Copper Ridge, Whatcom Pass, Little Beaver Creek, Three Fools Creek, Castle Pass, PCT- Harts Pass to Holman Pass, Jackita Ridge, Easy Pass, Fisher Creek, Thunder Creek, Stehekin River Trail, Cascade Pass

I just returned from hiking what I call “The Great North Cascades National Park And Western Pasayten Trail.”

Starting from the Hannegan Pass Trail-head the exact route is as follows:
 
Hannegan Pass, to Copper Ridge, to the Chilliwack River, to Brush Creek, to Whatcom Pass, to Little Beaver (my beloved rented a motor boat from Ross Lake Resort and ferried me across to Lightning Cr…love ya, baby!), to Lightning Creek, to Three Fools Creek, to Castle Pass on the PCT, to Holman Pass, to Devil’s Pass, to the Jackita Ridge Trail, to the Canyon Creek TH (where I had my car with re-supply and then drove to the Easy Pass TH), to Easy Pass, to Fisher Creek, to Thunder Creek, to Park Creek Pass, to Stehekin River Valley Road, to Cascade Pass and out at the Cascade Pass TH.

The total mileage of this trip is around 149. I have been fortunate enough to hike in various places around the lower 48 and it’s my opinion that if you were to construct a trip of the same length in any other range, this hike would rival anything one could put together. We are so lucky to have these mountains in our backyard!!

I will list a date and the areas hiked that day, then give a trail report on those areas. For Copper Ridge I imagine things have improved considerably in the last week.

7/30 – Hannegan Pass TH to Whatcom Camp:

The trail is in great shape to Hannegan Pass. From the pass down to Boundary Camp there were a couple of downed trees. As you drop down the switchbacks and come out of the trees there is a large avalanche slide that’s several hundred feet across. As you start walking out on the slide it becomes obvious where the trail is.

From the junction with the Copper Ridge Trail all the way to the Chilliwack River crossing there are ~18 downed trees. The trail was mostly snow free to just before Hells Gorge. There were 2 steep snow traverses before Hells Gorge and the Hells Gorge traverse itself was steep and ~30’ across. From Hells Gorge to Silesia Camp the way was mostly solid snow. From Silesia to the lookout it’s off and on solid snow with the last 400’ of gain mostly snow free. From the lookout to Copper Lake it was mostly solid snow with steep descents. From the lake to the far Northern part of the ridge the trail was 50% snow free. The notorious North facing traverse at the first few switchbacks down to the Chilliwack was 50-60’ across and not a good place to lose one’s footing. Once beyond this traverse the way is mostly snow free to the Chilliwack. Egg and Copper Lakes were both at most 5% melted out. Be smart and know your abilities, this is not a place to be if you don’t have route finding skills and self-arrest capabilities. The last 400’ down to the Chilliwack the trail is severely brushy and the trail is hard to follow in a spot or two. The Ford of the Chilliwack was ~2.5’ deep and fairly swift (I went through on a cool day). The ford of Indian Creek is a non-issue and there are logs upstream.

From the Chilliwack to Brush Creek there are ~16 downed trees and the trail is off and on brushy.

From Brush Creek to Whatcom Camp there are ~25 downed trees and the trail is very brushy to Graybeal Camp and eases a bit beyond, but still brushy. .1 to .2 miles up Brush Creek there is a large slide that’s about 100’ across. Finding the trail might be difficult for some once across. There were a few patches of snow up towards Whatcom Camp and the pass, but nothing serious and the route is pretty obvious.

7/31 – Whatcom Camp to 3 miles up Three Fools Creek Trail:

There were a few patches of snow at Whatcom Pass and several as you start to head down towards Little Beaver. They are a non-issue with navigation. From the pass to the Big Beaver Trail junction there are ~15 downed trees. As you come out of the switchbacks and into the Little Beaver drainage the route becomes hysterically brushy and remains so off and on all the way to Perry Creek Camp…there are even a lot of nettles to make the trek more enjoyable!

From the Big Beaver Trail Junction to Perry Creek Camp there are ~60 downed trees. The trail is maintained from Perry Creek to Ross Lake.

