Crater
Sep 13, 2008
by
GaliWalker
—
last modified
Sep 15, 2008 02:47 PM
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Jerry Lakes
- Region: North Cascades -- North Cascades Highway
- Avg Rating: 3.00
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Crater
- Region: North Cascades -- North Cascades Highway
- Trails: Crater (#746)
- Avg Rating: 3.50
- Why You Should Go Now
- Fall foliage
- Ripe berries
- Be Aware Of
- Blowdowns
Crater Lake shores
September 13, 2008: Jerry Lakes
Sparkling lakes under blue-bird skies, strung together by rocky slopes, tarns and snow-melt pools…this was hiking at its most rewarding.
I took off from the Jakita Ridge/Canyon Creek trailhead at 5:15am. After crossing Granite Creek and then Canyon Creek on bridges I took a wrong turn: rather than turning right, immediately after the Canyon Creek bridge, I took a left (not seeing the fork heading off to the right in the dark, despite my headlamp). 20min later, after having been unable to spot any sign of a trail heading uphill and meandering about alongside Canyon Creek, I knew that I had missed the turn-off somewhere. I turned back; another 20min and I had located my blunder and was on the correct trail. (None of the trail junctions on this hike are marked.)
The trail ascended moderately steeply up for the next 4mi, but the tread was excellent for the most part so the going was quite smooth. At the next (unmarked) junction I headed left towards Crater Lake. Three-quarters of a mile later I was at the extremely unimpressive lake. The setting was impressive though, with the 2 jagged peaks of Crater Mountain looming high.
Since I had bigger fish to fry (figuratively speaking only), I headed uphill on a trail just before Crater Lake, towards the former site of Lookout #2 near Crater Mountain’s east summit. Soon I moved out from the trees and beautiful views of Devils Park, Jakita Ridge and enticing green valleys grabbed my attention. Reds tinged the meadows, harkening the onset of fall. Another 2mi and I was on the summit ridge crest and the end of the trails’ section of the hike. Spectacular views here, with the rest of my journey laid out before me: Crater Mountain’s 2 summits and Jack Mountain beyond them, a wall of peaks to my left - the wonderful un-named lake at 6,380ft right below me, with other spots of blue amongst the rocky terrain indicating tarns and more watery goodness - and finally, Jerry Lakes off in the distance.
Skirting some cliffs, I dropped down steeply on somewhat crumbly footing to Lake ‘6,380’. The jade colored lake is just gorgeous and I had a great time enjoying it. Small pools of water amongst the rock slabs ringing the lake were delightful little jewels.
As I eventually headed off towards Jerry Lakes a pretty little tarn held my attention as well as more pools. The Jerry Glacier to my left was the reason for all this beauty: magical streams and small shimmering waterfalls ran down from the heavily crevassed glacier to frolic amongst the rocky slopes.
Finally, I crested a small saddle and was able to look down on Jerry Lakes. From the Lookout #2 site on Crater Mountain these lakes had not looked that impressive. From here, they were absolutely smashing! I dropped down to them quite steeply and had a great time exploring various little niches. Unfortunately, my earlier snafu to begin the day meant that I reached my turn-around time all too soon and was not able to spend more time that these lakes merited. Reluctantly I turned back and painfully made my way back to the car.
Additional photos: http://www.flickr.com/[…]/72157607294897222
Stats:
- Distance: ~21mi (not counting 2mi on the wrong trail)
- Elevation gain: 7,720ft
- Hiking time: 14.5hrs
- Total trip time: 20.5hrs
Conditions report:
- All trails in excellent shape – only the trail heading to Crater Lake has a few minor blowdowns
- All trail junctions were unmarked
Sparkling lakes under blue-bird skies, strung together by rocky slopes, tarns and snow-melt pools…this was hiking at its most rewarding.
I took off from the Jakita Ridge/Canyon Creek trailhead at 5:15am. After crossing Granite Creek and then Canyon Creek on bridges I took a wrong turn: rather than turning right, immediately after the Canyon Creek bridge, I took a left (not seeing the fork heading off to the right in the dark, despite my headlamp). 20min later, after having been unable to spot any sign of a trail heading uphill and meandering about alongside Canyon Creek, I knew that I had missed the turn-off somewhere. I turned back; another 20min and I had located my blunder and was on the correct trail. (None of the trail junctions on this hike are marked.)
The trail ascended moderately steeply up for the next 4mi, but the tread was excellent for the most part so the going was quite smooth. At the next (unmarked) junction I headed left towards Crater Lake. Three-quarters of a mile later I was at the extremely unimpressive lake. The setting was impressive though, with the 2 jagged peaks of Crater Mountain looming high.
Since I had bigger fish to fry (figuratively speaking only), I headed uphill on a trail just before Crater Lake, towards the former site of Lookout #2 near Crater Mountain’s east summit. Soon I moved out from the trees and beautiful views of Devils Park, Jakita Ridge and enticing green valleys grabbed my attention. Reds tinged the meadows, harkening the onset of fall. Another 2mi and I was on the summit ridge crest and the end of the trails’ section of the hike. Spectacular views here, with the rest of my journey laid out before me: Crater Mountain’s 2 summits and Jack Mountain beyond them, a wall of peaks to my left - the wonderful un-named lake at 6,380ft right below me, with other spots of blue amongst the rocky terrain indicating tarns and more watery goodness - and finally, Jerry Lakes off in the distance.
Skirting some cliffs, I dropped down steeply on somewhat crumbly footing to Lake ‘6,380’. The jade colored lake is just gorgeous and I had a great time enjoying it. Small pools of water amongst the rock slabs ringing the lake were delightful little jewels.
As I eventually headed off towards Jerry Lakes a pretty little tarn held my attention as well as more pools. The Jerry Glacier to my left was the reason for all this beauty: magical streams and small shimmering waterfalls ran down from the heavily crevassed glacier to frolic amongst the rocky slopes.
Finally, I crested a small saddle and was able to look down on Jerry Lakes. From the Lookout #2 site on Crater Mountain these lakes had not looked that impressive. From here, they were absolutely smashing! I dropped down to them quite steeply and had a great time exploring various little niches. Unfortunately, my earlier snafu to begin the day meant that I reached my turn-around time all too soon and was not able to spend more time that these lakes merited. Reluctantly I turned back and painfully made my way back to the car.
Additional photos: http://www.flickr.com/[…]/72157607294897222
Stats:
- Distance: ~21mi (not counting 2mi on the wrong trail)
- Elevation gain: 7,720ft
- Hiking time: 14.5hrs
- Total trip time: 20.5hrs
Conditions report:
- All trails in excellent shape – only the trail heading to Crater Lake has a few minor blowdowns
- All trail junctions were unmarked
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North Cascades peaks
|
Looking towards Devils Park
|
Crater and Jack Mountain
|
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