the top looking down from whence I came gave pause for concern about how we would get down. So we continued the last couple hundred fee gaining the ridge where upon we had lunch.

The ridge itself offers some nice views into the valley though nothing really outside the valley. After lunch we scouted out some routes down and chose the most appropriate one. As fate would have it not only was it not too steep it was really fun to take flying leaps and land in the slushy snow on the way down. My advice if coming down the headwall with snow would be to go a couple hundred feet West of the saddle and go down from there gradually as to miss the cliffs on the right and get under the cliffs to the East. That said it was a fun hike which would have been better if we had made it to the Melakwa Lake though given the situation we probably chose wisely.