The Lightning Creek Trail is immaculate.

From the Three Fools Creek junction the nightmare begins. The first .8 miles are still maintained by the park but once in the Pasayten things turn very nasty. In the next 2.2 miles to what’s called Little Fish Shelter (no shelter, just a very nice camp on the river) there are at least 200-300 downed trees and things get so brushy that you have to fight your way through. Route finding skills are imperative to get through Three Fools Creek Trail to Castle Pass.

8/1 – 3 miles up Three Fools Creek Trail to Woody Pass on the PCT:

Be aware that as you leave Three Fools Creek to attain the ridge there is no reliable water for ~7 miles and you gain ~4000’ in this time. From the Little Fish Camp to tree line there are at least another 200 downed trees and still severely brushy. Once above tree line the route becomes obvious all the way till you drop into the basin, south of peak 6898. At this point route finding becomes difficult and things are insanely overgrown, with plenty more downed trees. Once you climb out of the Big Face Creek drainage the route becomes obvious again and remains fairly obvious to the PCT. The whole Three Fools route was snow free.

From Castle Pass to Woody Pass there are ~12 downed trees. The only remaining snow on this stretch was a few patches above Devil’s Stairway and they shouldn’t be a hindrance to most.

8/2 – Woody Pass to Canyon Creek TH:

From Woody Pass to Holman Pass the trail is immaculate.

From Holman Pass to Devils Pass there are ~55 downed trees and the trail is quite brushy.

From Devils Pass through the Jackita Ridge Trail things are in relatively good shape. The trail is quite steep in places and does have some erosion issues. The route is essentially snow free with patches here and there, but should be a non-issue. The last 3-4 miles down to the Canyon Creek TH there are ~12 downed trees.

8/3 – Canyon Creek TH to Flat Creek Camp on the Stehekin River Upper Valley Road:

From the Canyon Creek TH to the Easy Pass TH I shuttled myself the 10 miles.

From the Easy Pass TH to Easy Pass the trail is in great shape with 1 downed tree. Some snow patches remain but they are mostly a non-issue. There is currently a nice creek flowing at the pass.

From Easy Pass to Thunder Creek there are ~15 downed trees (all between Fisher and Cosho Camps). The trail is very brushy in places for a lot of the way down from Fisher Camp. Logan Creek and the unnamed creek to the east can both be crossed on logs. If one is not comfortable crossing on these logs then you are in for two very dangerous fords.

From Thunder Creek to Park Creek Pass there are ~13 downed trees. Thunder Basin has its brushy spots but it’s not too bad. The ford of Thunder Creek in the basin is currently difficult at the trail crossing (3'+ and fast), it's better to head down stream where the creek is wider. There is also a sketchy log if comfortable. As you reach the pass there are a few remaining snow patches that some might not enjoy. If not comfortable with these traverses, then drop down and walk the snow field till you see the trail again.

From the pass to the Stehekin River there are ~57 downed trees. There was a crew logging things out so it might be considerably better by now. Once you drop into the Park Creek Basin it becomes very brushy, with a few spots where some might lose the trail.

8/4 - Flat Creek Camp on the Stehekin River Upper Valley Road to Cascade Pass TH:

The road/trail walk is in good shape. Once beyond Cottonwood Camp the trail becomes quite brushy and remains so up to about 4800’. When I went through, Doubtful Creek was a ford, but not a difficult one. A few patches of snow remain as you approach Cascade Pass, but they are very straight forward. On the way down from the pass a couple patches remain, but those nice rangers have cut out some really nice steps. ;) The trail down is immaculate.

I was frightened by the Disneyland atmosphere at Cascade Pass and got the hell out of there, so I can’t report on the Sahale Arm.

If interested I've created a Youtube video for this hike and it can be seen at: http://youtu.be/k5nMbT829DY

Cheers!
S-H-A-L

PS – I had a lot of solitude on this trip but also met a fair amount of other backpackers. I wanted to express that I really enjoyed our conversations and hope that your trips all went splendidly well. I was especially impressed with a young woman who was ~700 miles into her solo thru-hike of the PNT (Pacific Northwest Trail). Good luck on the remaining ~500 miles!