My nephew Peter (the mid-western mountain goat) and I had three days to see some of the glories of the Glacier Peak Wilderness.

Thursday, 8/22/02 we left the Phelps Creek trailhead a few minutes before 10. The trail up was easy, and free of logs. After a quick lunch, we hit the ascent up to Spider Gap, enjoying the great views of the meadows looking back south. Heading up the snowfield we saw signs that people had been sledding down on their air mattresses! Peter (mountain goat that he is) stopped at the top of the gap to walk to several promontories for more pictures and views

Coming over the gap, we came down the snowfield to the Upper Lyman Lakes -- the highest lake was pretty large for this late in the year, with several icebergs (calved from the glacier) floating prettily in the lake.

After picking our way along the edge of the upper lake for a while, we rejoined the trail and headed up then down to Lower Lyman Lake to set up camp just before sunset. Along the way, we could barely keep our eyes on the trail as Bonanza Peak kept catching our attention.

Unfortunately the trees sheltered us from the wind, which had been the only thing keeping the bugs off of us. After a quick meal we were fast asleep.

The next morning we set out for Cloudy Pass, meeting a Freshmen Trip from Whitman College. The weather was perfect, and we had great views of Lower Lyman Lake, Lyman Falls, Upper Lyman Lake, Lyman Glacier and the snowfield from the day before.

Crossing over Cloudy Pass we picked our way to Suiattle Pass. The short trail was clean and dry -- good as it's more appropriate for goats than backpackers.

Crossing over Suiattle Pass we got our first views of Glacier Peak that was to dominate the rest of our day. Wow.

We went down to miner's camp, up to Middle Ridge, down to Smart Creek and up to Buck Creek Pass. A long day with 3 noticeable uphill climbs, but worth it. The campsite at Buck Creek Pass was pretty full for a Friday night. The sunset was spectacular, and the views of Glacier Peak and the ridge to the south phenomenal. Several of these trails had blow-downs that hadn't yet been cleared. The bugs were substantial.

We picked the highest possible campsite at Buck Creek Pass -- it wasn't as buggy as the rest, but it turns out we were tenting just a few meters from a Pika's den.

Our last day we sadly said goodbye to Glacier Peak and walked down Buck Creek trail back to Trinity. Note: the Green Trails map indicates that it is 9.6 miles back -- our finely honed estimate indicates that there's another mile in there at the end. It took us about 5 hours to return -- a bit sore, but thrilled at a great trip.

Poor weather in Canada and good weather south of the 49th had us crossing the border again in the middle of the night. Even though we were there before 5am we still had to wait in line behind five other cars. Our forest pass had just expired so we made sure we were at the Lake Wenatchee Ranger Station right when it opened. We arrived at the same time as the kindly ranger who opened shop ten minutes early so we could get on our way. On the long drive to the trailhead we passed by a dozen deer and despite being there at 9am there were already sixteen cars in the parking lot.

The Phelps Creek Trailhead may not provide the shortest route to famed Image Lake but it certainly is the most scenic way to go. Spread over four days we were able to really explore and appreciate the great variety of wonders that the Glacier Peak Wilderness has to offer. On day one we hiked from Phelps Creek over Spider Gap and into Lyman Lakes Basin. The trail to the meadow is in great shape (signs of recent trail work) and the one major creek crossing, via a significant logjam is easy. The meadows themselves appear to be in the midst of a shift change. Some of the flowers were well past their prime while others were just getting started. While we were there we saw two unusually small marmots that had black & silver fur instead of the common brown & blond variety we normally see. Near the end of the meadow you cross the creek again, this crossing is a little trickier and it's best to detour a bit upstream in order reach another logjam. Soon the trail splits and we took a short detour along the right fork to a waterfall that pours out of Phelps Basin. This is the last place where you have any shade or water as the left fork gains over 2000 ft in a mile of tight switchbacks up to Larch Knob and Spider Glacier. We had poles and chose to head directly up the glacier rather than scramble up more rocks. We had ice axes too but we never felt as if we really needed them, as the snow was very soft, the run out was long and not overly steep. It was a little windy at the gap and somewhat chilly but the views of the entire Lyman Lakes Basin certainly warmed our souls. We made the mistake of going straight for the glacier and we got hung up on a high moraine and had to carefully pick our way down. The smart thing would have been to stay to the right and follow the lowest point down, as it is the fastest and easiest way to reach the lake. The only established sites in the basin are on the far side of the lower lake. These sites are well into the trees, which blocked the wind which it turned out was keeping the hordes of mosquitoes at bay. This was only made worse by the fact that the trees had no branches and there was no where to hang your food at this camp. It took an awfully long time to rig a pathetic bear accessible cache and it cost us a liter of blood each.

