Backpack - Packwood Lake

Four of us hiked to Packwood Lake on Tuesday.  The temperature was warm, and the skies were clear.  There were about 8 cars at the trailhead when we left.  We saw three other groups when we were hiking in the 4.5 miles to the trail.   We found a nice camping spot near the lake about 0.5 miles from the bridge.   Three of us did a 5 mile round trip hike up to Mosquito Lake.  The clouds rolled in later, so we were disappointed not being able to see the meteor shower.  We broke camp, and hiked back to the trailhead.  We saw about 6 groups of people hiking in.  It took  1 hr 45 min to hike the 4.5 miles to the trailhead.    The only problem was the wilderness permit.  The notice at the trailhead said that the permits were just past the bridge at the lake.  When we didn't find them, we asked one of the campers, and she said they were up on the trail to Mosquito Lake, but that you didn't need them if you camped at Packwood Lake.  You may want to call the Ranger station to verify this, if you plan to do this backpack.