Trip Reports

Horseshoe Basin is one of those places that every hiker needs to go to at least once. It is a high elevation (7200') basin that stretches for miles full of flowers and streams and surrounded by massive lazy, hulking peaks that are mostly simple walk-ups. The area around Louden Lake appears tundra in nature although it really isn't. The area is really unlike anywhere I've been in Washington before. Conditions of all trails mentioned here were excellent. Burnt areas could be difficult to follow in spots but otherwise were well maintained.

The drive commitment is severe, taking a minimum of 5 hours from Seattle. A few stops for berries and gas etc and it will take almost all day. The Iron Gate Trailhead is easily reached with any vehicle despite the warnings to the contrary. The hike in to Horseshoe Basin has sadly been burned over and is now rather dreary. Fireweed and a few other opportunistic flowers are coming up through the burn, but all in all it is fairly desolate. The 5 mile hike climbs a scant 1000’ to the basin so is suitable to most all hikers. Water was available in streams just before the pass. Camp sites are available below the pass in some trees out of the wind or at the pass itself with magnificent views and sun both early in the morning and late in the day.

Great camp sites were available throughout the area from Smith Lake to the shoulder of Arnold Peak. Virtually everywhere where there was a water source was a nearby camp site in the trees. Our five day trip was spent on the flanks of Arnold. Although we saw several other hikers we saw only one other tent in our view.

Hikes to peaks all around the region are gentle, lending themselves to slow rambles with lots of time to identify flowers, mushrooms and scat. With the basin at around 7000’ most of our peaks are reachable by anyone. We crossed into Canada one evening to top out on the deceptively large and long Armstrong Peak (8100'+). Another hiker warned us later that ""Black Hawk helicopters patrolled the area"" and that HE had not crossed the border. Arnold Peak, topping out at just over 8000’, was a huge rolling hill of flowers. We took Arnold’s east flank down and followed the ridge over to Goodenough Peak which was hardly a blip off the trail. Cows have even found this summit leaving their trademark patties just next to a glacial erratic which happens to be the high point.

Our second day of hiking took us up and over Rock Peak. Our early morning hike had the trees covered in hoar frost glistening in the sun. We dropped off the NW side into the valley to pick up the Boundary trail. Fires have ravaged much of this area as well, but the trail was easy to pick up. We wandered this to Haig Mountain which is a large rocky hump. Once upon Haig our attention was caught by Tea Pot Dome and its’ shear granite sides. It was irresistible to us so we tacked on a few extra miles hiking across the expansive ridge which makes up Haig to get to it. Teapot actually has two domes, side-by-side. The eastern has an exposed friction section to summit and appeared no higher than the western most one so we passed on summiting it. The western dome was nothing more than a quick little scramble of no consequence. The Boundary Trail back to Horseshoe Basin is marvelous and generally flat with small, sometimes dry lakes to explore, granite boulders and sweet meadows.

Our third day of hiking took us up a longish trail, also burnt over, to Windy Peak. Windy is impressive and intimidating looking due to its’ considerable relief on the eastern side. The trail winds up and down and occasionally requires attention to follow. It steepens the last mile and one half winding past the secluded Windy Lake and a worthwhile side trial (Chewach Trail)to Topaz Mountain. The turn off to Windy is well signed. Another ten minutes of wonderful trail through granite boulders takes you to the once-fire-lookout summit. Views to the west of the North Cascade are daunting to the casual (and not so casual hiker). Slesses’ NE ridge rises on the horizon along with many others that I didn’t recognize.

So, I hope you haven’t been bored. Horseshoe Basin is in short, fantastic. It has easy access (once one reaches the trailhead) and unique, boundless views. We bagged 9 peaks over the long weekend one of which is in the states’ top one hundred. The uniqueness of terrain made this trip a real treat.

We hit the trail a bit late (6pm) so we stopped at Sunny Pass for the night, leaving camp there for a couple of nights while exploring the adjacent hills, meadows, and peaks during the day. The bugs were bothersome but would subside with the frequent breezes. There are just a few small patches of snow on Armstrong mountain and the view of the border area is fascinating. We spent a couple of nights up there and only saw one empty pack train (US Gov't) and a couple of day hikers as we were leaving, even though apparently it's a very popular area. Also went up Arnold and Pick Peaks (the later was a complete bug fest). We brought our Bernese Mountain Dog and she really enjoyed the wide open meadows and far ranging views.

There is still water running in the areas before and after Sunny Pass, but it doesn't look like it will last that much longer. The trails are in great shape (but aren't needed for wandering about once you get to the basin). We didn't see any wildlife to speak of. Most of the hike to Sunny Pass is through burned lodgepole and is pretty stark. We hustled and made it to the trailhead in 6 hours from the downtown REI (with a short lunch break). The road to the trailhead was easily passable in a passenger car.

If you are looking for a place to set up a base camp and get lost for a few days, this is the place! It is a relatively easy hike in, only 2:30-3 hours, a steady climb but not steep. We spent four whole days (moved camp day 3) looking at the various peaks, flowers, hills, and clouds. We set out each day in a different direction and explored a lot of territory. The stars were tremendous. Living in Tacoma, it was over a 6 hour drive, but well worth it!

With earlier plans of trip to Fisher Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness thwarted by the washout of the Tonga Ridge Road last November, three members (average age 63) of the “Over The Hill Gang”(OTHG) decided to make Horseshoe Basin in the Pasayten Wilderness the venue for their annual wilderness trek.

After a 6 hour drive over the North Cascades Highway and a scenic side trip up the Sinlahekin Valley to Loomis for lunch, we arrived at the Iron Gate Trailhead at 1:45 PM on August 22nd. We geared up and started up Trail 533 a little after 2PM. The extensive damage from last year’s Tripod fire was evident from the start: scorched pine trees, baked rocks, and acres and acres of black and grey ash. An excellent description of the extent of the fire’s effects can be found in the July 15th trail report by Terriann & Michael McGlenn.

Unaccustomed to the elevation (and backpacks), it took the three of us 4 hours to cover the 5.2 miles to Sunny Pass. We entered Horseshoe Basin and made for Horseshoe Pass where we found quite a few campers and pack animals (why didn’t we think of that?). We discovered that Louden Lake, our intended camp site, had very low water levels so we opted instead to head for Smith Lake. We arrived at dusk and set up camp next to James Kremer, a packer from Sandpoint Idaho who was touring the Pasayten Wilderness with his two horses, one donkey and a dog named “Trailhead.” James generously shared his campfire and propane lantern which were very useful when we had to prepare dinner in the dark.

Next morning dawned clear and bright and we day hiked back to Horseshoe Pass and on past Louden Lake on Trail 533 to a small pond on the north side of Rock Mountain for lunch. After lunch, two of the group climbed to the top of Rock Mt (7617 ft) for a look around then returned to camp at Smith Lake to ‘hang out’ for the rest of the day. An attempt to catch fish in Smith lake was unsuccessful.

On Friday, another sparkling morning, we broke camp and hiked back to Sunny Pass. One of our threesome had to return to Seattle that day, so he hiked out to the trailhead. The remaining two set up a camp at the pass and later made a 400 foot ascent of Pick Peak (7620 ft) for an excellent view of the region that included extensive forest fire damage.

With a weather system moving in from the coast on Saturday morning, we broke camp and hiked out from Sunny Pass in 2¼ hours. The drive back to Seattle via Wenatchee, Blewett and Snoqualmie Passes took only 6 hours.

Really wanted to do a few days in the backcountry, and after browsing other trip reports, decided on heading [all the way] up to the Pasayten. I took I-90 to 97, and from door to starting up the trailhead, it took 6 hours. On FS 39 out of Loomis, the road is paved most of the way, but goes through open grazing land.... so WATCH OUT FOR THE COWS!!! After turning right on the road marked Iron Gate Trailhead, it is a primitive 6 miles to the parking lot. Some how, horse trailers with horses made it on this road!? There were even some sedans in the parking lot, so with care, just about any vehicle can maneuver it.

The trail is shared by horses and hikers. The first 3 miles or so wind gently up through an area burned in last year's fire. As you approach Sunny Pass, things start to get greener and greener. The Pass and the Basin are unspoiled by the fire and are absolutely breathtaking. Horseshoe Basin is a lush, green bowl filled with meandering creeks, sweet smelling lupine, and trees. Perfect for days of aimless wandering. All the surrounding peaks are easy hikes up and allow for even better views of the surrounding ranges, both American and Canadian. I stayed for 2 nights at Louden Lake, but this will soon be dried up and was extremely buggy. My side trip to Smith Lake proved to be less buggy, and this stays full throughout the summer. I explored Armstrong, Arnold, and Rock peaks while there. Make certain to go up Armstrong, as there is a US-Canada boundary marker on top. Remarkably, the US-Canadian border is clear cut of trees and so is actually a visible line extending east and west. I even saw some Border Patrol on horses while there.... seems like their time could have been better spent in a place less remote.

On the drive home, the small fire that I noted in the Riverside area had dramatically expanded and was visible from highway 97. It led to grey and overcast skies, which most certainly will affect the Basin in coming days.

All in all a wonderful few days in the backcountry. It is a great early season destination, as you can explore areas of 7000+ elevation snow-free.

I took Daisy the Wonder Dog on a backpacking trip to Horseshoe Basin from Sunday July 1st to Wednesday July 4th. Since Sadie's Driver gave such a complete (and excellent) report for the same trail, I'll just present a few thoughts:

All the best of the things to see in this area were NOT burned up in the big fire.

Bring bug spray and a hat to spray it on.

If you drive the road carefully, any car can make it.

You can drive half way across the state, hike for miles into the wilderness, and still have people know who you are because they recognize your dog. lol. Hi, Jim K and Sadie's Driver!

The grass is only about 25% grass. The rest is tiny ferns, small flowers, and plants that look like a relative of the aloe plant.

