5 days’ freedom and perfect weather amid world-class scenery and peaking wildflowers. No need to carry water; abundant everywhere. High Pass is still all snow; ice ax required, crampons too if it freezes hard; Spider Gap likewise. Much more snow than usual, rendering the landscape more beautiful and varied, and the travel easier if you are skilled at alpine snow travel. Bugs more abundant than normal. I did not treat any water. I’ll post a followup if I get sick.
Future readers: 2011 is a record-snowpack year; water, snow, flower, and insect conditions described here are more like late July-early August, and bear no resemblance to ordinary Septembers (dry, no bugs, no flowers, carry water).
My guess: weekend of Sept 10, 2011 should still be amazing for flowers.

DANGER, PLEASE NOTE: I brought crampons, not strictly necessary WHEN THE SNOW WAS SOFT, but taking them was a good call: if it freezes hard –- it soon will -- they will be necessary, and ice ax too of course. On the trail south of Buck Pass east of Pt. 7276, and on High Pass itself, I saw several people equipped with nothing more than poles and light hiking shoes crossing steep snow that I considered lethally dangerous. Yes, it was soft and easy; yes, there were steps; yes, many other people had crossed safely, but these people were oblivious to the fact that they were on deadly terrain. I watched a young couple with light shoes, single poles, and a dog, crossing several steep snow tongues on the east (Buck Creek) side of the High Pass trail that I wouldn't dream of crossing without an ice ax, alert. The runouts were 100+' onto steep scree and boulders. I broke my ankle in more forgiving ground. PLEASE! Whenever you venture out onto snow, LOOK DOWN. Where are you gonna land if you slip? How fast are you gonna be going? You think you're gonna arrest yourself with a hiking pole? Forget it! My ice ax and training didn't do me any good. I only went 20'. 20' more, and I'd be dead. It happens JUSTLIKETHAT. Whenever you venture onto snow, especially hard snow, think: Mouse. Cheese. Trap! Don't make us read about you in the paper.

Expect hunters:
The Chiwawa region is a favorite of hunters ancient and modern. Bear season starts Aug. 1 (remember the Sauk Mt. tragedy). High Buck Hunt in this area is Sept 15-25 this year, if I have it right. Be aware of this. Get yourself some safety-orange gear. Good time for a hike in a national park.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/regulations/hunter_orange/
http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01184/wdfw01184.pdf

Little Giant Pass:
Ford is unusually deep for Sept: almost knee-deep. Bring old shoes to throw back across (weight with rocks). A wooden stick is nice. Between Chiwawa R and Little Giant Pass, a thorough trail crew has done everything but bridge the river. Nice job, thanks. Even in much drier conditions, there is water at the bottom of the high meadows.

Little Giant Pass to Napeequa:
brushy, steep, but serviceable, easy to follow; it's been the PCT detour.

Napeequa valley:
Lovely, but I'd never want to camp here in bug season. I’ve always seen bears and/or bear hunters in this general area. Unmaintained, but not enough trees for blowdown problems.
The usual route to High Pass crosses N. Fork Napeequa and ascends to the lovely hanging valley in a steep but short, moderate bushwhack. Nice camp at the outfall.

Louis Creek High Route to High Pass:
We took the Louis Creek High Route to High Pass. The ascent to the hanging valley of upper Louis Creek is very steep meadow, ice ax all the way (yes, on steep dry meadow). Amazingly, the 25 lb. dog could do it (minor help). I would not ask a dog to go down this way; descending is much harder on their backs. Start a few hundred meters left of Louis Creek. It's almost all alder-free. Night 1 at the Berge-Buck col amid larches on a pumice dome. The whole unusual landscape is blanketed in Glacier Peak pumice.

Al claims first ascent of Buck Mt. by a tricolored Pembroke Welsh corgi on a September Saturday without supplemental oxygen. It's an easy scramble. Try to do it in conditions like this, with lots of snow – if you can still ford the Chiwawa. Or try it on 6" legs.

