First warning, HYW 542 just east of Glacier will close down completely during daytime hours on weekdays in late july and early august, so check closure times before you leave. The Copper Ridge loop is a classic North Cascades hike, and one of the best scenic areas I've ever seen. The trail up Hannegan Pass is well made and well traveled, and the 1 mile side trip up Hannegan Peak offers great views. I did the loop counterclockwise, I continued straight on the Chillwack River trail. The trail is a little bushy just befor and just after US Cabin Camp, but between Brush Creek and Indian Creek the trail is very overgrown, the bushes were 5 feet over my head and I couldn't see the trail, and my legs were bleeding a little, so I'd suggest putting on pants for this 2 1/2 mile section. Above the suspension bridge over Indian Creek is a waterfall with a deep pool below it, which makes for a cold, refreshing swim on a hot day. 1 mile after Indian Creek is the juction to the Copper Ridge trail, whick soon crosses Indian Creek. Immediately after crossing Indian creek look for the two orange flags that direct you to take a sharp left turn, even though there are many foot prints that keep going straight ahead, they soon end in the bush. Chillawack River is easily crossed on a log. Now the trail gains 4,000 feet of elevatoin on it's way up to Copper Mtn Lookout. A must stop is Copper Lake, a great place to go swimming and lay in the sun.

Hannegan Pass and Peak Trail is excellent! We started at the trailhead around 10am. We planned to get there earlier, but there is major construction on Hwy 542. Be aware! Some delays could be 30-60 minutes. We only had to wait about 15 minutes only to find out that the road to the trailhead was about 100 yards in front of us! Make sure you tell the construction guy and maybe he'll let you go ahead. Also, the construction is from 7am-7pm Mon-Fri and on some Saturdays. So don't go at those times and you can skip the delay. The road to the trailhead had a decent amount of potholes.....drive slow. Once we got going, the views began VERY early on the trail! This trail was all about views as you slowly (usually) ascend up the mountain side. There was a nice blend of sun and shade too. Great waterfalls. My wife and I couldn't stop at the pass though, which is about 4 miles up the trail. We continued the quite steep ascent to the peak. There are switchbacks though to make it easier. The snow began at the pass. Much of the trail was open though and not until more towards the top did we have to traverse larger amounts of snow. At the peak there are wonderful 360 degree views!!! We ate lunch and slid back down on our boots. Fun. This is a pretty long hike for a day hike and by the time we had finished all 10 miles, we were quite sore and tired. We thought we had enough water, but we could have used a little more. If you are fit, go for the summit. It was worth it.

The whole family and I made it to the top of the peak. Hannegan trail is snow free all the way to the pass and only a couple of patches on the way to the peak. Thanks to the trail crew that worked on this trail. They did some nice work.

Am I insane? This climb of Ruth was only the end of a 60 hour marathon that also included a full day of work, two school days, a hike up Mailbox Peak, and about three and a half hours of sleep. The climb itself began at about 10PM thursday night when my girlfriend and I were discussing what we should do the next day. Somehow, the best we could come up with was to leave as soon as possible and go climb Ruth. We wanted to leave so early because I knew there was quite a bit of fresh snow up there and it was supposed to be really sunny and warm. The drive to the trailhead was uneventful except for a creek across the road close to the trailhead. This creek and its associated rubble require a little bit of clearance (no ferraris up here, hahaha), but my Pontiac made it through just fine. It was dark of course as we headed up, but we didn't need headlamps because of the full moon, and it started to get light soon anyway, the sun rising on sefrit soon before Hannegan Camps. The trail actually appears to have been recently brushed out but I assume that must have been late last season. There were a few slides across the trail from last fall's rain storms, but nothing that really significantly impeded progress. There was very little snow on the trail to Hannegan camps and that was mostly in the stream gullies. After the camps, the trail looks to be snowcovered to the pass. The best way to continue though is to head into the open basin where the camps are, and then up open snow slopes to the pass. For the way up Ruth, my girlfriend actually wanted to take a shortcut around the right side of the little peak directly up from Hannegan Pass. I gave her the benefit of the doubt although it looked unlikely to me. When we got up there, we had the option of climbing a 50 degree snowfield or traversing 45 degree snowslopes, both with a terrible runout. This didn't look particularly fun to me and, considering it was her first climb, I deemed it unsafe although she was doing very well on the 40 degree snowslope we were on and was completely willing to continue; freakin fearless. Anyway, we traversed the snowslopes around to the standard route and continued up that way, now following tracks which made the traverses a little easier. There was indeed some fresh snow up there, but it had compacted quite a bit and appeared to be well bonded to the layer below. We weren't too worried about it, except for maybe one area right near the summit of Ruth where it had built up to about two feet of fresh over the base and the slope was a little steep. Overall though the snow conditions were quite perfect. Eventually, after much toiling through the deepening snow, we made it to the summit. I gave her a big hug for her first completed climb and we admired the view. Both other times I've been here, there have been some clouds, but it was completely clear this time which was cool. The way down was easy but quite warm and the snow pretty slushy. There is a slope directly above Hannegan Pass that, when it melts off, has a very direct climbers trail going straight up it. Right now though, it's 40 degree snow, the steepest required terrain of the whole trip. Needless to say, the drive home required a lot of caffeine.

Patches of snow in the parking lot, and one washout that is drivable on the way to the trailhead. Only a few patches of snow are encountered on the trail, but there were about 7 avalanche gullies that ranged from 10 to 30 feet across that covered the trail heading up the Ruth Creek Valley. These swaths are steep and range from 30-40 degrees and go all the way to the valley floor, so watch your step! Constant snow was encountered 1/4 mile before the pass. One trail washout was right before Hannegan Pass as well, with losse mud and debris that made it somewhat difficult to cross. www.cascadeguide.com