More pictures can be seen at www.flickr.com/photos/slugman

June 30 - July 4, 2007

EXPANSIVE! (The basin - hopefully not my waistline!) I needed to ""get lost"" - Hiker Jim (bless his heart - thank you, thank you, a truly special friend in need) dropped everything on Friday, June 29th, researched at the last minute several options (the driver's requirements: flowers, peaks and aimless wandering) and came up with Horseshoe Basin in the Pasayten. Neither one of us had ever been there - but recent reports indicated that there was no snow, making a longer outing doable, with minimal equipment. The weather prediction was good - only Monday looked to be a little iffy. It would be a long drive - but well worth the effort.

Day One - June 30

Leave Seattle about 7:10 a.m. on June 30. Head across North Cascades Highway (20), through Winthrop, Twisp, etc. Out of Omak head north on 97 - you can either turn left at the US Bank in Tonasket (Bridge Street, I believe) because you really have to look for the sign that says ""Loomis"" - in 3 blocks go across the bridge and then take an immediate right at the ""T"" to head North/Northwest to Loomis; or you can go to Ellisforde on 97 and take a left at the sign that says ""Loomis"" - however, at the ""T"" here go LEFT, not right! We wound up in Oroville! However, pressing on, we righted our wrong and passed through lovely little Loomis - lots of wonderful orchards and a visible ""ancient"" aqueduct system along the hillsides. Continue on through Loomis until you reach the Toats Coulee Road (FS 39). An amazing road. Virtually a two-lane paved highway (well, most of the way - a brief gravel part). Just beyond milepost 36 you will see the sign to ""Iron Gate."" We were nervous that the road would be awful - warnings said you needed a high clearance vehicle. But it really wasn't a problem. You travel about 6 miles on this road to the Iron Gate Trailhead. We arrived about 2:00 p.m. The parking lot was crowded with about a dozen vehicles and several horse trailers. A couple of women were unloading from a car as we arrived. They were headed in for a ""mere"" overnight! Doesn't do justice to the place. But, they wanted somewhere snowfree and were willing to travel a distance to get it. Remember, this area was severely burned last October (2006) and we weren't sure what to expect. We loaded up and were on the trail about 2:40 p.m. You need a parking permit - but no wilderness permits were in evidence. The trail starts innocently through some nice pine and fir. In a short distance (3/4 mile?) you have options. You can take the Clutch Creek Trail heading West/Southwest and skirting Windy Peak; or you can take the Arnold/Fourteen Mile trail heading East/Northeast to Sunny Pass. We chose to stay on the main Sunny Pass Trail that was quoted as either 4+ or 5 miles. In a short distance, we came across three guys heading out with FOUR 5 gallon buckets of fresh Morels!! We couldn't convince them to let us test them out for them. We plugged on until the nice green ""forest"" opened up into a green meadow that lead straight into a burn area. Stark and shocking. It was eerie to walk through this area - even crossing Clutch Creek. You could seem some evidence of new growth and grasses, but it is pretty charred. After about 3+ miles you begin to see some green again. We saw the two women again that we had met at the parking area - they were just below Sunny Pass and decided they would camp there for the night. We had seen two guys camped about 300' below the summit as well. Our destination for tonight, however, was another 2 1/2 miles away through Horseshoe Basin and Louden Lake. We would save this juncture for later in our journey. Well, Horseshoe Basin didn't disappoint! Requirement #1 - flowers: there were fields and fields of lupine, Indian Paintbrush, the typical field flowers and then throw in a few more here and there. There were lots and lots more - Shooting Stars, wild strawberries, Marsh Marigolds, etc. etc. Probably will be even more spectacular in another week.

Note: This is a GREAT time to be in the Basin. There is plenty of water - which there won't be by August. In fact, Louden Lake will dry up. Plus, this area is totally open and with very few patches of snow, which is amazing at 7,000'!

Requirement #2: Peaks. We managed to hike/climb/scramble 8 named peaks and 1 unnamed peak - all of them at 7600' or better! We got into what would be our camp area for two nights at about 5:30 p.m. and got things set up and arranged. We noticed that there were at least 3 other campers in our vicinity today (Saturday) - far enough away that it wasn't a bother, but visible none-the-less/ It was breezy and had clouded over by the time we reached Louden. The only night I would need my down jacket. And bugs weren't an issue. Water was plentiful. The driver was feeling pretty punk (not easy to cry and hike at the same time) so she headed to the tent while HJ did a little scouting around the lake area.

Day 2 - July 1

WARNING: Ahh yes, bugs. They are alive and well. Be prepared for this. Even though the weather was gloriously sunny - with puffy clouds - the winds were light and the bugs were heavy! Neither of us had a bug hat or suit. Mistake. We didn't waste time eating before we headed out for:

Requirement #3 - Aimless wandering. And we did. We decided to head up to the summit of Rock Mountain, which was just behind our campsite - headed straight up (no trail). Didn't take us long to reach the false summit and then the summit of Rock - a little snow remained, but barely. We figured the summit was 7660' or thereabouts. Originally, we had thought we would go to Armstrong from Rock, but, well, plans change. What the Haig? After all, we were aimless, so we headed down the Northwest slope of Rock (into a bog, I might add) and through a burn, walked across the trail that leads on to Cathedral Pass/Lakes and up the south flank of Haig - a dandy little summit at about 7900'. We even got a little surprise

with a peek at Glacier Peak! From here, we weren't quite sure what we were going to do. But there did appear to be an interesting couple of ""bumps"" to the West and the North of Haig - they looked like we could scramble them, and soon, we were headed to the first bump to the west - easy enough, but the route to the northerly bump looked a bit more challenging. Oh, but not to be daunted, we went low beneath this bump and around and climbed back up to the ridge that we had seen from the western bump and sure enough, we found what seemed a reasonable route - and viola - we ran right into a Boundary marker. So we saw what looked to be a reasonable route towards the northern ""bump,"" (complete with a cairn for trail idiots!) which it turns out is actually in Canada - so Jim coined it ""Sadie's Summit"" - she never got to Canada. And here it was Dominion Day and all and we had traveled into Canada (didn't have my passport on me) and had our lunch on the Summit - a wide and fun plateau. It was lovely. Sunny, partly cloudy, enough of a breeze to keep the bugs down. Read a little. Then we started back. We explored other possible routes, but they seemed to dead end, so we stuck with our original scramble and came back upon the boundary marker where we notice a bullet hole in the marker - we hadn't remembered a bullet hole when we were there initially - mild panic set in! We didn't remember hearing any gunshots - but . . . . so, Jim quickly checked his pics and noticed that, indeed, there was a bullet hole in the marker when we were first there! Whew. We continued our down-climb uneventfully back to camp. We lounged around a bit - but decided we needed some more aimless wandering. So, off we headed towards Smith Lake. That would mean that we had to head back on the Horseshoe Basin Trail and then veer towards the Smith Lake Trail and away from the Sunny Pass Trail right about the Horseshoe Pass area. It was a rather easy trail, good thing, because we weren't up for much more up and down. As we walked along, we came upon two guys (day hikers) heading out. They both had small revolvers around their waists. They were camped just below Sunny Pass - we had passed them on our way in - looked like they just had a lean-to. They were going to walk over to Louden Lake. We continued on to Smith Lake and saw a campsite with three hikers - two gals and a guy - they had camped at Sunny the day before and were heading out on the 3rd. Smith Lake apparently stays full during the summer and has fish, but it's not terribly impressive. One thing we noticed in several areas was this mud-like ""paste"" on the trees in the area - have no idea what it is. We headed back to our campsite at Louden - passed the two pistol-packers again and got back to our tent to get ready for dinner. We noticed that EVERYONE that had been camped around the Lake was now gone! We figured it was a good evening for a walk up Armstrong to see what we could see. Our original plan was merely to reach the American summit. But, aimless walking leads to many things. Up we headed on the south side of Armstrong, reaching the eastern ridge and then heading towards the American summit - which wasn't far from Boundary Marker #104. Well, heck, we already had crossed illegally into Canada once today (merely celebrating Dominion Day) so we thought, why not cross over to the higher Canadian summit - let me tell you, the distance between the American and Canadian summits is vast - it is an amazing tundra-like, wide open field between the two - probably close to a mile. By now, it was getting late - maybe 9:00 p.m. and we figured we probably should head back towards camp - maybe a mile or so away down off the summit. As we were headed down, Jim said, ""Look at those clouds."" Well, he was looking to the south, but I turned to the west and WOW - I started running to the western ridge - Jim in chase behind me to see an absolutely stunning sunset (go to www.nwhikers.net (Sadie's Driver - Pasayten to see the pics). It was spectacular! What a light show. It was getting dark by the time we reached the lower part of Armstrong - but easy enough to find our way back to camp.

