I horse-traded for this destination at Bellingham’s Boundary Bay Brewery at least nine years ago with a fellow Cascade traveler; he shared one of his secret favorites and I shared one of mine. It languished on my list for years, mostly for lack of a willing travel partner. I finally decided to go on my own, and Labor Day weekend seemed like a good time to get off the beaten track.

Having finally visited this area I think I can safely say that I got the better part of the trade. Jerry lakes is a beautiful basin plopped between two climber destinations, Crater and Jack. This place shows historical but gentle usage, mostly by climbers from what I can tell.

The first day’s effort included 4000’ elevation gain to Crater “lake”, more like a shallow puddle, but the cirque is magnificent. It was here I enjoyed watching a black bear bumble about (cue tuba music) wallow in the lake, and snuffle about for berries. After an hour, the fun ended when the wind shifted. The bear shifted its attention from berries to the delicious smells coming from my 5 day supply of food. As if a dab of peanut butter had been applied to the end of its nose, it began tasting the air with a long pink tongue. If that wasn’t enough to alarm me, it also began to drool profusely. In the side lighting I could see long strands glistening in the sun. I suddenly realized that this trip could end before it had really begun. I announced myself politely thinking that it would run like all the other wilderness bears (2 dozen) I had encountered. As a response it clamped its jaws at me, which I know to be a warning to all pink/soft bipeds. I understood that I could watch this bear eat the food I humped up 4000’, or I could try to salvage the situation. I retrieved the food bags and my trekking pole for a standoff, no yelling, just staring. The bear watched and drooled for another 5 minutes or so, before, much to my relief, it abandoned its notions of freeloading and went back to the business of blueberries. I did hang the food lines higher in case it had ideas of a night raid.

The next day Ceili and I racked up another 1000’ gain on the abandoned lower Crater LO trail. This trail is in good shape and the views dramatic into the rest of the Pasayten. Go ahead, look; you’ve earned every square mile of that scenery. The crux of this route is the descent from ridgeline into the shadow of Crater. There is one place where there is a class III scramble down a short cliffy section. The balance of passage is over a quarry of loose boulders, polished domes, and scree. The mile behind Crater took 1.5 hours of careful stepping. The rock was sharp enough to require my dog’s use of her booties. The glaciers have greatly retreated from those represented on the USGS quads.

The lakes were magnificently quiet, with only two parties of seven climbers passing through. Each afternoon I would watch with fascination as the Pasayten fires exploded into great cauliflower hammers. One afternoon they greatly resembled nuclear explosions rising close to 30,000’, creating their own lenticular caps; silent natural disasters. Another bear rambled about the basin but was never worrisome. There were a few gnats and mosquitoes in the morning mostly. Did not use the tent at all; I think I am ready to switch to a tarp for the balance of this month.

After 3 nights at the lakes we hiked out in a smoky murk, forest incense. The sun rose strangely dim and red, like an otherworldly planet. I found, once back at the TH, that the whole of the Pasayten had been closed due to deteriorating fire conditions.

Time for me to play house instead of mountain man for awhile, eight nights out in the past 2.5 weeks has me really appreciating civilization for the moment. Mmmm, sweet sloth, beer, and modern conveniences…