High route from Buck Mt. across Berge col to High Pass is fairly straightforward (in good viz; see photo) and the snow cover makes it easier (ice ax required, as always). From the col south of Berge (the summit SW of marked Pt. 7948), drop SW, then W to 6800’, then traverse N as high as possible just under the rock buttress guarding the High Pass outfall. This year only, there’s so much snow that with ice ax/crampons, it looked like one could climb this steep 6840’-to-7040’ section above the High Pass outfall on snow, a straight NW–SE line from Berge col to High Pass outfall. I did not do this.

High Pass:
Night 2, solo bivvy site on sand and rock right at the top, grand view in calm weather, Napeequa and Glacier Pk right in your lap. Also a very exposed windy tent site in the notch to the south, sand, fairly low-impact. Don’t mess this place up. No trace.
I weenied on Napeequa Peak – looked too much for the dog – that’s not all I blame on my scapedog.
High Pass is all snow this year. Triad Lake is not even fully melted out yet. I used crampons here, maybe not strictly necessary if you’re good on snow – it was getting soft – but had it been hard, crampons would have been necessary.
I saw people crossing with hiking poles, almost certainly unaware of the danger. There’s a steep spot there. I crossed it last year with mountaineering boots and a bamboo pole, and it was scary, steep runout onto rocks. Although it can sometimes be almost snow-free by September, this place is an accident waiting to happen.

Mt. Cleator 7625’:
A 10-15’ walkup from the south end of High Pass. Not to be missed.

Pt. 7276:
Also a fine view. Take it easy with your feet, don’t trash it.

High Pass to Buck Pass:
Allow lots of time for this even when meadow flowers are not peaking; world-class views east and west slow you down more than blackberry thickets. This area was one of A.H. Sylvester’s favorite places, for a reason. If you go to Buck Pass, DO NOT SKIP THIS. Go south as far as you can, but don’t cross the steep snow E of Pt. 7276 unless you know you know what you’re doing.

Middle Ridge Sheep Camp:
This place gets dry in September, so I loaded 5 L of water at Small Creek, and humped it up past stream after stream after stream until I dumped it in disgust at the sheep meadow amid rushing brooks and waterfalls. There’s a 5-star campsite at the 6400’ saddle, but the higher you go, the better it gets. Follow the fence of trees to 6480’, 6700’, 6800’. The views get better, the campsites smaller.
From the sheep camp meadow, we went gingerly straight NE up lush steep meadows to the lip of the moraine at 7400’, 2-star campsite with 5-star view and nice rock furniture (just S of an obvious huge sloping flat rock). We spurned this for a 0-star climber’s bivvy on top of the 7530’ knob (oval contour on the 7.5’ topo) with a 6-star view (5-star scale) of Berge to Shuksan, Glacier Peak right in our face. No water; melted snow <kindly restrain your laughter>. Warm, dead calm, no tent, utterly clear, early moonset, dark enough to see Andromeda Galaxy with naked eye, one of the best nights ever, higher than Helmet Butte. Hunters at the 6350’ sheep meadow had a fire on a night when I scarcely zipped up the sleeping bag at 7500’. Go figure. They were shooting in the morning.
Check this out if you like high country. Just a steep walk. Lip of the moraine in a magnificent cirquelet between two nearly 8300’ towers. This is Pt. 8297, the unnamed(?) NW spur of Fortress – the stupendous thing you see from Miners’ Ridge Trail or the PCT. West of the divide, it would be a major peak. You’ll not forget this place. It faces SW, looking right up the upper Suiattle valley to Tenpeak and the Kololos. See photo.
I didn’t look closely, but there might be a way around the knife-edge cleaver to the SE at maybe 7200, possibly ascend NE to the 8200’ ridge from there. That’s for climbers.
"East of the Divide", Chester Marler; he talks about the sheep herding and lots of other neat stuff. "Tales of a Western Mountaineer", C.E. Rusk.