Day Three - July 2

Another spectacular day in store. The sun was up and shining brightly by 6:00 a.m. - but we didn't roll out of the tent until about 7:00 a.m. Again, the wind was calm, so the bugs weren't. This was wash day. Driver had already washed her hair (brain freeze in the cold creek water!) and we prepared for another aimless day. Arnold was in our sites today. One of the things we realized in our wanderings is the vastness of the ""peaks"" we were exploring. While many of them appear to have true summits, once you get there, they end up being wide plateaus and then they have these branches or extensions, where you can just keep wandering and wandering. I don't know how many times Jim had to put up with me saying, ""let's just go a little farther this way . . ."" which might mean descending or climbing to another bump - it seems that one ridge connects to another! Arnold was no different. Between Arnold and Armstrong is a marshy area and we did our best to avoid it on our way back to camp, but we still managed to squish our way through some of it. Probably in a few weeks this will all be dry. We decided we would break camp and head back to Sunny Pass and set up camp somewhere near the pass (at 7200') so we wouldn't have to lose much elevation if we were going to do Pick, Horseshoe and Windy peaks. So, after our explorations of Arnold, we had a little lunch, packed up and headed towards Sunny Pass. Just as the two previous days, the morning was sunny and lovely, but the clouds started moving in by 2:00 p.m. Not threatening, but definitely not the clear skies of earlier. As we were nearing Sunny Pass, we saw a guy up off the trail about 50' and we said, ""Hello"" and what to our wondering eyes should appear? Jim said, ""Oh my gosh, Slugman!"" And we stopped and talked a while. Slugman noted that he didn't have any pics of himself on his adventures, so the Driver took one of him with Daisy the Wonder Dog (who was well-stocked with food and more in her pack). Sluggo wasn't sure where he was headed. He had stayed at Sunny Pass the previous night and was thinking he might go up Armstrong. We wished him well and we headed on our way. We found a nice little knoll above the trail and not far from some water and set up camp. The Driver headed down to the burbling brook and got some water where she ran into a couple headed into Horseshoe Basin for 5 days. We exchanged information and parted ways. Not wanting to let any grass grow under our feet (nor bugs to feast on us) we headed out to conquer Horseshoe Mountain (7956'). We headed straight up from the Pass and actually ran into the Arnold/Fourteen Mile trail and followed it switchbacking up the ridge for quite a while, until it continued south and we split off and headed East/Northeast towards the summit of Horseshoe. Again, another vast high plateau that seemed to go on forever. We traversed a little lower than our route up to the summit and came across the Arnold trail again, leaving it when we reached the Pass and headed back to our campsite on the west side of Sunny Pass. We decided to take a break from our aimless wandering - the Driver read, HJ took a snooze while the mosquitoes circled the tent drooling. Again, the wind didn't cooperate with us. Around 7:00 p.m. we decided we should probably eat another gourmet meal (thanks for the Raspberry Crumble, HJ - you're quite the cook!) and for our evening stroll, we decided to head up Pick Peak (this would be number 6 of the named summits). Fortunately, it was only about 7660' - about 450' above our campsite, so we could head due south from camp and reach the summit.

It was a cloudy evening - a little wind - but not enough to discourage the bugs. We wandered around on Pick for a while - up and down - and disappointed with no sunset of note, we headed back to camp about 9:20 p.m.

Day Four - July 3

Another fabulous morning, with the sun shining brightly. Windy Peak was in our sites today. We knew that at the trail junction just below Sunny Pass we would have to descend about 650' feet - it would be mainly through burn but the trail was easy enough to find. We passed the junction trail that would lead to the Tungsten Mine area, about 3/4 of a mile below Sunny Pass. We continued on. There is water now - don't know for how long. You finally reach the low point and then start climbing up the 1700' necessary to gain the summit of Windy. At about 7600' you are just below a pass (and finally back into some green trees - mainly Larch - probably beautiful in the Fall) and the juncture for a side trip to Topaz

but, for now, we were on a mission. As we reached the Pass, the terrain definitely changed, low pine ""shrubs"" and ""pebbly"" rock-sand. Reminded me more of areas in the Colorado Fourteeners. At one point, you think the trail (which is well-marked with cairns) is headed in the wrong direction - you end up between the two visible bumps that lie just to the west of Windy's ridge and you traverse across the western ridge of Windy a very easy trail to follow. At what seems to be the bottom of the western ridge, you can choose to head straight up the ridge where we saw the backpacks of three hikers - which turned out to be our acquaintances from Smith Lake - they were on their way out via the Clutch Creek Trail (they had spent the night at Windy Lake). My advice? Don't bother going straight up here (although we did) - just continue a little way staying on the trail - which comes to a juncture. It seems there are several ways to get to Windy Peak. Which, it turns out that even though it is the 93rd highest peak in Washington at 8334' - is really a walk up (to where an old lookout once was located) - with a minimal scramble at the top. From the top, we could see the three hikers' route to Clutch Creek traversing south across the ridge line (and probably down through a an uncleared burn - would love to know how it was for hiking) We also had some great views from up here. We had a light snack - the Driver read a little - the bugs weren't too bad, there was enough of a breeze and it definitely was cooler up here than it had been down lower, but then we decided to head down. We got back to the juncture of the Chewuch/Topaz trail and said, ""What the heck?"" Well, at least the Driver said, ""Let's do Topaz."" HJ wasn't so convinced - not thinking we could make the scramble. We followed the Chewuch Trail until the eastern ridge of Topaz intersected the trail and we headed west along the ridge. When we got to within about 100' vertical of Topaz we pondered which direction to head. Nothing looked obvious for getting up Topaz and some of the rock looked mighty unforgiving. But, Jim tried a route around the south side of the peak and it seemed doable. So, the Driver followed. And, sure enough, as he made his way up, it became almost trail-like up through the boulders, providing a relatively easy route to the first summit (where HJ found a Buck knife!!! His souvenir). We weren't really sure which was the highest of the summits, but we did the first two and there were two more to the West - passable to get to them, but we couldn't see an easy route to the top - so we called it good and said we had reached the highest point(s) at about 7900' - achieving named summit #8!!! We headed back down and decided that we would take a detour to Windy Lake - it's just to the east of the trail at the first creek crossing below the Topaz juncture. It was worth the 1/4 mile detour - campsites exist, but there is lots of burn in this area. Then it was back through Hell Canyon. Ohmygosh. It was painful. It seemed like it took us FOREVER to go the 500' back up to Sunny Pass! Not a steep grade, just continuous! When we got back to camp, the bugs were merciless. Even though it was cloudy by now, the wind was virtually still. We jumped into the tent - HJ for a snooze and the Driver determined to finish her book. Finally, a little after 7:00 p.m. we surfaced again, ate a quick dinner and headed back up Pick Peak to hope for a sunset. We got there a little too quickly - because the bugs were circling us and sunset was another 40 minutes off. We wandered around the Pick Plateau (which by now we knew every inch of) and finally weren't toally disappointed with the sunset. Back down to camp, clean-up and into the tent by 10:15 p.m. The Driver finished the book!

Day Five - Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July! Driver was ready to hit the road. 6:15 a.m. -but didn't surface fully until 6:30 a.m. Ate breakfast and broke camp - on the trail by 7:40. Practically sprinted down the trail. Ran into a solo woman hiker headed to Cathedral Lakes. Exchanged information. Saw some mushroom pickers coming in - 3 different groups! Back to the car by 9:10 a.m. Ready to hit the road by 9:30 a.m. It already was warm. Stats:

Summited 8 named peaks - 1 unnamed in 3 days (Sorry, Opus!)

Approximately 11,000' gain (easy to reach 8300' when you start at 7200'!)

Approximately 45 miles

BUGS!

There is water - probably for another 3 weeks

No snow

Flowers and green slopes (probably gets very brown in August)

Three lakes

Thanks, Jim. Sadie would have loved it!!!

We started out on saturday, june 15 and drove to omak where we stayed the night so we could get an early start on sat for the horseshoe basin backpack. we were up and at the trailhead and hiking by 10am. they say the road to iron gate is unpassable for a passenger car but you can make it if you go slow-it is not as bad as the ranger made it sound.

there were no other cars at the trailhead and we started out-it was cool with some threatening clouds in the sky. you have to hike through quite a big burn area but there were birds in nearly all of it and it has an eerie beauty for sure. it started to sleet about half way through the burn. we came to sunny pass and it cleared for a few minutes of sun but as we were coming into horseshoe basin it was sleeting again. we found a campsite and set up the tent. it was cold and as we had started early we took a nap first thing. it stopped sleeting for an evening walk but we ended up back in the tent again due to the cold.

we woke up to 1 and 1/2 inches of snow and cold temps. it sleeted on and off for the morning and then began to stop. we were able to make it to smith lake for the morning and up the ridge behind louden lake for the afternoon when it began to clear and we had beautiful views in all directions. it was still windy and cool but we knew the forecast was only to get better.

it was true-the next day was warmer and all the snow was gone-we climbed arnold peak and then up/down to armstrong peak and were able to cross the border to canada on top-it is fun to do-highly recommended. the views from top were fabulous-you can see the shaved border line and remmel peak and all the north cascades were great.

the days kept getting progressively better and we started out past louden lake on the boundary trail and went as far as haig mtn which we scrambled up for great views of cathedral peak and teapot dome. it was beautiful and time for a hang-out by the pond. it was a clear and beautiful day.

we saw lots of ground squirrel and marmot antics and lots of cat scat and tracks but no actual cats.

we saw no people until the last day when we saw two other hikers go by on their way past our camp but we never spoke.

this is a beautiful area and well worth hiking through the burn to get to this lovely basin with opportunities galore to explore and scramble.

the only blowdowns you have to go around are in the burned area but they are no problem at all.

Went over to the Pasayten with my dog hoping for one last ski trip. Backpacked the Boundary Trail from Iron Gate to Ross Lake many years ago, and wondered what Horseshoe Basin would be like to ski. The 6-hour drive over was fine, except for the free range cows stepping out from bushes onto the paved Toats Coulee Rd.(FS Rd 39). The 5.8 mile Iron Gate Rd. was OK for low clearance vehicles, but rough the last 3.5 miles. Views from the road showed very little snow on the peaks, but I was still optimistic. No other cars at the trailhead.

The 5.5 mile hike in was mostly through burned forest, from last summer's big fire. It got worse the farther I hiked. Some areas were torched, with just black snags and gray dirt, silent, no birds or insects. The Forest Service has done an amazing job of clearing the trail of hazardous and downed trees. There are occasional blow downs now, but nothing difficult to climb over or walk around. I got soot on my pants and boots.

I was planning to stay at Sunny Camp, but never found it. From the scramble I did later looking down, it appears mostly burned.

When I came up over Sunny Pass, it was a whole different world. Rolling open spaces, green trees, few burned areas, very beautiful. I camped at the Pass, at 7200 ft., with fabulous views, but only patches of snow. I think my dog rolled in every patch of snow. That backcountry ski gear certainly was useless weight!

