On Friday I headed over to Cle Elum to do my long run. I split the morning between the Pete Lake and Waptus River trails.
I started with Pete Lake. The trail is flat, snow-free, and in great condition. It was a calm, cold morning and the lake was glass. I didn’t see another soul from start to finish, other than my dog Maggie and a few bounding deer.
After Pete Lake, I drove 10 minutes to the Salmon La Sac trailhead, where I picked up the Waptus River trail. I admit I wasn’t expecting much from this trail, and I primarily chose it because it was low-elevation (snow-free) and not too steep (I needed flatter terrain for today’s run).
Waptus River was a pleasant surprise, much more scenic than I expected. The only issue with the trail is the burn area – there are about a dozen blowdowns across the trail, and they were a minor annoyance to navigate with my dog on leash. However, the burn area isn’t very big and all of the blow-downs are small enough to step over or walk around.
Both of these trails are great early-season choices that offer plenty of miles of snow-free trail.
Evergreen Endurance Coaching 
Looks like you are looking west. Four Brothers, Chikamin, and the start of the Lemah group.
Thanks Alexei!
Did you happen to get as far as the Waptus river ford right before Waptus lake? If so, is it crossable? Would like to get to Waptus lake for backpack trip but am concerned about the ford. Thank you for any info you can provide.
Unfortunately I ran out of time about 1 mile short of the ford. Sorry I can’t be of more help on that one!
No problem – thanks for the reply!
I was there in October – that river right before Waptus Lake is totally fordable – you might want to bring sandals/tevas for comfort. With the snow pack as low as it is – i can’t see it being that much worse than it was in the fall.