Just like the report from a week or so ago, the trails are in great shape, and the route is easy. We made it to the beginning of Spider Meadow in just a couple of hours (approx. 5.5 miles), and then meandered up the meadow enjoying the sunshine and the wildflowers which were blooming like crazy, esp. purple asters, sitka valerian and cow parsnip, as well as indian paintbrush and columbine. A little way-finding to get across the snow debris from an avalanche earlier this year, and we picked up the trail again and wound our way up to the trail junction for Spider Gap. We turned right instead, and a half mile later we were at the foot of Phelps Basin. A couple of other parties had their tents set up in the lower part of the basin, but we'd heard we could go up to the end of the basin and camp high up on the heather at about 6000'. We made a perfect camp, and didn't see another soul for 36 hours!

Sunday was spent working our way up to the ridge above the Basin, up by Dumbbell Mt. itself. The scrambling was easy, and there were several snow fields to cross but soft enough for just hiking boots. The views from the ridge were spectacular, and we couldn't have had a better day - sunshine, breeze to keep the bugs at bay, warm temps but lots of water and snow to cool us off. Even had a cocktail on snow up high to celebrate the best of our annual Labor Day backpacks!

Sunday night was even warmer than Saturday, with loads of stars shining down on our solitary tent. Despite the many cars at the trailhead, we found some peace and quiet and views galore! Couple of mountain goats and marmots were seen, and only 1 plane the entire time we were in the basin!

Spider Meadow and Phelps Basin absolutely delivered today. Great views, good wildflowers, nice temps and not too many bugs. Except for having my old iphone depart somewhere in the brush along the trail up to Phelps Basin this was a perfect day (black 3gs in a black holster if you find it please leave a comment)

Trail is in great shape. Water crossing are all manageable (poles help), although running much higher then late August normal. There is a big patch of avalanche debris that covers the upper portion of the valley, easy to cross and fun to see so late in the season.

The extra 1.5 miles from the beginning of Spider Meadow up to Phelps Basin is absolutely worth it. Phelps Basin is spectacular.

My buddy Paul and I planned a few months ago to make the Spider Meadow to Holden through hike together. He was going to meet up with friends spending the week there and I was looking forward to returning to one of my favorite places in the North Cascades. Given the late summer we had been watching careful reports coming out of area to determine if the snow was going to melt off enough to make it possible for us to make the trip. Finally about a week ago the WTA reports and some reports Paul got directly from Holden village confirmed the route looked good (Our backup plan to hike the Lakeshore trail would go back on "the list").

We started out at the Spider Meadow Trail Head on Friday Morning around 11am. I know Spider Meadow is popular, but 10 parties had already signed in before us on that day! The bugs heading up were definitely trying to make up lost time with the short summer. We hit the meadow after a few hours and took a site at the south end. Wild flowers were going strong. Most of the snow was melted out save for a big avalanche flow at the north end of the meadow. Given its depth I'm guessing it probably will not melt out this summer. Some parties arriving late on Friday definitely were scouting around for a while to find a site...

Saturday morning we started out for our big adventure, going from the meadow, over the gap to Lyman and down to Hart. After crossing the avalanche flow, we found the trail and started the ascent to the gap. There were a few trees down and patches of snow on the trail beyond the avalanche flow but nothing too challenging to get over. The views on the way to the gap were as always more spectacular the higher we climbed. The trail to the edge of Spider Glacier/err snowfield was clear and good hiking. It was here when most of the day hikers caught us. There must have been at least 12+ people in 3-4 parties heading up.

