Though we have spent many years hiking and climbing in the Nooksack drainage of the North Cascades, we had never hiked Copper Ridge. We finally did August 2-4, and what a grand hike it is. The familiar climb to Hannegan Pass was as expected; some minor brush and vegetation which in the early morning was a little wet- watch for nettles! From the pass, we descended to Boundary camp, then began the climb to the ridge. There are a couple of blowdowns that are a little tricky with a pack. Once on the ridge, the views are spectacular. We camped at Silesia camp, which is on the ridge itself, instead of descending to Egg Lake. We had no trouble finding water, the first night walking down toward Egg Lake, the second from a snowfield near camp with good runoff(we had brought water bags). The second day we hiked to the lookout and to Copper Lake. The views just get better, and the flowers were near their peak. Both nights at camp, a breeze and cool temperatures kept the bugs to a minimum. Hiking out the last day, the flies were bad from Hannegan camp to the trailhead- hike early in the day to avoid them!

Since we had a great time at Shriner Peak last week, we decided on another 'peak' hike. It has been a whole week since our last hike, we couldn't wait to get on the trail! The day started out cloudy, but turned out to be decent for views in the afternoon. We got a late start and didn't get to the trailhead until 12:30. The road to the trailhead was mostly paved, until the last 6 miles or so, but even then, this has got to be one of the best gravel roads. The trail itself was in great shape, all the way to the summit. It climbed moderately for the first 4 miles to Hannegan Pass, and from there onward, STEEP- 1200 ft in the last mile from the pass to the peak, that took us 45 minutes! Nice panoramic views of mountains at the summit. We took a long sandwich break up there before heading back down. We only encountered a few groups of people on the trail and saw a few US border patrol folks having lunch at the pass. Lots of wildflowers and very few bugs! Drive- 2.5 hours from Woodinville Elevation gain- 3100 ft Up time- 2.25 hours Down time- 2 hours

7 days full of adventure. Started out on Hannegan Pass th on one of the hottest days of the year. Beautiful but not much water in the first 2 mls. Then blessed water in several well spaced waterfalls and creeks. Only a few deadfalls to cross on this section. As we dropped into valley more deadfalls but incredible views. There is a horribly brushy patch just past US Cabin Camps and it's loaded with stinging nettles. Brush continues on and off up the Chillawack as far as Bear Creek Camp. Lots of deadfall down. Great hike we saw more animal poop than people! Hike to Whatcom pass has some brush down low and more downed trees. There is also a multiple crrek crossing just below Graybeal Camp. But all in all a 20 on a 10. The solitude was fabulous the scenery amazing and the company outstanding.Enjoy! PS Tapto is a must see if you hit Whatcom Pass.

We spent the weekend doing two fabulous dayhikes with Sadie's Driver and Hiker Jim. Saturday morning we hiked to Hannegan Peak in mostly cloudy weather. The trail is now snow free to Hannegan Pass, and the campsites below the pass are 50% melted out. We encountered only patches of snow below the summit, and the summit is snow free. There are a few nice campsites on the summit, but soon there will be no snow left for a water source. We spent the night car camping at the Hannegan Trail Head, among noisy neighbors. Sunday morning brought clear skies for the hike to Yellow Aster Butte. Once again, there are only a few snow patches on the entire route.We continued from the ""false summit"" to the westerly true summit. In her book ""75 Scrambles in Wa"", Peggy Goldman suggests an alternate route down from the true summit, which we did. Just below the summit we headed westerly from a low point on the ridge, dropping to the basin below. Four people went down before us with just poles, but we were glad we had ice axes since the snow was fairly hard. It was a fun glissade. We then hiked by a couple of the tarns, and then ascended 200 ft. on trail back to the junction with the boot path to Yellow Aster Butte. This made a fun loop. Both of these are prime dayhikes or backpack trips.

