Wow, I really wish my schedule wasn't so restrictive. Due to my restraints, I had to make the 17 mile trip to Spider Gap a day trip! I actually fared quite a lot better than I thought I would, all things considered. Anyway, it's raining heavily now, probably snowing in the high country. So you can't do this hike. Ha ha ha. It appears that our somewhat over-extended autumn is now over. But what a way to end the season!

I started the day by getting up at the god forsaken hour of 4:30 in the morning to get to the trailhead soon after sunrise. I knew it would be a long day. After making good time over Stevens and up the Chiwawa River in early morning light, I hit the trail. This trail starts out as an old mining road and is very easy the first 2.5 miles to the Glacier Peak Wilderness Boundary. The remaining 2.5 miles from here to Spider Meadow seem more like 3.5. They're not hard, just take forever.

Entering Spider Meadow after a long five miles in deep montane forest is like abruptly waking from a long sleep. The sudden openness is striking. As described in guidebooks, the imposing cliff at the end of the valley looks impenitrable. Just continue on. There is plenty of good camping in Spider Meadow. The many sites available just as you enter the meadow are most popular (and disgustingly mobbed). There are a number of other sites in the upper meadow that afford a little more privacy. Undoubtably the best site is about halfway up the valley headwall at a place called Larch Knob. This single site has a fantastic view of the U-shaped valley and surrounding mountains. Don't count on getting it though as there is only one site.

The trial re-enters forest at the upper end of Spider Meadow and resumes climbing moderately. I knew the trail to Spider Gap split with that to Upper Phelps Basin at some point. I was a little confused as it appeared that I was going into the basin. The trail waits longer than expected to split. Don't worry, it's well signed.

Now climb very steeply on an old miners trail (I really gotta hand it to the nutcase who pioneered this route). The grade commonly exceeds 25 percent, maybe even 30. Even though it zig-zags magically between, under, and over cliffs, it is always reasonably safe, well built, even wide. Soon enough, the flat ground of Larch Knob is reached. If the choice campsite on the knob itself is taken, you might be able to find a space in the surrounding area, even on the reasonably flat lower section of Spider ""Glacier.""

Glacier is in quotes because I seriously doubt this year round snowfield is still active. It's only maybe 200 feet wide is some spots and appears to have melted all the way to the ground right in the middle.

I was able to manage the snowfield in standard hiking boots and one trekking pole. An ice axe would be nice but not necessary. I was by myself and the snow was fairly hard (but not icy) and I felt reasonably safe. As soon as the gap is reached you can look up and see the amazing ice devastated austere landscape spread before and above you. I believe this is as close to the realm of the mountaineer that I have ever been.

And good lord was it cold! Most of the hike had been chilly, but here was just plain ass-freezing cold! A very light breeze was blowing and making it even a little worse. Three or four inches of fresh snow remain on the north side of the pass from some time last week. The view includes a beautifully framed shot of Dome Peak directly north. Chiwawa Mountain, the toe of Lyman Glacier and its adjoining lakes are also visible. I really wish I had the time and energy to continue down there, but the day was long enough already. A high imposing spur of Chiwawa Mountain rises directly west of the pass. The neck is severely strained peering up its sheer cliffs.

The trip down was uneventful except for the realization that this could very well be my last foray into the mountains this season. Maybe, I'll take up ice climbing...

This hike is not recommended for everyone. It's extremely strenuous to do as a day hike and even if you do plan lots of time, there's still the difficulties of the trail and ""glacier"" to Spider Gap. The meadows by themselves though would be a fantastic destination for anyone if they weren't so damned crowded. Go on a weekday and it should be ok.

We drove to the trailhead from Redmond Friday morning, hiked 2.5 hrs to the Meadows, arriving a little past noon. Established camp at a wonderful south (near) end campsite on the stream. Day hiked that afternoon to the upper end of the meadows. At the Meadows with us Friday were one couple day hiking, one couple overnighting, and 236 million flies. The water, meadows and mountains were beautiful. Glad we didn't stretch our hike to the far end of the Meadows; campsites up there are not as pretty, some covered with snow, and still have the flies.

The flies go to bed with the sun and the mosquitoes can be chased away with a campfire (convenient, with all the nice fire rings and wood around there).

On the way out Saturday morning we met 42 backpackers, 12 dogs and 6 horses coming in.

Trail into spider meadows is in good shape, some patches of snow right before the meadows. Bugs were pretty bad. After that the trail is relatively snow free. After the trip there were several (5-8) cars that had been broken into. I don't know if this is a common occurance at this trailhead but it happenend on a Monday night. Future hikers beware of leaving valuables in your car. Fortunately for us nothing was taken so now all we have is a repair bill for a new window.:( The flowers were in good shape in the meadows.

The trail into Spider meadow is in great shape,but the flies were horrible.The meadow is snow free. The view from Larch Knob was fantastic, the flowers are just starting to come out.We saw a lot of dear but no bear. Great hike

Cathy and I took a couple of weekdays off work to avoid the crowds at this popular spot. It worked to perfection. There were only three cars at the trailhead when we arrived on Thursday. The trail to the wilderness boundary was pleasant and uneventful. Starting there, however, was the beginning of intermittent snow that at times consisted of four-foot tall drifts to climb over. In addition, there were several big old-growth blow downs that required big detours through the muck. Near the meadow, the snow was pretty continuous and the trail was hard to follow.

The lower meadow itself, however, was completely snow-free and gorgeous. All of the campsites at the start were open. The upper meadow still had lots of snow, and we grabbed one of the few open sites there. We had just one other camper to share the entire meadow with. We had timed our trip to coincide with the Perseids meteor showers and were rewarded with a great view in the big sky over the meadow that night.

Wildflowers in the meadow are late, but there are patches of glacier lilies and anemones near melting snow. The trail to the meadow provided opportunities to identify foamflower, Sitka valerian, Columbia lilies, queen cups, monkey flowers, columbines, violets, pipsissewa, and numerous others.

The next day we grabbed our ice axes and gaiters and headed up toward Spider Gap. The crossing of Phelps Creek was a bit of a challenge with the high water, as were many crossings on the trip. There were still snow bridges, but we didn’t dare try them. Once we made it through the snow in the trees and started up the switchbacks, the trail was open until the top. Once on top, we saw solid snow, many feet thick, all the way down the chute right to the edge where the water falls out. We walked straight up the snowfield, which gave us good footing, and made it up to Spider Gap. We considered going down and visiting Lyman Lake, but the heavy clouds coming over Cloudy Pass looked very uninviting. There were no signs of footprints on the north side of the Gap.

The glissade back down the snowfield was a lot more fun than the walk down the switchbacks. On the way out of the meadow on Friday afternoon we met the hordes starting to come in. The trail through the snow became easier to follow because of all the footprints. We suspect that most of the open campsites will be full by weekend. Weekday camping, if you can swing it, is highly recommended.