Miners’ Ridge Trail:
Just above the cabin ruin, find the miners’ trail that climbs rightward. This will take you to the main adit, still open, very dangerous loose mine-dump terrain. Bright blue-green-turqouise copper minerals lying about. There are also 3 filled shafts or adits due N of the cabin ruin. See the 7.5’ USGS Suiattle Pass topo. All portable artifacts already stolen, but please take no souvenirs.

Cloudy Pass:
Night 4 at the pass, 6440'. Bugs (!) at dusk, dawn, but vanished with cool breeze at night (I had no bug net; this was our lowest camp). There is water just below the pass on either side. No significant snow, trail well-maintained, some beautiful rock work. One year, I humped water up here from Lyman Lake, only to find water flowing in the dry-looking meadow SW of Cloudy Peak (campsite there).
A better choice: climb high on the SW shoulder of Cloudy Pk, as high as you can go. There is a small bivvy site up there with jawdropping views of Glacier Peak, Dome, North Cascades, Bonanza, Chiwawas. Cloudy Pk is a walkup scramble except for a Class 3-4 dog-unfriendly chimney at the top. Remember, dogs are stupid about rockfall.

Lyman Lake:
I took a photo of the trail sign at the junction, didn’t read it, and took the wrong turn. Trail to upper Lyman looks like a social trail, compared to what you’re used to at this point.
Then I did it again.

Spider Gap:
NW side, snow from about 6500’ to top. Soft snow, might be difficult if hard, but runout seemed OK and not too steep. I used crampons for traction on the ascent, not really necessary. S side, all snow to the knob camp at the Spider Glacier terminus. NOTE: the place to hang out is not Spider Gap, but the level 6960’ ridge SE of it, less than 200’ lower than the gap, like a North Cascades version of Canyonlands overlooking the huge Phelps Ck cirque.
Somebody took a sh!t on the rocks right at the best viewpoint at Spider Gap, so I got to clean it up. C'mon, you're not gonna start a forest fire if you burn your buttwipe at 7200'. If you can't burn it (SAFELY) or pack it out, stay home, I'm tired of you. At that barren elevation, it can be best to do a "desert smear" on a south-facing rock and let the sun bake it -- but don't do this at one of the most popular spots in the sate, OK?

Phelps Creek:
At the first stream below Leroy Ck, note the concrete mining ruin, maybe the foundation for a Pelton wheel powerplant? I believe there are two adits on the other side of the river. I think the Glacier Peak Mines (on Plummer Mt) and the Red Mt Mine (Trinity) are discussed in "Discovering Washington’s Historic Mines", Oso Publishing, vol. 2 – the one I don’t have yet. Recommended.

Phelps Creek TH back to Little Giant:
A 4-6 mi. road walk, stretch those tired legs, kinda nice with a moon and a dog. One might stash a bike at Phelps Creek TH.

Beats a leash walk around the neighborhood.

After the boat ride up Lake Chelan to Lucerne and the bus ride up to Holden Village, we hiked up the Railroad Creek trail a few miles to Hart Lake. The trail was in fine shape, and the fishing was pretty good at the inlet near the established camp on the NW side of the Lake. The bugs weren't too bad here, but beware the pesky deer!

On day two we hiked from Hart Lake to Lyman Lake. The trail gets a bit brushy up the Crown Point switchbacks, then patchy snow starts about 1/2 mile before reaching Lyman Lake. The camps at the north end of the lake are partially melted out. The large campsite on the NW corner of the lake, just before the trail starts climbing to Cloudy Pass, is totally melted out. We cross-country camped near the inlet at the south end of the lake. The lake is still too cold for decent fishing, and the only apparent surface feeding activity was in the north part of the lake. The mosquitoes are thick throughout the Lyman Lakes basin, all the way up to Cloudy Pass.