Things improved the next day as we hastily escaped the bloodsuckers and made our way to Cloudy Pass. Here there was a beautiful camp set in an open meadow with views all the way up Lyman Basin to Spider Gap. Across the pass you see the northern half of Glacier Peak with the view expanding with every step. The trail descends about 400ft before a bypass splits off and traverses over to Suiattle Pass. From here the trail drops again to a big PCT camp. Just past this camp is Miner's Creek the best source of water on this trail. After three more miles you break out of the trees for good and ascend the open meadows of Miner's Ridge and have great views of Glacier Peak. Image Lake appears about a half-hour later. Instead of dropping down to the lake we stayed high and circled around the lake framing its image with the lush patches of heather that were in full bloom. The designated sites were as viewless and bug infested as Lyman Lake and offered little food caching opportunities. Having arrived early however we had plenty of time to lounge around the lake. The bugs were annoying but not insufferable and the lake itself was refreshing.

Early the next morning we were back at the lake to watch the sunrise over Glacier Peak, the only other spectators were deer. Unfortunately with the sun came mosquitoes and we were forced to move on and on and on. Despite the perfect blue skies and the spectacular scenery we couldn’t stop and enjoy it lest the bugs consume us. They were relentless and harassed us until we were well up the snowfield above upper Lyman Lake. On the positive side of things there aren’t too many places nicer than Spider Gap and since we had rushed up here we had all day to enjoy it. On our second trip through the gap we saw crampon tracks. Since the snow was extremely soft this was a really poor choice of equipment. However our crampon-wearing friend did one better, on the Spider Glacier side we saw long glissade tracks followed by a few crampon prints and then more glissade tracks. Glissading in crampons is an incredibly bad idea. That night we camped on Larch Knob as not only was it the finest camp we had seen en route but it was wide open giving us an optimal perch to observe the Perseid meteor shower.

The hike out the next day was relatively easy, we had yet another day of perfect weather. Over four days we had hiked nearly 40 miles, gained and lost over 7000ft of elevation. We had seen a great variety of flowers, beautiful lakes, awesome glaciers, and a majestic volcano. We had seen deer, marmots, a goat, salamanders and even frogs! And speaking of frogs, Kermit himself said it best “Times fun when you’re having flies”

Happy Hiking

http://groups.msn.com/davidkarenshikingpage

My husband and I hiked the 32-mile loop that begins at the end of road 6211 (Spider Meadow trail #1511) and finishes at the end of the Chiwawa River Road (Buck Creek trail #1513). We took five days (Aug 24-28) to complete the loop, which allowed for a couple scrambling sidetrips along the way.

The path up to Spider Meadow is almost entirely clear of snow. Good camping in the upper meadows, but even better camping at the top of the switchbacks. Several high campsites, located just below the foot of Spider Glacier, are free of snow. Water is readily available here. The snow up to Spider Gap is solid and was not yet icy when we crossed (Wed Aug 25). We walked on snow all the way to the gap.

On the north side of the gap, the slope down to the highest of the Lyman lakes is entirely snow covered. The easiest way down to the lakes is plunge stepping directly (use ice axe), although we did notice traversing footsteps just below the gap that seemed to lead to a partially snow-covered path (that possibly contours the east slopes above the lakes'). Once you reach the uppermost of the Lyman lake chain, the trail is marked with a LARGE cairn -- from this point forward, the rest of the loop is snowfree (except for a very small patch going up to Suiattle pass).

Bugs (mosquitoes and some black flies) swarmed us at upper Lyman Lakes and accompanied us to Cloudy Pass. Awesome camping below or at Cloudy Pass. Wildflowers at Cloudy are just peaking now (paintbrush, lousewort, lupine, towhead baby). The hike up to Cloudy Peak is completely snow free. Serious bug population up there too, though.

Trail crews have maintained the Buck Creek trails section of the loop (no blow-downs to hop over). Note that the bridge over Miner's Creek is in disrepair (August 27). Crews have posted a sign at the #785 and #789 trail juncion recommending that hikers take a detour to avoid crossing the Miner's creek bridge. We crossed the brige safely with little problem -- it is lopsided, but manageable.

