My goal was copper ridge fire lookout, but after seeing the amount of snow at Hannegan pass I decided to head up to the peak instead. The trail is clear to the cut off to Hannegan campground which is totaly snow covered. The continued trail is clear until Hannegan pass where people have set up tents. Large snow patches to Hannegan peak, but easly navigated. The first major creek on the hike in is hard to navigate on the way out since the hot weather brings more melt water down in the afternoon. Some navigating is required around snow bridges that are thin. 40+ cars in the parking lot on the way out. Most people headed up to Mount Ruth. I saw about 2 dozen. Its nice doing this hike before the bugs are bad.

Summary: snow and a bear! The last half-mile of the trail really isn't a trail - it's all snow. We wore crampons and used poles, and still got pretty nervous at how steep and slick it was so we turned around about 300 yards shy of the pass. (Since I had just had a cast removed from my arm, it was probably a wise choice to avoid slipping and falling!) We also encountered a rather stubborn bear on the way down. He sat about 3 feet off the trail. Despite 4 of us yelling and clapping, he refused to move for about 15 minutes. He even snorted and growled a bit, so we gave him plenty of time and plenty of room. There were a few blow-downs, creeks and a few other large snow patches which were fairly easy to navigate.

This was a shakedown hike for my new job working for the North Cascades Mountain Goat Research Project. Hooray, after all these years I'm getting paid (badly) for hiking! Although there were eight of us total as opposed to my usual total lack of company, and I certainly would have chosen better weather, and probably a different hike, it was actually still a lot of fun. Bad weather is a lot more tolerable with seven other people being miserable with you... The road is clear to the trailhead, although I thought it was definetely disconcerting that there was a snowpatch right in the parking lot. The trail started out mostly bare however with only a few snowpatches in the first several miles. Two or three of these patches though were gnarly hollowed out avalanche gully creek crossings though. Definetely use care here for the next couple weeks. In the last half mile or so before Hannegan Camp, the snow patches become somewhat more consistent although the trail was never lost. Hannegan Camp lies in the currently very snowcovered, but pleasantly open basin just below the pass. We set up camp here in mid afternoon Wednesday. Fortunately we were able to hike in with only a little mist, but plenty of overcast. It misted off and on through the evening, but nothing terrible. Actually the weather treated us quite well, beginning to rain right as we went to bed, with the last heavy shower right before we got up. It just misted on us some more today. In the morning, we made a short hike up to the pass to practice using the equipment necessary for the rest of the summer. Overall, I'd say this area really isn't open for hiking just yet. It's certainly doable, but it'll probably be a lot more pleasant in a couple weeks. Very few bugs so far, only on the lowest section of the trail. Oh, and the trail is very well brushed, so much more pleasant to hike after rain or dew than early last summer. There was only one blowdown, not too difficult.

Left Bellingham in the afternoon on the 7th for Hannegan Pass trailhead. Weather couldn't have been better. The trail is in great condition and a lot of the brush has been cleared so on a dewy morning, you wont get soaked. The descent down from Hannegan Pass is quick and painless and you can see from the trail where the it begins to ascend up to the ridge. I met two old people who bitched about how the Copper Ridge trail ""goes up 500 ft and down 500 ft and up 500ft....and so on."" But, as I found out, the trail is a fairly mellow trail once you gain the crest. You ACTUALLY stay on the top of the ridge the entire time instead of continually crossing over the ridge only to descend a couple hundred feet and then pick that up again and descend down the otherside and so on. I did not hike the entire trail but instead picked a nice spot with a view of Shuksan, Baker, Ruth, Icy, etc and pitched the tent. Beautiful sunrise and that stars were brilliant. The blueberries are just starting to turn the slopes into that fiery red.