On day three we took a side trip to Upper Lyman Lake and Spider Gap. This area was almost completely snow-covered, but there are some nice patches of ground melted out for camping up there and the lakes/creek are mostly melted. The ascent to Spider Gap was fine without an ice axe once the sun softened the snow.

On day four we headed over Cloudy Pass, then up over Suiattle Pass. We were able to stay roughly on the trail despite plenty of snow. A bit of routefinding was necessary on both passes, especially on protected north-facing slopes above 5500 feet. The mosquitoes let up almost immediately after crossing Cloudy Pass. We dropped down from Suiattle Pass to the Miners Ridge turnoff, and mostly left behind any significant snow at the Miners Creek camp (melted out). We were glad to find the Miners Ridge trail almost completely snow free - what a spectacular stretch of meadows in the mile before dropping into Image Lake! This area really lives up to it reputation! Quite a bit of snow (not steep) is encountered entering the Image Lake basin, but the backpackers camps are totally melted out. The lake was still ringed with snow, and the fishing was no good (still too cold?).

On day five we returned to Suiattle Pass and headed down the South Fork Agnes Creek trail (not the PCT, which stays above the valley floor for several miles). The trail was in pretty good shape, but there are some areas of brush, water, and blowdown when crossing the avalanche chutes upstream of Hemlock Camp. These weren't bad enough to cause any route-finding issues. The fishing was a bit slow on Agnes Creek at Hemlock Camp, as the creek is still pretty high and cold.

On day six we continued down Agnes Creek. The trail was in fine shape and the huckleberries were ripe as we approached 5-mile camp. Plenty of bear activity in the area around and downstream of 5-mile camp. We didn't have any trouble with bears in our camp on Pass Creek, but we encountered a bear near the camp at the West Fork Agnes Creek trail intersection, and another bear just after crossing Pass Creek. We continued to see plenty of tracks and scat all the way to the Agnes Gorge bridge.

My 13-year-old son and I left early on July 26 from Trinity toward Buck Creek Pass. Unlike reports from a year ago, the trail is in wonderful condition. The route through the tree blow-down is all cleared. We ran into a WTA trail crew (thanks volunteers!) at about six miles. We reached the pass (9.6 miles) at about 4 PM. Contrary to the reports that we received from rangers warning us about lots of snow at the pass, there was hardly any to be seen.

Since there were several camps of people already there, we hiked the short, steep mile further down to a small campsite by Small Creek feeling weary after what seemed like a long warm-up day.

The next day's hike of 8.5 miles or so to Suiattle Pass and on to Cloudy Pass was exhilarating with views west to Glacier Peak. Seemed much easier than the day before. We dropped down beyond Cloudy Pass to a campsite area with a view to Lower Lyman Lake below. The camp was in the midst of a marmot village. The marmots were very active and uninhibited by our presence. I am not sure who was more entertained, us or the marmots. The mosquitoes were out in dense swarms. Our lemon eucalyptus oil repellent was only marginally effective.

The next day we had a short hike of about 5.5 miles to Hart Lake. Met both US Forest Service personnel and NW Youth Corps members working on trail maintenance. No wonder the trail is in such great shape! We set up camp in the site on the west end of Hart Lake and enjoyed the afternoon relaxing and swimming. Although the black flies were numerous, they were much less intense than the mosquitoes the night before.

We left early on the fourth day and covered the 4.5 miles gentle walk down to Holden Village, by 11 AM on July 29, just in time for lunch!

Duane and I both had this area of the Glacier Peak Wilderness on our "to do" lists. So we chose a loop route and waited for the weather to cooperate.

Our intent was to start at the Phelps Creek trailhead, hike through Spider Meadow, over Spider Gap, down past the Lyman Lakes, west over Cloudy Pass to the Pacific Crest Trail, then south over Buck Creek Pass, following the Buck Creek Trail all the way to Trinity and the Phelps Creek Campground, concluding with a 3 mile road walk back to the Phelps Creek trailhead. We allowed five days, with several optional side trips: the base of Lyman Glacier, the west side of Lyman Lake, Image Lake, Middle Ridge, and Flower Dome.

