Horseshoe Ridge - East Zigzag Lookout - West Zigzag Th
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Jun 24, 2017
Very hot weekend (~100F). Went up from Riley Horse camp - Horseshoe Ridge - East Zigzag Lookout - West Zigzag - West Zigzag TH. I spent a night all by myself at East Zigzag Mt., thanks to the remaining snow patches. Good color sunrise and sunset. Can see Portland's lights at night. I didn't bother with rain fly, so I can see the star studded sky from my tent. Mosquitoes were an annoyance.
Except for some spots (see below in condition), trail is nice and soft to walk on. We met one person when going up, who turned around due to snow. I met 1 person on West Zigzag, a couple 30 minutes from West Zigzag trailhead the next day. Even though I know of a group going to East Zigzag on each day, didn't see them. I guess most people were hiding under AC.
Current condition:
1) bridge out from TH. Need to cross on one of the two logs. The one further to the right is more substantial. Two of our group walked over. I sat and scooped over, as I'm top heavy with an overnight pack.
2) snow patches along Zigzag trail (775) below Between Zigzag Mt and Cast Lake. It covered part of the trail, so need a bit of easy route finding. The basin where you turn to Cast Lake is a bit swampy, mosquitos.
3) still a couple of good snow patches on top of East Zigzag, which made my camping possible. But expect it to melt in a week or so. Mosquitos.
4) very few blooming rhodies.