6/12, Saturday. Headed out Seattle before 7am. We went very slowly on the gravel road, as her car is brand new. At the Chatter Creek trailhead, O.K. took great care to cover our camping gear in the trunk, so nothing is visible. About 6-7s in the parking lot, which can fit ~20. Elevation ~2600'. A handwritten sheet of trail report at the signpost: mosquitoes are out!
This trail, even though the same area as 4th July trail 2 weeks ago, the flower here is bysmal in comparison. 3 tigar lily in bloom near the trailhead (a few more in buds later on), saw 3 fairy slippers later. Paintbrush is not bad (yellow, orange and red). Some lupine and balsamroot. The trail is not close to the creek. At ~4400', crossing Chatter Creek is a bit tricky. Close by has a few campsites.
Patchy snow started ~5000'. Less mosquitoes then. Flatter, a few down logs. Thanks to the footprints, we never got lost. Once above the trees (~5500'), saw a couple running down. Sunscreen.
Around 6400', we followed the footprints west traversing the slope, instead of going up the regular Chatter Creek trail north which we didn't see footprints. We got to the pass west at around 7050'. The view here is very good, windy. I was quite hungry by then. So we sat behind the rock and I consumed a sandwich.
Going down the west side is a bit sketchy. Snow was thin at times that I could see the dirt. (On the way back, I stayed a bit more north with deeper snow.) I down climbed with ice axe on my right hand, and left hand digging into whatever snow I could find. Thankfully, only about 100'. Then traverse a somewhat steep slope, but with good footsteps. O.K. didn't bother to put on micro-spikes (she even brought crampons, but didn't use any).
Around here, we met a group of Seattle Mountaineers (5 people) coming down. Inquired the condition. There's a short rock pile amidst snow field. The very top are rocks. O.K. went on one, and realized it's not the highest. The rock is an easy short scramble, it is grippy. We left ice axe at the base of the rock.
The top doesn't have much room, but enough for 2 of us. There's a registry, and O.K. signed it. Took many photos. Her new phone has much better lenses.
Coming down the same way. Met a group going up. Below the pass, we continued north continuing on the snow slope, hoping to find a way to Cape Horn. We scrambled to a different pass. It's steep on both sides, and no footprints we could see below us on the regular trail (~500' below). It was 5pm, so we decided to head back. Met a couple going up, saw 2 tents in the woods later.
There are actually two different camps right by the trailhead parking lot. One can pitch at least 4 tents, the one closer to the creek is smaller. It stayed dry all day, until the next morning.
6/13, Sunday. Drizzled a little in the morning, off and on. O.K. wants to stay low. We tried Icicle Creek trail. 
First, the road to the trailhead has Black Pine Creek flowing over the pavement. No wonder, the parking lot was empty. At the signpost, a piece of paper showing the broken bridge at mile 1.5. We decided to go take a look.
The trail doesn't see Icicle Creek at all, until this camping area just before the view point of the confluence of French Creek and Icicle Creek. The bridge over French Creek is indeed in bad shape. Doesn't look safe. We returned.
Next, we hiked Icicle Gorge loop. We started at Rock Island Campground. There's a portable water spiget close to the road. 
Saw a group of friends walking over the bridge in T-shirt and jeans in light drizzle. Other than 2 umbrellas, one girl had a shopping bag on her head. We crossed the bridge (Icicle Creek Road), took the north bank east first. Half a mile east, at its junction to the NFD-615, has a good patch of paintbrush.
There are many bridges along the loop, tiny ones that are completely unnecessary. The red bridge over Icicle River on the east end is a very nice one. The gorge is not very gorge-like. Pleasant enough, and easy walking. Quite a lot of people, including kids. 
There's a nice over-engineered lookout on the north bank, where we took a snack break. The trail on the south bank goes right by the road twice.
Got back to the car a little after noon. Headed back to Seattle. We stopped by my camp 2 weeks ago. I forgot my towel on the tree. But didn't find it. On this drizzling day, we took Hwy-2. Not much of a traffic jam. I drove, and O.K. took a nap. She woke up at the red light at Gold Bar, and saw the sign to Wallace Falls State Park. So we went there. It was raining a bit more. The parking lot was nearly full. It happens to be a free day. The powerlines were making more noises. Only went to the first lookout. It was raining harder and harder. I drove home, arrived around 7pm. O.K. continued south to her home.
O.K.'s photos.