Due to our personal schedules and the weather, our first day on the trail coincided with the opening day of deer hunting season. We left the trailhead shortly after a young man carrying a rifle on his pack.

At 3.4 miles is a junction to a trail heading up Leroy Creek. A paper sign was posted on a tree a short distance on that trail. I inspected and found that it warned of a wildfire in the Leroy Creek basin. Unfortunately, the sign was not dated.

We continued on another 1.5 to 2 miles to where Spider Meadow opened up. There were numerous campsites here, mostly occupied by hunters. We chatted briefly, then continued on toward our intended camp at Larch Knob, near the base of Spider Glacier.

At the end of the open meadow, the trail started climbing and we started looking for the trail junction that would lead us west up to Larch Knob. At a campsite along the left side of the trail, we saw a path leading west and took it. It broke out of forest in a jumble of rocks below a cliff, and became too faint to follow. This is NOT the trail to Larch Knob. Back on the main trail, we soon found a signed junction and the real side trail, which climbs steeply along a cliff face to Larch Knob, where there are a few gorgeous camps overlooking Spider Meadow.

We discussed our options for getting to Spider Gap. I had trekking poles but no ice axe. Duane had neither. We had read that the route over the Gap was doable without either, but we were exercising caution. We watched others traveling the glacier route, and by morning had decided to try that route.

Even though Spider Glacier was still partially shaded, it was not icy, and made for a nice ascent to Spider Gap. As the top is a small bowl, with Spider Gap straight ahead. The best route however, is to ascend the lower saddle to the right, then follow an obvious path that contours around to the Gap. (See photo.)

Through the Gap, the views opened up to the entire Lyman Lake basin, and beyond to Bonanza Peak. The north side of Spider Gap is loose rock. The trail soon divides, with one route heading north and maintaining elevation. We had read about the existence of a miner's trail and this appeared to be it. We dropped our packs and followed it a short distance with our cameras, to take advantage of the improved views.

Laden with our packs again, we dropped quickly through the rocks and gravel to a chute of ice. It was here that the trekking poles would come in handy. We were able to avoid the ice most of the way down the chute, taking care to avoid ice hidden beneath a slurry of rocks and mud. But at one point, we had to cross a 20-foot slope of ice. We each used a pole for insurance in making this traverse.

Later in the day, we heard from other hikers that the previous day a man had fallen on the ice and had to abort his trip to get stitches in his badly lacerated arm. Don't underestimate the danger of this section.

Once down in the basin, we spent a considerable amount of time exploring along the shore of the large lake and photographing ice caves at the base of Lyman Glacier. The respective sizes and shapes of the lakes in the basin looked nothing like those on my 2004 Green Trails map (Holden - #113). We had both seen photos of Lyman Lakes before our hike, but we couldn't match our memories to the reality. It was clear that this area had changed dramatically in recent years.

Our research had indicated that there was water within a half mile of Cloudy Pass, but we weren't sure where. We talked to some hikers headed the other direction and confirmed that Cloudy Pass had good camps, with water nearby. So we decided to camp there on night two. By the time we dropped from the upper basin to the north side of Lyman Lake, clouds had come in and a wind was creating a chill. While stopped for a snack, we opted to forego a side trip along the west side of the lake to Lyman Falls. Instead we continued up toward Cloudy Pass.

Approximately a half mile before Cloudy Pass, the trail opens up to a large meadow. The pass is visible in the distance. Before long, the trail passes by a creek that had a good amount of water flowing even in mid-September. We did not stop, and regretted it 15 minutes later.

There were nice camps at Cloudy Pass, but we had passed the only water source. It was only 3:30 in the afternoon, but we wanted to take a side trip to Image Lake the next day, and did not know of another camp site between Cloudy Pass and Trail 785.