If it was solitude Sadie was seeking this weekend - she picked the wrong destination. She's got her out of town cousin staying for 3 weeks while the owner is off enjoying the wilds of Australia (that would be daughter #2). Clover is a cute little bugger and just full of it - runs poor Sadie ragged. Heck Clover is only 7 months old! Sadie is a ""mature"" soon-to-be 8 year old. So, the two checked the hiking books and picked Hannegan Peak - with an overnight at the trailhead and then a second hike on Sunday to Yellow Aster Butte. It was a last minute decision - late on Friday night. Trail Pair, Hiker Jim and the driver just couldn't decide what to do - with Clover along we weren't sure what she could handle and how she would do in the snow - and if anything happened to her, the driver would be toast! So, this seemed like a fairly benign option. We left Seattle at 7:00 a.m. When Hiker Jim showed up to load up the car, he was feeling much the same as many of us, given the events of the past week. But we were committed to being out in the mountains we love so much and were so happy to see so many others equally as convinced that the murders of Susanna and Mary should not make us fearful, but even more determined to rejoice in what is so beautiful in the world around us. I was so happy to see several women on the trail this weekend - some hiking alone, some in two's and one larger ""take by the trail"" group. These hikes are dedicated to the spirit and memory of two remarkable women who seemingly wouldn't want it to be any other way. We got to the Forest Service facility in Glacier right at 9:15 a.m. where we met up with Trail Pair. Off we headed to the Hannegan trailhead. When we arrived, there were cars parked down the road even before the parking area - we knew we were in for a full house! The parking lot was full - there were probably 30 cars. This also is the access point to a lot of other trails, such as Ruth Mountain (which we seriously considered adding to our list today - more on that later). But, we were in luck, it appeared that the last available campsite - right by the trailhead was available - so we quickly threw one of the tents up - loaded up our day packs and headed up the trail. None-to-soon for Sadie and Clover. They were ready. I'm sure Clover covered the distance of our hike x 3 by the end of the day. We were on the trail by about 10:00 a.m. Didn't really see a lot of people on our way - most were already on the trail or would come later. We stopped for many, many picture breaks - it was soooo beautiful looking up the valley of Ruth Creek and back down it. Before long, Ruth came into view, along with the ""arm"" - very tempting. (for more pics, go to www.nwhikers.net and look for the Hannegan Peak report by Sadie's Driver) We made it to the ""campgrounds"" below Hannegan Pass in good time - the dogs were loving all of the available water along the way - don't know how long it will last, but the snow melt is providing lots of water right now. The trail is muddy in some places - but not bad. There are a few blow-downs you have to scramble over - but again, very manageable. The bugs weren't bad. Lots of them around, but they didn't seem to be in a biting mood. So no deet today. How lovely. The sunny day we were promised was really much more, partly cloudy - but the temperature was lovely - especially for the climb that was to come. The camping area is a nice place - lots of campsites, plenty of water, a cooking area and a lovely little biffy with a view! Sadie even found a pond to take a quick dip in - Clover wasn't too interested. From the campground to Hannegan Pass is a good climb - not too tough, but it will get your heart beating. At the Pass, there are several ways you can go - south towards Ruth (and up a nasty, rutty, rooty and steep trail to begin), or out toward Boundary, Copper Ridge and beyond to the northeast, or northwest toward Hannegan Peak - our destination today. Up we went. There was a trip report about two weeks ago that said everything was covered in snow - what a difference a couple of weeks make - the snow as spotty at best - and replaced with acres and acres of gorgeous flowers. It was amazing. The trail itself is a nice little switchback number - getting steep and straight in a few spots - but nothing anywhere close to a Mailbox Peak steep - as the books would have you to believe (maybe that was the old trail). Once up on the Peak it's a lovely spot. Plenty of room for camping and since there is still snow around, there would be water. We could see peaks all around - but because it was so cloudy, we never really did get a clear view of Shuksan or Baker. We wandered over and looked at Granite Mountain from the edge of Hannegan - thinking about a scramble that direction - but decided not to. We saw some beautiful, speckled ptarmigan with their babies. After a lovely lunch (Sadie had the audacity of stealing half of Bob's sandwich - that's what he gets for giving her treats - if she thinks she's not getting her fair share, she'll take it! You have to be quick) - we headed back down. We had been watching the hordes of people who were doing Ruth today - there must have been at least 18 - 20. It was amazing. It looked like the snow was in perfect condition. We saw perhaps 8 - 10 folks on Hannegan. So, solitude there wasn't! The trip back down was uneventful, but it certainly seemed a lot longer than the hike up. We decided that we probably did about 11 miles and gained around 3300'. We got back to our campsite - set things up and had a lovely dinner. Unfortuantely, a group of guys had decided to share our space with us - which put them about 30' from us. That wasn't so pleasant. Oh well, we had our three tents with Sadie and Clover sharing space with me - a two dog night! They were very well-behaved. Both of them collapsed when they got back to camp - managed to get down some dinner and then hit the sack by about 9:00 p.m. Lots of other dogs in the camp area, but all were well behaved. To be continued - tomorrow's adventure: Yellow Aster Butte.