At the Glacier edge most folks choose to take the more direct route up directly up the snow. We choose to take the footpaths on the east shoulder and were rewarded with some spectacular views of Phelps Basin and Spider Meadow though we did have to cross multiple patches of snow on the ascent. To this point we had only used hiking poles for additional traction/support. The weather was warm and the snow soft so on the ascent I felt pretty comfortable/had enough traction without additional support. At the Gap we decided it was time for additional traction. I saw other folks with everything from full crampons to mini spikes. I brought my yaktrax. On the ascent to the upper Lyman pools I had both yaktrak pop off and didn't even notice as the snow was soft my feet sunk in an inch or two. We found one of them, but sadly someone else is going to end up hauling out the other one (apologies). Some yahoos were using thick plastic as makeshift toboggan and flying down the hill toward Lyman Glacier. I saw some other folks on the Glacier itself without ropes. Not sure if there is much in way of deep crevasses left in the glacier, but those were risks I wasn't interested in taking. For us on a warm day additional traction on the snowfield wasn't needed, but on a colder day where the snow freezes up, traction support would be a must as the trip down to Lyman is moderately steep in places. Also the rock fall danger over the entire snowfield descending down from the Gap to Lyman should not be under estimated. There were plenty of smaller rocks(baseball size and smaller) half buried/sticking out of the snow. I saw at least one large rock fall across the way on the western side of the basin as we descended. I didn't see anyone wearing helmets in these areas. We moved relatively quickly down and out of the danger zone, but I wouldn't recommend staying in the snowfields for long stretches to other folks. Ok enough with the risk talk. The views down into Lyman are spectacular with the mountains, ponds and icebergs. Unfortunately there was a boat the next day to catch down in Lucerne or otherwise we would have stayed the night in the Lyman area. As it was we moved on and down to Hart Lake. The trail down that way is pretty overgrown with annuals, especially the switch back section leading down from Lyman to Hart, but otherwise well maintained. We met a wedding party heading up to Lyman from Holden on Sunday morning. One way that was 9 miles so quite a day hike. After cleaning up at Holden, the bus took me down to Lucerne and out. A lovely long weekend getaway.

Oh, blueberries, we saw plenty of them, but still several weeks away from being edible. Those hiking in Early September will probably be able to come back with proper purple hands...

With clear skies forecast, the three of us took off for a 3-day backpack, leaving trailhead around 11:30 Thursday morning. The hike to the meadows is a fairly gentle 5 miles, nice beaten path, lots of room for the dog to roam freely by our side. Wildflowers and understory plants are blooming along the trail. There are patches of snow reaching the meadow but nothing to write home about.

The meadow is spectacular! Although some flowers are blooming, the real show is probably 1-2 weeks away. Marmots were letting their presence be heard. The first large snowfield is at the far end of the meadow - if you walk directly across it, you'll find the trail again. We then found a nice secluded campsite with good creek access. There are several campsites at the beginning of the meadow - most appeared melted out. Only one other (large) group was camped in the meadow.

Next day packed up camp and headed out towards Phelps Basin. We missed the fork however, and ended up on the Spider Gap route. We decided to keep going since we were planning on day-hiking up there anyway. After a fierce climb, we reached the base of the Spider Glacier and napped, lunched, and lounged on a large rock formation above the snow. We then grabbed a campsite at the base of the glacier - there are about 3-4 small tent sites and what a magnificent view!

We then took of for a hike up the glacier with day packs. The dog thought the snow climb was completely awesome, and it is, it's also steep and slick so stay high along the walls and avoid edges. You'll reach one false summit but don't give up because the view over the Gap into the Lyman Lakes basin is so worth it. You can slide and glissade most of the way back down the glacier in a fraction of time it takes to climb up.

We spent the last night alone on our high perch above the valley. The wind howled and rocked the tent from about 7pm-5am. Although we had the rainfly on for protection, the wind showered us with dust/sand flying in through the tent's mesh walls. Dog of course slept through the whole ordeal. Headed out early in the morning back down the trail and were back at our truck about noon. Couldn't wait to hit up the 59er Diner for a milkshake!

Some other notes:
We originally wanted to descend to the Lyman Lakes and make it a 4-day trip but did not have crampons or an ice axe and in the end were glad we made that decision. We passed a father and young daughter who had come over from that side and highly recommended having that equipment.

We talked with 2 other groups who also missed the turn-off for Phelps Basin. On our descent, we couldn't believe we missed it - it's a fairly large sign sitting there face forward in the middle of the snow! Within a few weeks that snow will melt and the sign can probably be re-erected.

Biting flies on the way up are a major pain - their bite really pinches. All in all the mosquitoes and flies are not swarming, but they are out and I am still feeling the itch. Many fewer bugs at the higher elevations.

Took off our boots to cross only two creek/streams. First one was early in the hike, and is really tiny. Second is Leroy Creek, which is quite beautiful but still moving fairly quickly with water about mid-calf.