The next day I tried hiking over to Horseshoe Pass, but half way there gave up because of too much snow and postholing on the trail. Should be OK in a few weeks; it's melting fast in this hot weather.

My 3rd and last day I scrambled up a peak on the ridge to the east of the Basin, at about 8,000 ft. Blue skies and T-shirt weather! The 360 degree views were incredible! Remmel and Cathedral peaks were 2 that I recognized. Lots of snow on the ranges. From there , I could get a better perspective on the burned areas--primarily the west side of the Basin, around Windy Peak, and in isolated sections. Over all, I saw a lot more intact forest than what I expected after the hike in.

Terrific scenery, great weather, and solitude!

We left Seattle about 1pm and got to the trailhead outside of Loomis around 10. Granted we stopped a few times but for the most part this was a very long drive for hike. The trail was in great condition. There were streams available all the way to the basin which was nice for a malamute since it was 100 degrees outside. We saw 4 other groups camping but due to the expanse of the basin, we hardly saw them. We camped near Louden Lake. We actually ended up camping high on a hill next to this huge boulder. This turned out to be a good and bad thing. The mosquitos were so bad between 5-10am and 5-10pm that we had to eat in our tent one night. But, camping on the hill did provide some relief because of the wind. So that was good but we did get caught in a horrible thunder/lightening storm and we were kindof out there with little or no protection. That was bad.

We have seen this hike in the 100 Classic Hikes in Washington but because of the driving time always chose to do a different trip. We were not disappointed infact this might be a return trip every year. It was that beautiful!!! And the day hiking from camp was tremendous. We climbed Windy Peak, hiked to Smith Peak and climbed up another mountain (forgot the name) to check out the Canada/USA border. However, if we do this again, we will take hwy 2 to Wenatchee and head north from there. Much faster!

Trip Date - July 2, 3 and 4, 2006. Our road trip was 250 miles from Everett.

I will post video and pictures on my website www.hoofr.com including some of the infamous 6 mile dirt road. please allow a week or so after the trip date. There will be shots from the basin and from the top of Armstrong, including a lightning strike that caught a tree on fire that I captured on video, about 1/4 mile from Louden Lake.

Pre- Ranger Station Report. All freaked out about the imfamous 6 mile dirt road, I called the ranger station. ""high clearance"" vehicles a must I was told. I think this dirt road can get out of shape in bad weather fast, long way to go to stop short by 2 or 3 miles due to a wash out. But, it seems that someone has groomed this road, or keeps it groomed. Maybe 15 years ago the road was real rough? This trip, and the trip in 2004 were both passable with passenger car. You have to be careful, its not a joy ride by no means. Snow was reported to be in the basin by the Ranger Station, but there virtually was no snow, except very high up on the cliffs.

The trail head parking lot was almost full, 3 spots left when we arrived. Only saw 4 or 5 groups of people though. Mostly trucks, a couple Subaru's, 1 chevy Astro Van. No Geo Metro's though.

The Trails were in excellent shape. There was lots of water. The mosquito's were not that bad, be we *did not* camp next to any of the lakes. We used 99% Deet. The temperature was 80 degrees in the sun, but when the thunderstorms rolled through things got cold fast. On top of the Armstrong we were hit with wind and rain, and were run off by lightning. I went up a second time later in the day to get the sunny shots you see.

For those who don't know, there are two monuments on top of Armstrong on the USA/Canada border. Also, the woods have a 10'-20' wide clear cut running west and south that mark the border.

Does anybody know why there are so many black/dead trees in the basin valley area? Maybe older tree groves die out like this naturally?

The flowers were starting to come out, nice blue and purple flowers in the lower meadows. Sorry, don't know the names of the flowers.

TOP PICTURES

1, Top of Armstrong looking NW

2, West side of Arnold looking Southerly

3, Gap between Arnold and Armstrong (Sehumption Gap?)

4, Armstrong East Monument looking East, note the black trees.

5, Early on, beginning of trail near Iron Gate

6, From east side Armstrong over Gap to Arnold Pk.

BOTTOM PICTURE

1, (Me) West Monument Arnold Pk.

2, West Monument Arnold Pk looking NW

3, West Monument again looking southerly into basin

4, South flank of Arnold looking up at rocks from campsite

5, Clouds from campsite

6, Looking westerly at daily thunder/rain storm.

Many more pictures, and panorama's, and video clips posted, www.hoofr.com. go to photo gallery and look for Horseshoe Basin 06

Spent three days in Horseshoe Basin and was completely awed by the views. Slept two nights at Louden Lake. Very very buggy. There looked to be only one established campsite where one is able to have a fire, which helps with the bugs. Other people were set up camp in the meadows. We spent first night on the meadow and second at the established campsite. The bugs were so much better with the campfire!

We spent a day hiking up and all over Armstrong Mt. A full day of exploration can be done up there and the views are spectacular!

Were chased out by a thunderstorm mid-way through our third day. LIghtning, thunder, hail-it was a great sight off in the distance, but not when it came over us!

The drive to Iron Gate Trailhead is definitely far, but the 6 hours from Seattle is beautiful. The 6 mile dirt narrow road leading to Iron Gate Trailhead is not nearly as bad as everyone says. We had a Toyota Corolla and found it to be quite easy to drive on.

This hike is a definite 10!

Took the opportunity of this four day weekend for us to journey the long distance to Horseshoe Basin. Some prior reports had hinted that the drive time via Winthrop and roads 37 & 39 was shorter compared with driving around via Tonasket and Loomis. We went via Winthrop and came home via Loomis (and Sully's Cafe), and actually found the Loomis way to be shorter time-wise. Anyways, we arrived at the trailhead and got started hiking at 4PM on Friday. Found a very quiet hike up to Sunny Pass, and over towards Horseshoe Pass. Only 2 other parties camped (in very obvious spots) at the Pass. We chose a secluded site halfway between the pass and Louden Lake, known as Zacariah camp. Saturday the weather was windy and cold, to the point of scattered sleet and sun breaks. We had a lazy day, wandering up Armstrong (in honor of Lance and the start of the Tour de France), and had lunch in Canada. From there, we explored local meadows and examined flowers up close. Sunday dawned warmer, so we headed over towards Windy Peak. After lots of forest hiking, we first got up to larch country, and then the really cool rocks along the ridge to the final summit. Stellar views luckily were found. All the way to Mt Baker, and a smoke siting from a fire down towards Twisp or Winthrop. We also ran into a group of backpackers who were trying to hike out the loop via Windy Peak and Clutch trails. They were first lost (or temporarily misplaced) at the ridge line. We got them back on track, but from the summit of Windy, we saw them floundering on the ""hard to follow"" section. We don't know, but really hope they made it out. Anyways, that night back in camp, with warmer temps and less wind, proved to be the first evening where the bugs got to be too much. Finally, the last morning, we broke camp early, partly due to the bugs, and more because we knew we had miles to drive to get home. All in all, we thought the area was pretty close to a ""10"", with simply gorgeous meadows, lots of flowers coming on, and big views. We'd really recommend it!!

For a first time backpacker, this was a great trip! We started out early Sunday morning (4am) to drive six hours to get to the Iron Gate trailhead. On a hot day being up over 6000 ft. is a good thing and so our trip began. The trail goes gradually uphill to Sunny Pass without a lot of elevation being gained. We proceeded a bit further to stop and have some food, drop our big backs and head up Horseshoe Mt. This was a nice uphill with some incredible views. Next we headed off to set up camp at a gorgeous little lake called Louden. We were fortunate to have the place to ourselves. For our evening jaunt we headed up Armstrong Mt., and with the sun going down the views were spectacular. Looking out at numerous mountains, there were just enough clouds so that the rays from the sun made a backdrop of blues and pinks. The terrain was very walkable and when you're putting a lot of mileage on your feet this is extremely helpful. Finally after a long day we made dinner and went to sleep. The next day arrived sunny and beautiful. Our intrepid leader and sidekick bagged two peaks while I and friend washed up and enjoyed the morning gearing up for the trip back. The trip back was to make a loop which encompassed our biggest peak, and as we discovered, an aptly named peak, WINDY. This turned into quite an adventure. The sky began darkening as we trekked over boggy marshes to join up with the Windy Peak trail. It was nice to be out of the sun, however the thunder began to rumble, and I'm looking around seeing charred pine trees and began to worry. Continuing onward and upward, it started to sprinkle and the periodic thunder kept going. Our fearless leader kept us going by saying it was sure to pass through and not to panic. Well being a person who has a panic/anxiety disorder this wasn't overly comforting. Anyhow we gamely ventured on as turning around wouldn't have helped. There was snow on the trail in varying depths which was a little tricky, but not too bad. We arrived at a saddle and had a quick lunch break and put on some warmer clothes as it was getting colder and the clouds had solidified over our heads. We reached a spot on the trail where we dropped our packs to make short work of the climb up Windy peak. The wind was so strong I thought I was going to get blown off the mountain, but our leader was determined that all would summit. With icy rain stinging our faces and a cold biting wind, we climbed over the boulders to reach the summit (I did it under duress, thanks to some coercion and help). So our names are signed in the register and I did my first top 100. After achieving this feat, we trekked down. The storm abated and we began the descent back to the iron gate trailhead which was uneventful and long. The total mileage for the trip was about 20 miles. Finally we were back at the car and headed back to the rainy west side of the mountains, tired and foot weary, but successful!

The access road to the Iron Gate trailhead was attrocious. Erosion gullies made 2 wheel drive vehicles problematic. Patches of snow and mud on trail, but arrival at Horseshoe Basin with dry socks can be expected. Several blow-downs would make horse travel difficult, but easy enough for backpackers to scramble around. Counted 4 tents from Sunny Basin to Sunny Pass. Climbs of Horseshoe Mountain and Pick Peak required navigating around snow patches, but mostly snow-free. Flowers were sparse or still emerging. A few mosquitoes with antifreeze in them were out even though overnight temps dropped low enough to freeze standing water. Be prepared for even snow-melt to be peat-colored. The expansive views made it all emminently worth the time and effort.

