Perry Creek & Mount Forgotten

Perry Creek is a beautiful fall hike with a taste of winter thrown in. The short but steep trail (8 miles round trip, 3200' elevation gain) begins under the sheer cliffs of Mount Dickerman's west face, a nearly 2 mile long avalanche chute between the trailhead and the falls. Few evergreens grow here, swept away by annual avalanches and occasional rock slides, but the alders and vine maples abound, dappling the trail with yellow, orange, red and gold, and expansive openings reveal views of Big Four, Hall Peak and a half dozen waterfalls across the valley.
A good trail procedes over stable rock on a gentle grade at first, gradually steepening in the second mile until you reach old growth forest at Perry Creek falls. Just past the falls is a creek crossing, partly on rocks, partly on a large downed cedar log, easy today but it could be tough if the creek was any fuller. Stepping on the partly submerged rocks, the water came within an inch of my boot tops. If your unsure, it might be worth putting on gaiters to keep the very chilly water out.
From here, the trail begins to climb steeply up the side of Mount Forgotten. Although easy to follow, it is a root and rock strewn path that keeps your eyes focused on the trail, just as well since the views have vanished, but it's worth stopping now and then to examine the large trees above and the interesting fungi below. Try not to get discouraged at the steep slope that seems to go endlessly up.
After gaining 2000' in the next 2 miles the ridge is finally attained. On this late October day we reached snowline at about 4500' elev., and found 2 inches of snow dusting the top. Great views here of Dickerman, Forgotten, Big Four, Hall & Stillaguamish Peak's. Another 300' gain in less than a quarter mile brings you to Mount Forgotten's meadows, but any wildflowers were long since bloomed and burried under snow.
If the creek crossing was a bit dodgy on the way up, be sure to keep an eye on the weather as this small, narrow creek will fill up fast in a heavy rain.

Deer Creek Pass & Kelcema Lake

About 50' from the very popular Kelcema Lake trail is the trailhead for Deer Creek Pass, a .6 mile, 300' elevation gain stroll to a ridge with views of Three Fingers, Liberty and Big Bear mountains. It's easy to overlook. We went past it at first, thinking the trail was a small eroded watercourse. Turns out it's both.
The small bridges and puncheons look like they were installed around 1960, and I'd guess that's the last time anybody other than the occasional trail user thought to maintain it, so it's safer to avoid the crumbling bridges and slick, slimey puncheons than to use them. Be sure your boots are laced up tight too, because there are some deep, boot sucking mudholes that are hard to avoid on the first half of the trail.
(Note to any interested parties: it wouldn't take much to rehabilitate this trail, which would help relieve some of the pressure from the somewhat overused Kelcema trail. This would make a great Eagle Scout project, or a nice opportunity for WTA volunteers who aren't athletic enough to tackle a backcountry work party).
The second half of the trail is wider, less brushy and with only a few small blowdowns as it switchbacks quickly to the ridge. Just before reaching the top I saw flagging tape and a sign for the "Helena Mine Trail", an informal trail marked off by someone (the ranger said a Boeing engineer) with a sense of adventure & history, but I didn't have time to explore it as grandpa duty called this afternoon.
For the curious and intrepid, there is also the Saint Louis Mine along Deer Creek just 100 yards or so downhill from the parking area, and the Bonanza Queen Mine about 2 miles up Deer Creek Road from the Mountain Loop Highway. Look for a wide spot on the left with a "what the duece?" brass plaque on a rock among the bushes and follow a faint trail a few hundred feet to the mine.