Hiking along the Pacific Crest Trail from the top of Stevens Pass led us to this beautiful mountain meadow. It is tucked away just a little ways off of the main trail. On this last weekend of September the meadow was surrounded in the brilliant colors of autumn. It looks like a wonderful little campground for all those marathon hikers of the trail. A couple of hikers we met had been on the trail from California since early June. They said that this is the most beautiful area they had been in since the Sierras. Another hiker we met was on his way to completing his adventure of hiking the Cascade Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada.
My guess would be this cache is approximately 2 to 2&1/2 miles in from the top of Stevens. Making it a 4-5 mile round trip hike. To make it real fun, plan a day and make it an 8 mile hike. If you leave a car at the Smithbrook Trailhead and then drive another car to the top of Stevens Pass and hike in 5 miles to Lake Valhalla getting the cache along the way. Stop and enjoy the beautiful Lake then hike out the other side and find the Valhalla cache. It will be 3 miles from lake Valhalla to the car waiting waiting for you at the Smithbrook Trailhead. Or you can do it the opposite way. Don’t forget to check out the cache near the Smithbrook Trailhead called Waterlily Pond, while you are there, for a 3 cache trip.
NOTE: You will need a pass to park at Smithbrook Trailhead but you don’t need one for the top of Steven’s Pass