The stroll up to Sunny Pass is easy and gentle, the modest elevation gain going by almost unnoticed. The pass is a wonderland of color and texture, brown, gray, tan, rust, green, from at your feet to the farthest horizon. Peaks too numerous to count beckon in all directions. You set up your chair, play with your dog, feel the wind in your hair and the wilderness in your soul. The camp in Horseshoe Pass just off the trail is wide open but completely private when the whole valley is deserted except for you. Planets, then stars, then entire galaxies twinkle into existance as the sun's lingering glow disappears. Cold and wind? Ha! That's why sleeping bags and yellow dogs were invented. But tomorrow's adventures call, so goodnight to creation, and you sleep.

Morning, sunlight on the tent, a pooch with a full bladder, the desire for hot, fresh coffee, these pull you from your warm cocoon. Lounge in the sun, let the dog be just a dog, you've both earned it. But the high places call, with a voice filled with power and longing, so chores are hurried through and decisions made: which way to go. Today's choice is Arnold Peak, 8,084 ft. Why? Why not! Up grassy flanks, no trail exists or is needed or wanted. Granite outcroppings, balanced boulders, bonsai trees, toasty fields of ripe grasses, you turn at every other step to record the images for your posterity. Everythng is perfect, yet disordered. The meticulous master gardener who placed every rock just so, last passed this way a thousand years ago, or a million, but his masterwork remains. A ridge is reached, and you look to the far horizons of another nation, north to infinity. There is some fine country there, just like here. It's good to have friendly neighbors. But now on to the peak, the pinnacle, the sublime moment of ultimate achievement, but it is just a pile of rocks slightly higher than the adjacent ground. The peak, the achievement, is in you, not on or in the Earth. You turn in circles, eyes drawn this way and that, to wonders and places that can only be glimpsed from afar. Seven-league boots, that's what you need, to leap gloriously from peak to mountain to summit, seeing each from the others, always a new perspective. But you're here, the center of the universe, and you accept that, and simply yearn in silence for the magical freedom of flight.

Then you divide the world into quarters, imaginary lines north, south, east, west, and spend one quarter of an eternity just gazing in each direction, mesmerized, until it is memorized, burned into the very fabric of your retina, your mind. The whining of your canine companion brings you to the realization that hours have passed in the outside world while the eons passed within you, so you descend, reluctantly, almost tearfully. But there is a ridge, a beautiful, lovely ridge, heading east, away from your camp but going your way, down, that is, so you take it, and the joy continues, the adventure, the discovery. A small, open valley descends finally to your tral and your trudge back to camp, hardly noticing the fine mist of rain that has started drifting down to gently glaze the world in dewey droplets. Lying in your tent, snuggling with your warm friend, a glow permeates you, the true feeling of contentment, of a soul renewed.

Another day dawns clear and bright, a tent to take down, water to filter, mindless chores that hardly intrude on the surrounding wonders of plant and stone. An icy stab of reality, unwelcome, touches you, it's a long way back, and an even longer drive after that, with no desire to begin the journey. So you compromise and head back, but circuitously, randomly, exploring and experiencing as you go. Tiny lakes, huge meadows, forests, then the end, the dreaded car. Seven hours later, you're home, exhausted, exhiliarated, reconstructed, ready to go again, next week or next year or another lifetime.

Arrived at Iron Gate after a tense drive up the last 5.7 miles in our Camry. When you avoid the rocks, you risk getting stuck in the ruts, and vice versa. The sign said that the road is not maintained for family sedans but it is passable if you take it slow. The easy trail into Horseshoe Basin is an abandoned road, much wider than most trails, and it would be impossible to get lost. The mist turned to rain and then snow. We camped near Horseshoe pass - thank goodness the two 15 year old boys in our party (our son and his friend) succeeded in demonstrating that they could build a campfire. In the night, it snowed and sleeted. Next day, the snow melted off and we headed up to Armstrong Mountain and took photos standing on both sides of the Canadian/US border marker. The boys made an undocumented entry into Canada walking along the ridge, headed down the slope, and re-entered the USA without inspection, enjoying their crossing of the 15-foot swath where the trees have been mowed down to mark the international border. Our party reconnected for a stroll to Smith Lake, dinner, and another campfire, followed by a dry, cold, bug-free night. Next day, the boys went up one of the peaks that is not named on the green trails map and we walked up Mt. Arnold where the views were great and the breeze was strong. We then strolled past Louden Lake (plenty of water in it this year) and regrouped for lunch at the campsite. A pleasant walk out, followed by the bumpy ride down the 5.7 miles.

Horseshoe Basin is a total wonderland even though we saw it after the peak flower season. Very few people around on Thursday and Friday. Two days is not enough to explore all the peaks and hikes in the area. While the rounded mountains might not be of interest to climbers, they are wonderful for walkers who like to get to high places but don't like exposure. A great combo of trees and meadows, lofty open ridges, streams, and little lakes. The greens, yellows, oranges and gold of the meadows make soothing vistas. There were a wide variety of mushrooms out. Well worth the long drive from Seattle (320 miles from Iron Gate to our home in Seattle).

We headed for the Iron gate trailhead Thursday night after work and arrived after midnight. The last 7 miles are a slow go, especially for us towing a stock trailer with our pack llamas. This road is still quite passable even with small passanger cars. Plenty of cars and suv's in parking lot. We slept at the trailhead under clear and stary skies and a balmy night. Temps at nearby Tonasket were in the high 90's that day and slated for more of the same in the days to come. We got an early start with plans to go about 5-6 miles into the basin area and set up base camp and explore the basin for a couple of days. This was our first trip into Horshoe Basin. Trail is a very gentle incline and we hardly even broke a sweat. It took less than 3 hrs, even with several stops, to reach Sunny Pass 4 miles up the trail. Words in the books can't do this place justice. We were quie impressed to say the least. Views down into to the basin were breath taking and the vast meadowlands were very lush and green and still covered with flowers. An all you can eat salad bar for the llamas that packed our loads up the hill without complaint. Our 3 llama pack string looked rather small compared to the commercial outfitter we met at Sunny Pass who had 9 llamas grazing at their camp. We enjoyed visiting with this very experienced and consciencious llama packer and shared some information and admiration for each other's animals. Despite approaching noon by now the weather at 7200' Sunny Pass was quite tolerable. There was a nice breeze and no bugs! We set up a base camp below the pass. The next day we explored parts of the basin including nearby Louden Lake and Smith Lake. Both lakes are small and shallow. Smith Lake does hold some fish though. Could be some good dry fly action with a fly rod. Actually some room to back cast in some areas too. Louden apparently can dry up in late summer and didn't appear to have fish in it. Overall the basin has lot's of water this time of year. The camp below Sunny Pass has a spring next to it. Once up over Sunny Pass there is lots of water down in the basin. On the way into Smith Lake there is lot's of water too. The wind did eventually die down and out came some bugs during part of our stay. Overall bug activity was average and tolerable. We encountered about 6 groups of hikers in the basin during our 3 day stay. Some horse packers were also in the area. 2 groups with about 10 horses. This was on top of the 9 llamas the guide had and our 3 llamas. While this sounds like a lot there was plenty of room to give everybody more than enough space and seclusion. No complaints. All in all a very nice hike and a must see area. We would definately do this hike again, despite bumpy last 7 miles that took us 1 hr alone to cover this.

This is a great destination for a holiday weekend. It isn't unknown, but it is far enough away from Puget Sound that it gets relatively little traffic. And, there are so many possible destinations and camps in the basin, it would be nearly impossible for it to feel crowded.

We spent Friday night in the dog friendly Winthrop Inn (not only do they allow dogs, there is a grassy area on their grounds on the river that dogs are allowed to play in) in Winthrop. The next morning we set out to the trailhead via East Chewuck Road to FS Rd. 37 (this takes you past the Tiffany Mt. Trailhead) to FS Rd. 39. This ""back way"" saves you over 50 miles compared to going up the highway through Okanagan, Tonasket and Loomis, and is more scenic to boot. The road is pretty good in most places-passenger cars should be fine, but the road is prone to washouts (3 washouts and 3 repairs just in the last 2 weeks) so call the ranger before heading out. It still took almost 2.5 hours to get to the Iron Gate Trailhead from Winthrop (the last 7 miles, from Touts Coulee Road to the trailhead, are in okay shape. Passenger cars will make it but will need to take it slow). And the basin, of course, was amazing. Incredilbly green and watery this time of year (Louden Lake dries up in late summer; I imagine many of the streams and bogs do as well). There were about 25 cars at the trailhead (!!) which was initially alarming but there was plenty of room for everyone-even Louden Lake didn't look crowded. We camped at Horseshoe Pass, which had been our first choice. There are tons of trails and cross country wanderings to do. We did one very nice loop which took us past Louden Lake, up all three summits of Armstrong Peak to the monument marking the Canadian border (it was very cool to see the cut swath of trees that marks the border), then back down cross country to Snehumption Gap and Horseshoe Pass. A nice after dinner sort of wander is to start on the trail from Sunny Pass to Windy Peak, then take the first side trail down through an old burn into the beautiful green meadows. There is an intermittent trail that takes you back up to the main trail near Horseshoe Pass; this keeps you out of most of the bogs but as the country is so open you don't need the trail, really. We scouted tons of great campsites for future trips-it is amazing how many beautiful little nooks with incredible views there are.

There are some flowers now; according to the ranger we met they'll peak in another two weeks. There was a stiff (chilly) wind that kept the bugs down, but when it did subside there were definitely mosquitos (but no flies or yellowjackets!).

I had been itching to get back on the trails after about 8 months of drinking beer and living the college student life, so I headed as far away as I was willing to go....which was Horseshoe Basin.