Black flies swarmed us again from Miners Creek to the trail's end.

Saturday: I started up the Suiattle River trail. The tread is nearly perfect and in superb condition. Great for tennis shoes. There are some enormous old growth trees that soothe the soul and raise your spirits. after nearly 11 miles, I turned up towards Image Lake. Now the climbing begins. Still, the trail is in outstanding condition all the way up. I stopped in at the lookout, thinking there were some hikers inside. But I interrupted the ranger's dinner with her two friends. She said she started there August 2, but last year it was July 2. I walked to Image Lake and dropped down to the crowded campground a bit south of the lake. About 17 miles and 4400 gain, so I was ready for dinner! Two deer bounded through camp just as I settled under my tarp for slumber's sweet repose. The insects were out, but with my new toy, a head net, I was comfy and cozy in my sleeping bag.

Sunday: I broke camp early and headed to Lady Camp. En route I saw 17 deer nibbling on the wide open flower fields. I looked all over but didn't find the Lady carving. Is it still there' After eating breakfast, I thought Plummer Mt looked like a great objective, so I dropped most of my gear and headed up. At the false summit (which was good 'nuff without proper gear) I met two folks who pointed out 9 of the 10 Washinton 9000' peaks. Great views! Then down two small snowfields and lots of heather, scree, and rockfields to retrieve my gear. I continued down to the Miner's Cabin trail, where lo and behold I found the old cabin remains. Shortly after, near a waterfall, I noticed the mine above. A quick scramble leads you to the mine entrance. Lots of green rocks laying around (must be copper, eh'). There is an easy trail to the cabin area from the mine entrance.

Further along is a more modern mine shack, and near it were two folding chairs. Ah, the novelty of sitting on a folding chair 20 miles from any road was more than I could ""stand"". Besides, my feets were tired. Alas, the bugs are ferocious all along this route and my delight was short-lived. I continued up the PCT to Suiattle Pass. So far, all of the trail was in excellent condition, and not a speck of snow on the trail. I peeked over Suiattle Pass to see similar conditions, then headed south on the PCT to Miner's Creek. Signs had warned that the bridge was unsafe, but I took the risk. I think most hikers can cross the bridge safely. One of the stringers is broken, so the bridge leans at approximately a 37.52 degree angle in the middle. Fortunately, the other stringer is sound and the bull rail makes for a good handhold. The water below is maybe 3.17' feet deep but not moving fast. Seems safe enough.

The next section is quite a contrast to the hilly, riverside, or switchbacks-in-the-sun I'd travelled so far. It was delicious forest, nearly flat, and very welcome in its coolness, open airy feeling, and wonderful aura. The flat portion of the PCT goes for several miles, then drops down to cross the Suiattle R on a huge bridge. More flat for several miles, until it climbs relentlessly but far too gradually (adding many miles to torture the feet!). By this time I was bonking and out of water, but somehow I struggled to the top and staggered to a camp near the Grassy Point trail junction. I had the entire Glacier Peak all to myself, it seemed. Another long day, 22 miles (plus Plummer Mt) but totally worth it. There were two or three very small snow patches on the trail, but not a problem.

Monday: The route to Grass Pt looked appealing, and it is! However, I lost the trail complete several times. There wasn't much snow (and no water). But wow, what expansive greens! It's quite a climb to the high point, and the map shows the ""trail"" going further. But I couldn't see it, and besides, the views of Glacier Peak were just fine without adding more mileage! Back to the PCT, where there were several snow patches going south. None felt exposed, and they will probably melt out soon. You can get by without an axe in this section. The views are tremendous of above-timberline flower meadows (flowers not particularly exhuberant though) and mountain peaks, dominated by Glacier Peak. I spied Fire Creek Pass through binoculars, which had some good snow patches on the trail. Hard to tell how steep the snow is from a distance.

Then a most unpleasant descent down to Milk Creek. The brush is chest high and blocks the wind. The bugs were out too. I'm glad I was descending. Then the worst part -- the long brushy trail down Milk Creek. DEET (Dynamic Escape from Exoskeletal Pests, or high speed hiking) didn't even work as the mosquitoes and flies attacked from every angle. The misery finely ended when the trail broke away from Milk Creek. Here, the cathedral groves of tall timbers once again soothed the spirit. What marvelous trees! 17 miles including the Grass Pt sideshoot. Leave you ice axe at home for this trip, ""summer"" is finally here in the Cascades!