I left the Hannegan Pass TH at 8:00 Wednesday morning and enjoyed the early morning walk up to the pass. Berries are excellent in the vicinity of the pass. After a short break and visit with some people enjoying a day hike up Hannegan Peak, I ventured down into the Chilliwack valley. Boundary Camp was reached in no time, and I realized that I was on schedule to be at U.S. Cabin Camp at a ridiculously early time. So I elected to drop my pack and venture up Copper Ridge with only my water bottle. The views were excellent from all along the ridge. Having done Easy Ridge numerous times en route to Challenger, I must admit to having dismissed Copper Ridge as ""second rate"" in the past. Not any longer. Copper Ridge offers an entirely different perspective of the peaks in the vicinity, and much better views of Challenger in particular. I descended back to my pack at Boundary Camp and continued the descent down the Chilliwack. It's worth noting that most streams east of Hannegan Pass are dry. Hells Gorge, which I have photographed as a thunderous waterfall in mid-July, is nothing more than a trickle equivalent to the release of your kitchen faucet. Amazing. I arrived to an empty U.S. Cabin at 4:00 pm and relaxed for the evening. Later, a couple arrived who were also en route to the same destination as I. The next morning I was on the trail at 7:20 and at the cable crossing shortly after. The cable car has been repaired, though it is in some desperate need of some Moly Grease! It is slow, LOUD (upon hearing it on my return, I still had over a mile of trail to hike before reaching it), and challenging for the last 20 feet or so as you are pulling yourself uphill. It wasn't until my return that I realized the last 20 feet was easier with a two-handed lunge pull in which you could use your body weight, vs. the hand-over-hand method I had previously used. From the cable car I followed the trail to the junction with the Chilliwack River trail and headed up Brush Creek, where a trail crew was busy at work repairing the damage inflicted in the winter of '03. It doesn't take a trained eye to see all the sweat they have put into this area - thank you. WARNING: Yellow Jacket nest in the trail ~100 feet before the crossing of Brush Creek. I missed it the first time, though they didn't miss me... The trail then climbs past Graybeal Camp and on up to Whatcom Pass. The views of Easy Ridge are amazing. Everything is so vertical from this side, and it picks up the morning light well. I soon arrived at Whatcom Pass and the unsigned 3-way junction. I took a left and began my ascent up the ridge towards Tapto Lakes, my destination for the evening. The trail is quite straightforward and wastes no time climbing out of the trees of the Whatcom Pass area - my kind of trail! The views get better and better with each step, until all of Challenger and Whatcom are viewed unobstructed and one can peer all the way down their vertical rock to the canyon below. I arrived at camp at 12:30 and took a short nap. I later wandered around the various lakes and enjoyed the different perspectives each offered. Around 3:00 or so, the clouds began to roll in. The temperature dropped as the sun disappeared behind a thick curtain. I knew a change in the weather had been forecast, but was hoping it would hold out just one more day. Now it appeared that all my work would have to be repeated at a future date in order to photograph. Just as disappointment was becoming a certainty, the clouds began to part and allowed the evening light in. The lighting was incredible the rest of the evening. The next morning I climbed back up the ridge and photographed early light on Challenger and Whatcom Peak. It was a beautiful morning once again. I stumbled upon the couple that I had shared U.S. Cabin with and visited for a while. They had chosen to camp on the ridge and descend to the lakes for water. Interesting choice. I descended back to camp deep in deliberation as to whether I should stay for a second night. It was a tough decision. Ultimately, I decided that other opportunities existed. I packed up and hit the trail at 9:20, a late start for me. The trip out was uneventful, other than my feet beginning to remind me of the mileage I had put on them and warning me that enough was enough. At Copper River Camp I stopped to soak my feet in the little water I could find and had some lunch. Ah, much better. This seemed to give me a second wind and allowed my to scoot by Boundary Camp, ascend to Hannegan Pass, and arrive at Hannegan Camp at 5:00. I set up camp, rested for about 20 minutes, then grabbed my camera gear and headed back up to the pass and up Hannegan Peak for sunset on Ruth Mountain. The legs were noodles by this point, and the feet hamburger. The going was slow. I reached the summit in about 40 minutes and enjoyed the evening light on Ruth Mountain and the Ruth Glacier. It was worth the effort. The next morning was an easy trek out to a full parking lot at the TH. Some final notes: There is a lot of road construction along SR 542 on weekdays, starting at the town of Glacier. Also, I was amazed at the lack of wildlife encountered along this trip, especially with the berries being ripe everywhere. Not a single, bear, deer...anything, other than the occasional chipmonk. More pics to be posted soon at www.mountainscenes.com