It was a comfortable day by Eastern Washington standards. Puffy clouds, intermittant sunishine and no bugs...so we thought. The hike up was wonderful, though not very exciting. Seems a lot of the trees are dying off due to beetles. Whatever the case may be, they atleast provided shaded, dead or alive.

We reached the pass after about 2.5 hours and it was gorgeous. The snow is now melted clear up to 7600' in most cases or easily avoidable. The meadows are completely clear of snow... The bugs however, are a different story.

Good news for bug haters, there were no horse flies or flies of any kind. Bad news is that there is an abundance of mosquitoes in the meadows, particularly at the pass where the human population was concentrated.

As I patiently waited out the sunset, camera in one hand, a sweatshirt in the other hand hectically swatting away mosquitoes, I snapped a few nice shots. Beautiful area, long freakin' drive! Oh, word of advice: after your hike, stop in at O'Carrol's in Okanagon. Sweet Irish Pub!

After another night of car camping, this time at the Iron Gate Trailhead (freezing cold), we headed off for another day hike. The weather had improved over the previous day at Mt Tifanny, but was rather overcast. The trail is almost snow-free and Horseshoe Basin still has some snowfields. This was a marathon 600 mile drive to find some decent weather.It was still nice to spend most of the weekend at 7000ft and not have ten feet of snow underfoot. We saw a herd of Elk near Blewitt Pass on the way back. By the way, coffee is terrible on the east side of the mountains.

I left the downtown REI Saturday at 6:30 pm with my Golden Eagle Hologram firmly affixed to my NP pass, and headed up I-90. I arrived at Iron Gate camp, the trailhead, at 1 am, after stopping for a total of only 30 minutes in 6 1/2 hours, this after working all day. Whew. I saw nothing of the drive since it was dark. To my surprise and delight, the entire area was completely deserted. I slept in the car from 2 until 11 am Sunday. I had breakfast and listened to some of the Seahawks debacle on the radio, and hit the trail promptly at 1 pm. The hike up to Sunny camp is the easiest 4+miles, 800 VF-hike around. I was halted temporarily about three miles in by a herd of cattle ""hogging"" the trail. They looked huge and kind of mean-ish, and they didn't like me circling around uphill of them. They didn't budge for my air horn, nor my brazen ""marching forward while singing loudly"" stategem. Eventually they ""mooved"" aside, and I snuck by, always aware of the distance to the nearest climbable tree (too far!). Once I got past the death cows, the views opened up and I got the first taste of ""horseshoe"", that certain something that this area has. The trees melted away, and grassy chaparal dotted with granite boulders and the occasional larch formed a park-like panorama of beauty. Sunny camp was reached in four easy hours, and I chose the camp right in the central, open, clump of trees, great views both up and down valley. I set up camp, made dinner and a beverage, grabbed some warm clothes, my camp chair, CD player, etc, and went up to Sunny Pass to eat dinner and watch the sunset. Wow. When I die, please bury me at Sunny Pass. Views in all directions, every color of the fall palate, even the rocks and ground itself are colorful. The complete solitude amplified my feelings of oneness with nature. I flashlighted my way back to camp, though the moonlight would have sufficed. I had dreams of cows and their mysterious master, the cowboy in black.

Monday was a day of joy and beauty. I got an early start and had breakfast at the pass, enjoying the views in the different light from the night before. Just after the Albert camp trail junction, I headed off trail at a shallow angle to the right, up towards Horseshoe Mtn. I climbed steadily up, angling over to ""little horseshoe"" for the views into the basin from there. I stopped halfway up at the rocky outcropping put there for just that purpose. I could see a few small fires burning over to the west, north of Windy peak. I kept going up, and reached a saddle between Horseshoe Mtn and little horseshoe. The veiws to Smith Lake and its valley were amazing. The pattern of downed trees, the golden larches, the surrounding mountains, it was breathtaking. The higher up I went, the more vistas opened up. Parkland of the perfect toasty color, dotted with green trees or yellow larches, Louden Lake looking forlorn, bereft of water. All deserted except for me. The top of little horseshoe gave great views of Armstrong Mtn, Arnold Mtn, Rock Mtn, and others. I could see down into the basin, but a lower shelf blocked the view straight down, so I decended to it, and the another shelf was blocking, so down again, and again, until I could look down on the entire area. The wind was blocked as well, so I had lunch and listened to some music. I didn't want to climb back up to the summit, only to have to detour south and then north on the trail, just to get to a place right below me, so I picked out a line that seemed OK and headed straight down the mountain. I was forced to go left of my original line, and the shifting rocks almost got me a time or two, but eventually I hit the trail about 100 yards from the Smith lake junction. Looking up, I couldn't believe I had just come down that. It looked like a cliff with some trees on it. I wandered over towards Smith lake aways, just absorbing the feel of the place. By then it was 4:30, so I hot-footed it over to Louden lake. What a cool place! The sides of Armstrong Mtn are grassy, bouldery, colorful invitations saying ""climb me!"" Louden lake at sunset (almost) is a photographer's paradise, with the trees and their shadows standing like sentinels at attention. I headed back about 5:45, stopping at the best water around, a little stream reached just before H. Basin. Sunny pass at sunset was a second treat in two days! I had not seen any other person since passing through Loomis on Saturday night.

It rained Monday night, but I set a tight camp, so I was snug and warm. The first real cold of the trip was Tuesday morning's wind. I did something I usually don't: I packed up right away and headed out. I wanted to go up to the pass again, but the long drive home weighed too heavily on me. I left at 9:30 am, and got back to the car at 11:40, two hours and ten minutes to go over four miles. I didn't leave until 1 pm, and made it home in an easy 8 hours, going over Hwy 20, stopping often and enjoying the views.

Some things I forgot to mention in the narrative:

The weather was perfect, mild breezes (mostly), daytime highs around 70 with low humidity, sunny skies with just the right amount of puffy white clouds for dramatic effect, nights cool but not cold.

I saw no bugs of any kind.

The trail is the smoothest, nicest, least eroded, easiest-to-walk-on that I have ever encountered.

On the drive out, I finally got to see the whole area. Outstanding! The part from Toats coulee road to Loomis is the nicest, coolest, most scenic stretch of road I have ever driven. I could have taken many great shots of Washington's landscape, if my cards weren't all full.

After spending Thrusday night in Omak I finished the drive into the trailhead, 21 miles from Loomis turn right onto the 5.6 miles of rough road, but scenic with lots of beautiful aspens and maples in glorious colors. Only one car at the TH and he was going in for a day hike. On the trail at 10 am, very nice grade with soft thread but not very scenic till Sunny Pass. Decided to camp near Loudon lake which was dry, so I began a search for water, finding the lake outlet stream to be flowing a quarter mile from the lake. Found a great camp site in the trees up against the SE side of Rock Mt overlooking the basin, and out of the cold wind. Hiking in and finding a camp site took about 5 hours. After supper had a nice campfire and retired at dark and slept great, waking to a frosty morn with frozen ground, which the sun and a clear windless day quickly thawed. After breakfast I was serenaded by a pair of coyotes on the south slopes of Armstrong Mt. I spent the day exploring Armstrong Mt, finding the Canadian boundary marker #103 to be about 80 feet into the US (per my GPS with accuracy of 20 feet). Highest summit was 8150 feet. Saw falcons, hawks, ravens, flycatchers and lots of ground squirrels. Saturday night was uneventful, discounting the visit from Bigfoot and the UFO, but that is another story. Sunday morn I was awaken by snow pellets hitting the tent, so I got the fire started, had breakfast, packed and was on the trail out at 7:30 and back at the TH at 11:40 am, having not seen another person all weekend till the hike out, I met a couple from Omak, she being the granddaugther of the man who started the Tungston mine. They told stories of the old days when the basin was full of big horned sheep. The summers of grazing domesticated sheep (4000 head) and the diseases they carried did the big horns in. On the hike out I saw another hawk, a flock of Mt bluebirds and found cougar tracks in a muddy spot in the trail, a mother and her cub appeared to be following a doe and her fawn's tracks.

We were ""in the neighborhood"" more or less, and so decided to check out Horseshoe Basin trail on a dayhike since I'd been wanting to get there for years and a backpack didn't fit into our schedule this time. The 7 mile road from the paved Forest Service Road (up Middle Fork Toats Coulee) is better than we expected from the book, and looks like it has been graded or worked on this year. We made it fine in a passenger van and saw other passenger vehicles at the trailhead. The trail is in great shape, book says 4.5 to Sunny Pass, Green Trails says 5.5 miles, either way it took us a little over 2 hours each way. Easy grade, total gain only 1200 feet, pretty but not particularly varied until you get a few minutes before the pass. Then, looking around at the lovely open meadows and ridges, you can see why most people set up a camp up here for some rambling. We were sorry to leave! We saw at least 4 or 5 parties on their way out after spending several days up there. Cool, with patchy clouds, no bugs at all.

A two night backpack into the basin. We camped on the shoulder of Arnold Peak. No problems on the road or trail. There were about 7 cars at the trailhead when we started on Friday and about 12 when we left on Sunday. There were lots of empty camps and we also saw quite a few people but not hords. It was very cold! The water in our bucket froze overnight. But that probably kept the bugs at bay. The second evening was a little milder and there were quite a few mosquitoes making up for lost time. I never resorted to deet tho'. No fires allowed but some bozo had one anyway at the lake. We left under black clouds and it hailed a little on the way out. We passed some people going in that appeared little prepared for a storm. This may be the east side but it can get very cold and nasty up there! Take foul weather gear!

