Information about this hike provided in partnership with
Mountaineers Books.
Copyright © Craig Romano/The Mountaineers Books Tin Can Gap
Featured In:
Day Hiking: North Cascades,
by Craig Romano.
A portion of all book sales from the links above benefits WTA and helps protect and maintain our trails. The first half of this hike entails a rough and tumble trek over roots, rocks, ledges, and other generally uneven and unpleasant ankle-twisting terrain. Immediately after entering the Boulder River Wilderness, the way commences to cut a route through an old-growth jungle of monster cedars and a near-impenetrable understory of lush greenery. Following along a rugged ridge high above Boulder River, the going is slow, with occasional peekaboo views of the valley's sprawling old-growth drapery-as well as sporadic but exhilarating shots of impressive Three Fingers looming above. After a slight descent, the trail heads upward once again, clambering around and over ledges to reach a signed trail junction at shallow and serene Saddle Lake at 2.5 miles (elev. 3770 ft). The trail right leads to Meadow Mountain. Grown over, it's rapidly fading into history; yet another casualty of the U.S. Forest Service's lack of trail funding (ask your senator or rep why). The trail to Tin Can Gap, however, improves from this point with smoother tread and gentler climbing. Grassy marshy meadows soon replace dark forest. And tarns! Scores of them. Blueberries, huckleberries, bring out the barrel! Sweeping views of surrounding peaks and ridges- Pilchuck, Whitehorse, Baker, and plenty of others-grow with each step forward. At 4.5 miles, after some moderate climbing, enter Goat Flat (elev. 4800 ft), a heather and berry plateau wonderland splotched with tarns and clusters of contorted mountain hemlock and subalpine fir. For many hikers this is far enough, contentment has already set in. Please respect this delicate and fragile environment. Adventurous souls continue. Climb a small forested knoll before breaking out to traverse steep slopes saturated with wildflowers. Good trail continues to just below the gap. Then ascend a short, steep, rocky way to the 5800-foot tight rocky notch. Guard your breath-the view is sure to take it away. Staring you right in the face is Three Finger's trio of awe-inspiring appendages. The Queest-Alb Glacier spreads its icy blanket beneath them. Traveling beyond this point is strictly for experienced scramblers and resident mountain goats. Plop yourself down and enjoy.
Driving Directions:
From Granite Falls follow the Mountain Loop Highway east for 7 miles. Turn left onto paved Forest Road 41 (across from the Robe Canyon trailhead). In 2 miles the pavement ends at a junction. Bear left, continuing on FR 41 for 11.5 very rough and slow miles. Then bear right on FR 4160 for 4 more rough and slow miles to the trailhead (elev. 3000 ft). Park along the narrow road shoulders. Recent Trip Reports
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trip reports for this hike.
Tin Can Gap
— Aug 07, 2011
— wldct
Day hike
Issues:
Road to trailhead inaccessible
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Road Closed, will hopefully be opened in september check with ranger station before going...
Road Closed, will hopefully be opened in september check with ranger station before going
Overnight
Features:
Wildflowers blooming | Ripe berries
Issues:
Clogged drainage | Overgrown | Mudholes | Washouts | Water on trail | Bugs
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The trail to Goat Flats is notorious for being rough, with roots that grab and trip, big eroded steps, large...
The trail to Goat Flats is notorious for being rough, with roots that grab and trip, big eroded steps, large rocks and overgrowth encroaching on the tread. The Spring/Manning guide book tells us that it will take 2 hours to travel the 2.5 miles from the trail head to Saddle Lake. All of this is – true.
My pup and I headed up to spend the night at the Flats with the secondary intention of hiking to Tin Can Gap. (As a Hike-a-Thonner, I wanted to be sure to get as much mileage in as possible.) The trip up to Saddle Lake is filled with peek-a-boo views of Three Fingers, Mt. Baker and Whitehorse. There are still a variety of flowers to enjoy and several water spots for furry friends. Once at Saddle Lake, the bugs began to appear in irritating numbers. Dragonflies are abundant at the lake, as are young frogs. A black bear was sighted moments before my arrival. Continuing on to the Flats, the terrain opens up more and more marked by small meadows and an increasing number of tarns – many of which were occupied by dozens of tadpoles. We finally crested the low ridge and entered the Flats. There are a few campsites and several boot worn trails. Views from the Flats are everything they are purported to be. They are far reaching and spectacular. We continued on to Tin Can Gap which is about another mile or so past the Flats. There are still patches of snow on the trail here, but most hikers were navigating them with no difficulty. If you are not comfortable on snow, a pair of trekking poles will serve you well. The Gap gives you an excellent view of the Queest-Alb glacier and the lookout perched precariously on top of South Three Fingers. It is both impressive and startling how far it still is from the Gap. The route to the summit is still very icy and snow covered. It would be wise to skip the summit unless you have at the minimum an ice axe. Some were choosing to use crampons as well. Personally, I was not equipped for the trip up and my pup (who at nearly 15 was so tired I had to put him in my pack!) had no interest in continuing. We returned to camp to watch a truly spectacular sunset over Puget Sound and marveled at the sheer size of our urban areas. The moon, looking particularly large, slid down in the sky illuminating the Sound’s waters with a glow that rivaled the city lights. It was warm enough to lie out under the stars and watch for meteors well into the night. For a change, I was actually able to stay awake long enough to enjoy the all too rare opportunity to see the Milky Way. The trip out takes nearly as long as the trip in. However, the abundance of salmonberries and soon to arrive blueberries help to pass the time with sweet-tart goodness. Multi-night backpack
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Mudholes | Water on trail | Snow on trail | Bugs
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The trail #641 is now snow-free to just beyond Saddle Lake (about 4000') and the many fallen trees over the...
The trail #641 is now snow-free to just beyond Saddle Lake (about 4000') and the many fallen trees over the trail have recently been cleared (thanks to the USFS). There is still snow covering much of the trail to Goat Flats and most of the trail to Tin Can Gap (TCG). The trail (upper route) beyond TCG is totally snow covered, with very steep exposure to rocks below.
We went in, carrying heavy packs for lookout maintenance, on Friday and decided the safest route (which we had planned for by bringing harness, rope, etc.) would be over the glacier. We arrived at the lookout just after sunset since we also had to rope up and belay over to the middle ladder. We got three sides scraped and painted and some old window putty replaced on Saturday, leaving early Sunday. We followed our route back over the Queest-Alb glacier to Tin Can Gap. During our trip we encountered only one person who went beyond TCG and made it to the lookout. He went in on the upper route and confirmed to us and wrote in the lookout register that it was dangerous. He went back via the glacier below the upper route. The weather-window couldn't have been better for us, as it remained above 50°F on both nights at the 6854' lookout, south peak. Just right for the applied paint to dry (some years we go up and cannot paint at all). Anyone interested in maintaining the lookout can visit the everettmountaineers.org where future trips will be posted. http://www.flickr.com/[…]/ additional note: Someone left a bivy-sack behind in the lookout...name it and claim it! |
Queest-Alb Glacier & lookout from Tin Can Gap, Mela Collins
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