We had 10 boys and
adults on this second-to-the-last 50-miler shakedown hike. We spent Friday evening camping along the riverbank on the trail to Monte Cristo. We would start the Weden Creek hike in the morning. Saturday morning arrived and the weather was terrific. We overslept so we got a late start on the trail. It must have been about 10am when we finally got going. The trail started off through a dense wooded area that had a few very deep mudholes. We had read trip reports earlier in the week, which warned of the trail construction efforts going on. The reports said to follow the little flag markers since the trail has detours around the work areas. We did follow the flags, which took us through heavy brush. I think we were blazing the new trail. We weren't alone, however, as there were several others both in front and behind us. The ascent started in this section of the trail. The gradual uphill turned quickly into relentless climbing. We were carrying full 40+ pound packs (just for the experience of it!). At the first water crossing, I lost my balance, and my foot was in the river with water gushing around the top edge of my boots. One wrong move and wet socks would be my companion on the miles ahead. Some friends grabbed my arms in attempts to help me out of my predicament, but to no avail- both feet became submerged. Oh, well. It was going to be in the 80's anyway. Each mile of the trail became steeper and steeper. We were thankful at about mile point 2, when we were able to stop at a stream to filter water, and dunk our heads. The heat of the day had arrived, and we were all hot and ready to end our journey. The last mile seemed like several. There are boulders to scale, mud to avoid, snow to cross, downed trees to crawl under, and steep gullies awaiting any wrong move. Everyone coming down the trail said that we only had about a half-hour to go. That half-hour was more like 2 hours! 2600 feet of elevation gain in 3 miles. It is spring here now, with many wildflowers in bloom. Tired and totally spent (the adults, that is), we arrived at Gothic Basin. There is still snow in the basin, and it is beautiful, but at the moment, we are too tired to appreciate anything but the arrival at our destination. There were several others camping here. We found a wonderful campsite to the left of the trail and UP (of course) a hill. The site has a 360-degree view of the Cascades all around us. The sky was clear and sunny. It was such a different perspective to be at the top of the mountains looking down at the valleys. The sunset was gorgeous! We melted snow for our dinner water, ate, and went to bed early to allow plenty of time to dream about the trip down. We got another late start the next morning. We had planned on a grab-and-go breakfast, so that worked out good. We hit the trail and began our re-entry into civilization. I'm not sure if the climbing the day before was more difficult, or the descent on this day. It was refreshing to use different muscles today, but just as tiring. The last mile of the trail, we forgot to follow the little trail flags, and we ended up at the river, which was too deep and wide to cross. We had to backtrack. All in all it was a great trip. >19980722|MT PHELPS||a|troy|128| Mount Phelps - The Alpine Lakes - We figured this would be a quick moderately challenging route, perfect for after a half day of work. The first obstacle is getting to North Fork Snoqualmie River Road. USGS and road maps are not detailed enough to locate, and even locals only have a vague idea. Go to North Bend, turn right on North Bend Road, turn left onto Bartall (sp') and you are into the woods. This road changes names several times, and becomes even more confusing at a certain Y. Contrary to what the sign says, go left up the ""Dead End-road closed 24 miles"" road into Weyerhouser land. Strange views of outskirts of Alpine Lakes follow. We followed Pilar's instructions after this point, and only made every wrong turn. Poor Bug could only go 0.3 miles up #5736, up to a bouldery stream crossing. We found the abandoned road, and what is left of the ""mine"". We even found a red piece of flagging that might mark a trail. However, all paths into the clearcut were horribly overgrown and quickly disappeared under the slash. We tried four routes along the road end, but all ended in misery and near impalement. This could still probably be done in a long day of powering up the slash until the ridge, but coming down this at night meant certain bivy. This one is probably best done in early spring (but I'll be back!).