Our group of five spent three fabulous days in Horseshoe Basin. The flowers were beautiful and the bugs plentiful. After setting up camp at Louden Lake we walked up the mighty Armstrong Mt. for the mandatory visit to Canada and cheesy photos of Alan, Phyllis, Maria and Greg staddling the border. Saw Ptarmigan as well. The next day we went over to Windy Mt. for fantastic views. After hearing the rumbling of thunder and seeing rain showers over the basin we hot footed down the mountain only to have the sun come out when we got to Sunny Pass. We went to see the cute old log cabin below the pass, now a ranger quarters, and took the stroll back to camp through the lower meadow. That night Alan, Phyllis and I scrambled Rock Mt. to watch the sunset. After doing some howling at the rising moon, we walked back to camp in the dark. A little while later we heard the real thing howling up on Rock Mt. They must have seen us there the whole time, but wanted to let us know that they were back in their domain. A very special evening. Next day we decided to check out Pick Peak on the way out for fabulous views of the basin and Windy Peak. All in all a wonderful trip with a great bunch of companions. I'm sure we left the resident mosquito population well fed!

Thought I'd venture east to wade hip deep in summer's heat. I found what I was looking for and more. The wildflowers rejoice in these expansive meadows; a velvety green cake landscape sprinkled with delicious crumbs of granite.

Drove in from Winthrop via FS road #39 that will test the mettle of any vehicle, but the scenery is worth it, many unexpected pockets of meadow. I saw a Pine Marten cross the road leisurely, and on the Irongate of course, many slow elk (cattle). One bearing a still raw brand menaced the truck briefly, pissed! It took about 2.5 hours from Winthrop.

Four years ago I stayed at Louden Lake but found it without breeze and unbearably buggy. This year I enjoyed the camps of splendid Sunny Pass 7200'. Water is not difficult to find for the initiated, and springs negating the need for treament are not uncommon. Some sparse snow still clings to the ridgetops. Bugs were wisked away by a stiff breeze.

It was hot, but nothing a little shade couldn't fix. I suspect this trip would have been better about four weeks ago. A day hike to Windy Peak was a pleasant ramble through light forest.

I won't elaborate on the trip, as there is already a trip report written by Trail Pair.

Note: The Iron Gate road leading to the TH of this beautiful place has received attention this spring, and is now accessible by almost any car. However, once it's rutted after rain showers, the ruts will harden, making it not so accessible again. If you have ever been turned off by the Iron Gate road, now is the time to go.

No bugs yet, either - but that only means they could hatch at any time. Flowers will be at their height in approx 1.4 weeks.

Another note: no matter when you go, it will always (without exception), snow and sleet while you're setting up camp. Best to boil up some soup and put in a thermos at the TH and sup on that once you pitch camp in the freezing rain and wind 'cause your fingers are too cold to deal with the stove. The 2nd day will be hot with a cool breeze.

I guess this is a trip report.

We set off in cool weather and it got cooler..in fact we landed up hiking in a snow squall...good old north cascades! The basin is all melted out and it was beautiful. Lot's of great camping spots, plenty of water and tons of great day hikes from basecamp. We spent friday hiking up Armstrong mountain to enjoy sesational views, and the thrill of crossing into Canada! A fantastic hike, well worth the drive.

It is a long drive from Kirkland to the Iron Gate trailhead(6 hours), but well worth it! Thursday afternoon we set up camp during a short shower of snow pellets just below Sunny Pass. It was a beautiful camp spot, but a very cold night! The next morning was cold, sunny, and warming. We decided to dayhike to Windy Peak. The first hour was a boring forest walk, actually losing elevation. Once the trail started up the views were fantastic. After returning to camp we decided to pack up and move further into the basin. Our next camp was at Louden Lake, a beautiful spot in a meadow. The next morning we climbed Armstrong Peak, which is relatively easy. The views were great from this peak, also. The trails in this basin are in great shape, and there are numerous places to camp.

Headed east on Friday with my dad (father's day) in search of higher snow levels and surefire good weather. We got both, pretty much.

First order of business was to drive up Cascade River Road to retrieve my car which we stashed for a couple days at the Chevron in Marblemount. Next was the continuation of the LONG drive (~6 hours) to Omak, where we spent the night in a motel (hey I wasn't complaining because I didn't pay for it). We headed up to Iron Gate Trailhead early Saturday morning. Toats Coulee Road is paved and in great shape. It is of course the six mile Iron Gate Road itself that is infamous for being rough. I was able to drive it in my pathetic 1995 Pontiac Grand Am (yeah it's white too :( so I guess that says it can't be in too terrible shape. It was at the very limit of what my car could handle though (at 8mph).

The lady at the Tonasket Ranger Station that I talked to on the phone a few days before the trip was a freakin moron (beyond Iron Gate Road, she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about and whether or not there was snow there, which is odd considering Horseshoe Basin is probably the most popular hiking destination in the Tonasket Ranger District) so we really didn't have much idea what we were getting into. The first 2.5 miles or so were completely easy and snowfree (3 minor blowdown). From there on were intermittant snow patches. Neither travel nor routefinding were overly difficult. Soon enough, we entered the treeline basin approaching Sunny Pass where the occasional patches continued to the pass where we camped because views are really as good here as anywhere. All the snow in the area is very thin and melting fast. It will probably be almost completely gone within a week.

Horseshoe Basin is open for hiking!!

After getting the tent set up and my dad in it for a much wanted nap, I set off to do some ""hardcore wandering."" This activity cannot be done in most areas and consists mainly of hiking cross country as quickly as possible and bagging as many peaks or other destinations as possible in the least amount of time. First I headed off directly towards Horseshoe Peak which loomed 800 gradual feet above camp. This was quickly attained, so I descended to the trail heading towards Horseshoe Pass. This section of trail still has some sortof significant snow on it (boo hoo). Once at Horseshoe Pass, I headed directly up Arnold Peak which had the greatest elevation gain (about 1000 feet) but was completely gradual meadows and tundra. Fun fun. From Arnold, I headed down to the treeless gap between it and Armstrong and then ascended Armstrong and hiked to Canada (woo hoo...). I then descended the same way I came up and made my way back to the snowy trail taking me back to camp. This all took about four hours. Fantastic weather, truly a mountain amusement park.

The night was good (and warm!) and we woke up to filtered sunshine changing quickly to high clouds possibly foreshadowing a negative change in the weather, so we packed up and headed out. Fantastic trip! Very few bugs, little elevation gain, managable snow, good conditions, awesome!

Well, bouded by not knowing where the rain would fall, and not having ever been in the pasayten, headed up to Horseshoe basin just out of Loomis. The drive from Seattle took around 8 hours, but we stopped and tromped though the meadows of Washington Pass. The bog flats right opposite the highway of the base of Liberty Bell, was a breath taking layout of forest, ice and rock. From there the road up to Iron Gate from Loomis was not bad, paved, and then the Iron Gate, with ruts, but Joe and I creaped his neon all the way to the trailhead at Iron Gate. Unless you have a low rider, and not familiar with Mountain Roads, the warnings against the road were overated. We arrived at the trail had at about 9pm, In the beginning the trail followed a wooded ridgeline with small stands of trees soo thick, it reminded me of tales of the Black Forest, once crossed a creek about 1 mile in, the trail began a realively light accent to the base of a pass (can't remember the name of this pass at the moment) but the elevation gain was not bad at all just above 1000 ft over about 4 miles. At this time the it was dark, and the head lamps went on. The trail is a good night hinking trail, due to the open nature of the high county meadows (looking more like pasture). We accended to the pass and set up camp. The wind was cool, but the Basin Spread out before me, and Arnold Mountain and beyond were in clear view. Now what we found in the morning was a prime example on changing weather in the North Cascades. We awoke to about 3 to 4 inchs of Snow. The pass was in a white out condition. Due to the ruts on the road, and not wanting to push the car out of each one of them, we turned back. Once below 6500 feet the snow began to melt, and it was clear that we could have porably waited out the storm. But oh well.

My take on this trail is that if you are a beginning backpacker, or just want the ability to wonder high meadows, without breaking your back over ridges that lay in the Western Part of the State, then this is the trail for you. It is great for packing in, establishing a basecamp and roaming. I will definatly head back again towards the close of the season to fully explore this area.

Mountain Wanderer, Jorj Aldair

We arrived at Iron Gate in the afternoon, with no precipitation and generally dry conditions. Our intention was to hike into Sunny Pass, put down camp for a couple of nights and explore some of Horseshoe Basin.

About two miles in, we hiked into a significant snow fall - which continued most of the way to the basin below Sunny Pass. As we approached the 4 mile point, we became very aware of the strong NNE winds in the tops of the trees.

The trail is in good condition, with only one small remnant of avalanche snow across the trail at about mile 3.5 - it required only a few steps to cross.

We chose to camp in the basin just short of Sunny Pass to avoid the wind that was roaring across Horseshoe Basin and the low cloud that obscured Sunny Pass - and found a very comfortable camp with some clear ground at about 6,950 - even though most of the area was covered with about 6"" new snow.

Wednesday we awoke to brilliant sunshine on Pick Mountain, blue skies beyond - and still air - with a temperature of about 28 deg F. The roaming up through Sunny and environs was very pleasant - although best accomplished out of the snow filled trails which were running with melt water under several inches of rather wet new snow.

The flowers have begun to bloom and by afternoon Wednesday the new snow fall had melted sufficiently around camp for many to show through the snow again.

By Thursday morning, most of the snow had melted, and we had another dry and beautiful day - with only some high clouds - for our afternoon hike back to the vehicle.

This really is a great hike; probably one of the best I have ever been on. Jagged peaks are few, and the ones you see are far away, but the feeling of being in such high rolling meadow land is absolutely incredible. But, good god is the drive long from the Seattle area!