Ultimately, we decided to take our chances and press on. It started sprinkling the moment we left Cloudy Pass, and we had second thoughts. But when the rain held off, we moved on. We took the Trail 1279 shortcut, with its pointless ups and downs, to a junction with the PCT south of Suiattle Pass. From there we continued to the junction with Trail 785 and the side trip to Image Lake, without seeing any place to camp.

We decided to continue on 785, and quickly came to an old miner's camp. Hikers coming from the other direction assured us that water was only an eighth of a mile west. The site was buggy, but we were tired and willing to tolerate it.

It rained overnight, and everything was damp in the morning. We lightened our packs and set out through wet bushes on our side trip to Image Lake. On the way there, the fog lifted and we got partial views of Glacier Peak. At Image Lake, two deer grazed lazily, unconcerned about our presence. We climbed above the lake. While Duane explored the ridge above, I feasted on blueberries, which were plentiful, plump, and deliciously sweet.

When we returned to camp, we decided to leave the buggy camp for (hopefully) a better one. We had met some hikers who had camped atop Middle Ridge, a one mile side trip to 6400' with good views. It was early afternoon, and the 6400' camp was 6.5 steep miles away, but we decided to go for it. We broke camp in record time and started walking.

We reconnected with the PCT and headed south, dropping down to cross Miner's Creek then starting up an increasingly steep slope. We were aware of the PCT detour from the 2003 flood damage, and were expecting to see a trail closure at the junction 2.8 miles south of Trail 785 junction. We saw no trail at all; the junction had effectively been erased.

We stopped for water along Trail 789, then continued steeply up to Middle Ridge at 6200 feet. Along the way, we feasted on the plump ripe blueberries that lined the trail, just to keep our energy levels up. A black bear on the slope of peak 6655 appeared to be doing the same.

Once on top of Middle Ridge, we turned east on an unmaintained trail. It was badly rutted at first, over a foot deep. It climbed up the ridge, then contoured around the south face, reaching a broad sloping meadow at 6400' in about a mile. We arrived near dusk to found one tent already there. We hastily set up our tent in the fading light.

In the morning we spoke to the other backpacker. She told us that water was available a few hundred yards away, to the northeast. Sure enough, there were at least two streams coming off the scenic slope of peak 8297. Not knowing this, we had brought enough and didn't bother to walk over there.

As we left 6400' camp, the meadow afforded good views of Glacier Peak, with only a few clouds around it.

As we left Middle Ridge heading south again, we finally saw a sign marking the PCT detour route. We dropped down to Small Creek, stopping for water, then climbed up past slopes of autumn colors to a junction with Trail 799 to Flower Dome. We dropped our packs and took the 0.6 mile side trip to Flower Dome. Being mid-September, there were no flowers, but the views to the north and east were nice. Partially obstructed views to Glacier Peak and the Suiattle River were also pretty impressive.

Back on the mail trail, it was a mere 0.3 mile to Buck Creek Pass, more slopes of blueberries providing autumn colors, and our last fantastic views of Glacier Peak. We left the pass at 2:15 p.m., leaving open the question of whether we would press on to the trailhead 9.6 miles away, or spend another evening on the trail.

From Buck Creek Pass, the downhill miles went quickly. We passed obvious avalanche damage in the first mile. Water was plentiful. We did not stop to see if the camp sites in this area were still usable.

Three miles ahead there was a 100-yard wide swath of downed trees. Trail crews had cleared the route through the avalanche, leaving just a very impressive sight.

We passed up a camp at the crossing of the Chiwawa River and continued to the junction with Trail 1550 (Massie Lake Trail). Finally, after 8.2 miles since Buck Creek Pass, we knew for sure where we were, and how much farther it was. That last 1.4 miles seemed like at least 2.

We arrived at the Phelps Creek Campground after 6:00 p.m., with darkness closing in. I left my pack with Duane and hiked the 3 miles to the car in just 36 minutes, capping off a long and exhausting day, and a very memorable loop hike.