We started out at about 6:30 Wednesday morning to drive the North Cascades Highway Route to Okanogan. We stopped a few times to admire the incredible mountain scenery along the highway, and also to get lunch in Omak. Because of this, and generally relaxed driving, the trip took about 7 and a half hours. I think it would take about 6 if you drove straight there, but what's the point'

Most of the way is on very good paved roads (see a guidebook and/or a map for exact directions; it’s a little involved and you must choose your preferred route) except for the last six miles to Irongate Trailhead. This is on a sparsely maintained dirt road. It is only the last three miles of this road that are any worse than most mountain roads. Moderatly high clearance is necessary if you don't want the bottom of your car to get scratched up a little bit. I drove it in my 1978 Oldse boat of a car. It got a little scratched up, but I don't care. Don't bring nice cars up here. Four wheel drive isn't necessary as the road isn't terribly steep. Just go very slow and pay lots of attention to the road.

When we got to the trailhead, there was a gigantic group of people just sitting there! (actually we didn't see that many people, but there were 20 to 30 backpacks just laying around) We didn't encounter this group on the trail (thank god). This is the Pasayten Wilderness and the group size limit is 12. We still don't know what the group was doing there.

For a trail that's so far away from major population centers, this one is very well maintained. It starts out on an old road that looks more driveable than the one you just drove on. It first passes through a meadow ablaze with wildflowers (paintbrush, lupine, and lots more). The trail then enters incredibly dense lodgepole pine forest that completely blocks out views for miles. This is the hard part of the trip, especially on a hot day. There is nothing to inspire you. The trail soon crosses a creek (last water until near Sunny Pass). The road gradually turns into a trail (I would be hard pressed to say where the road stops and the trail begins). Finally, you enter meadows as you climb to Sunny Pass with views of Windy Peak. This trail appears to have been made for horses so the grade is gentle all the way from the trailhead.

As you contour away from Sunny Pass, the long drive and boring hiking immediately become worth it. The open, alpine meadow scenery is truly inspiring. I would suggest continuing to either Horseshoe Pass or Louden Lake before camping as there is more shelter from the frequent strong winds in the area. When you come to the junction at Horseshoe Pass, take a right on the lesser used trail just a few yards and then walk to the right to a clump of healthy Engleman Spruce. Here is a perfect heavily used campsite next to a creek. If this one is occupied, there is at least one more like it a little further up the trail. There is a fire ring at the site, but don't start fires, there is nothing in the area to burn that isn't alive. Also, don't camp on meadows unless you absolutely have to, if then, don't camp in wet meadows.

It took my friend and I about 3 and a half hours to walk to our campsite at Horseshoe Pass. We weren't walking fast and we stopped frequently to admire the scenery. I would not suggest dayhiking to Horseshoe Basin. The sunrise and sunset weren't particularly fiery, but, to fully appreciate the scenery, you must see it in different lighting. Also, there is an infinite amount of exploring to do. This was our goal for Thursday morning. We got up just after sunrise and packed up our stuff and then took off to experience the basin. Bring water, a sweater (because of cold winds), and a camera of course. Also, you must have a map and compass so you don’t get lost in the sometimes featureless terrain.

First we took the main trail to Louden Lake (really just a large pond). There are some more great campsites here on the opposite side of the lake. We then struck out off trail to climb Armstrong Mountain. The climb up meadows is fairly steep (but not technical at all) Also, the elevation (7000-8000 feet) will probably get to you a little bit if you live near sea level. The best views of the Louden Lake area of the basin are from a little less than halfway up Armstrong. We made it to a false summit on the south side of the large mountain and descended slightly to a pile of rocks in a saddle for protection from the wind.

From here on, the immediate scenery is completely alpine with very low growing plants and only a couple of the smallest “trees” you can imagine (only about a foot high). After a rest, we continued north to a saddle between the two peaks. We first scrambled up the one to the west to stand by the 103rd Boundary marker between the US and Canada. Yes we hiked to Canada. We then walked across the nearly flat, windswept basin above 8000 feet to the other peak (a little higher still) which had a large cairn on it. The views west to the rest of the Pasayten Wilderness were incredible. The Cathedral Peak area was the closest and most obvious. Even the main crest of the cascades was visible in the incredibly clean, dry air of this area. We even saw what we think was Mt. Baker! I checked it out on my TOPO! maps program when I got home and it would be technically possible to see the upper third of Baker from where we were; 90 miles away. Wow. From this summit, you could wander a tundra ridge far into Canada to even higher mountains.

We descended on the opposite (East) side of Armstrong Peak to Snehumption Gap between Armstrong and Arnold Peaks. This side was a little steeper and was a little nerve racking going down and would be hard on the thighs going up. We stayed near the northern jagged crest because it looked a little easier. If you don't have the time or energy to climb a peak, go to this gap. The scenery here is nearly as alpine as from the peak. From the gap, it appears that you could descend north into a glacier carved basin with a beautiful stand of subalpine larch. A path leads from the gap back towards Horseshoe Pass (you wouldn’t be able to find it from Horseshoe, just go cross country). This pretty much wrapped up our wanderings for the morning. We went back to the Pass and packed up camp. We then hiked back to the parking lot on already sore feet. As always the car was a beautiful sight.

This hike is very do-able for almost anyone who has ever backpacked 5 miles before. It is definitely worth it in my opinion despite the long and partly rough drive to the trailhead. (I don’t think the drive from the Vancouver B.C. area would be nearly as long) Bring LOTS of water later in the summer. There should always be a water source somewhere but many of them dry up. It can also be very hot, or very cold, or very windy, or all three at once here in mid-summer.

After a six hour drive from Seattle, we arrived at the trailhead ready to get out of the car and hike. To get there, we drove to Winthrop, and then took forest service roads 37 and 39 to Iron Gate Road. This is different than most books describe, and is quite scenic. But it takes just as long as driving to Omak and then Loomis, and I actually recommend the latter, since it is all pavement and the drive from Winthrop to the trailhead is 2.5 hours on dirt road.

A note about Iron Gate Road. It is 6.4 miles from the road beginning to the trailhead, and it is the bumpiest road I've ever been on. We were in a small car, but I seriously don't recommend driving it with anything other than a four wheel drive vehicle with some clearance. Most books say it's bumpy, but it's nearly impassible by cars.

The trail is easy to follow and climbs very gently. Watch out for horse poop. At 4.5 miles or so, you'll be in gorgeous meadows and climbing gently to Sunny Pass (7200 ft). We arrived at Sunny Pass within 2 hours. It was warm and there was no snow anywhere. The views are amazing and the sunsets spectacular. We found a nice flat spot on a ridge and set up camp. It was getting dark by the time we finished our dinner, so we called it a night and went to bed, planning on doing some exploring and hiking in the morning.

Unfortunately, we woke up to wind and snow. Now this was a lesson for me, as we were not really prepared for that type of climate: even if it's 85 in Winthrop, it can start snowing in Horseshoe Basin the next day. All of eastern Washington was quite cold that morning, but if you head up there, be prepared for anything. About an inch had accumulated when we packed up our stuff and left, and it was not showing signs of letting up. Snow was falling all the way down to 6300 feet.

We saw several deer, but that was about it. It's a gorgeous place, but I'm not sure if it's worth the drive from the Seattle area.

After driving seven very rough miles to Iron Gate trail head 6100 feet the first half mile of the trail was a cake walk. After reaching sunny pass at 7200 feet the view is spectacular and trails are snow free into the Horseshoe basin (Louden Lake) and beyond.

The drive to the trailhead is very long - over 300 miles from Seattle and 7 hours to cover it. The Iron Gate road to the parking lot is rough but passable for passenger cars. It's not a matter of having 4WD - you simply need high clearance. Drive slowly and pick your line carefully and you'll make it.

Hike through forest on an old dirt road for about 2 hours to reach Sunny Pass. Patchy snow apppears from there, but it's never a problem. You might want to bring gaiters for the mud, however!

Yes, there's mud but that means there's also plenty of water, and plenty of wildflowers. This is easily one of the best displays in the state right now - meadows are literally covered in white, yellow and purple.

I climbed Armstrong Mtn. (easy w/topo & compass) to a monument on a false summit at the Canadian border. There's a clearcut through the forest in the valley that marks the border. It's interesting for a minute and then becomes annoying. It's impossible to photograph the peaks to the west without the border slash in the shot. Views are great nonetheless. Views into the Horseshoe Basin south towards Louden Lake, Pick Peak and Windy Peak are best from about halfway up Armstrong.

Overall, this is a great area to do a remote, multi-day hike. It's a bit far for a one-nighter.

My wife and I decided to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary backpacking to Horseshoe Basin in the Pasayten. Weather was a toss up so we decided to be prepared for anything. It's exactly 303 miles from our home in Maple Valley to the Iron Gate Trailhead elevation 6,100'. The last six miles is on an unmaintained forest road #500, and I wouldn't recommend anything but four wheel drive. Expect to see a lot of deer at Hodges Horse Pasture and watch out for all the grazing cattle, they seem to think they have the right of way. The road to Iron Gate was free of snow and there was only a few patches of snow all the way to Sunny Pass, elevation 7,200'. Occasional snow covered the trail from Sunny to Horseshoe Pass where we camped on 7/1/99 and most of the campsites were open. Partly sunny weather started to turn a little darker in the afternoon. My NOAA radio promised clearing skies at 6:00pm but it started to snow around midnight and we woke to three inches of snow and about a twenty five degree temperature. NOAA now promised more snow and thunderstorms so my wife and I reluctantly decided to cut our visit short and hiked out at 9:30am in the falling snow. We didn't get an opportunity to explore or scramble up any of the 8,000' peaks in the area. We look forward to coming back in the near future and revisiting a very beautiful meadowland.

We arrived
at Irongate trailhead to find a parking lot filled with enough horse trailers to move a small cavalry regiment. The trail, wide enough for chariots, was easy walking up to Sunny Pass. Actual distance seemed shorter than reported in various guides. There were several large horse encampments in the basin. Fortunately, the area is large enough for dispersed camping and there are numerous established sites. Loudon Lake still contains a fair amount of water. There was a very large herd of domestic sheep pastured in the valley below Armstrong Mtn and Arnold Peak.