Cutthroat Pass via Cutthroat Lake, Cutthroat Pass via the Pacific Crest Trail — Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021

Took advantage of the great weekend weather and pending North Cascades Highway winter closure to do a thru hike of Cutthroat Pass from Cutthroat Lake to Rainy Pass. Neither trailhead lot was plowed -- parked along the highway at Rainy Pass but was able to drive in to the Cutthroat Lake trailhead along established (icy) tire tracks without tire traction.

[Start] Cutthroat Lake Trailhead: Restrooms are open but no longer maintained for the season. Only saw 2-3 other cars at the trailhead when we arrived at 9 AM.

Cutthroat Lake: Started with microspikes right from Cutthroat Lake trailhead and broke trail (w/ snowshoes) to the lake. The main log bridge is broken, but we cleared snow off the top and carefully crossed the creek anyway. Cutthroat Lake is already frozen over and the remaining larches are well past prime.

Cutthroat Pass: Making our way up to the pass from the lake, we continued on in snowshoes. We encountered a couple groups (without snowshoes) who had opted to turn around due to high snow levels. Broke trail starting ~2 miles from the pass, which was very slow-going due to 3-4 feet of soft powder snow. Wish I had brought tails for snowshoes because I was still sinking down quite a bit with each step. Made it to the pass much later than planned and only saw 1-2 other sets of snowshoe tracks. (No tracks to/from the PCT split.) Despite sunny weather, it was windy and cold at the pass, so we quickly got a move on for the remainder of our thru hike.

From Cutthroat Pass: The trail wasn't quite broken yet coming down toward Rainy Pass, so we broke trail (semi-following a stray set of snowshoe prints that went straight up the valley). Snow levels in the valley were consistently 3-4 feet of soft, powdery snow. Still many larches, but certainly past peak. Progress was still slow-going, and we finally spotted tracks just over 2 miles from Rainy Pass. All creeks are flowing though crossings were manageable; some trail sections were wet and flowing (no snow). Tip: Check on your snowshoes regularly; it's easy for ice to build up, especially as you pass creeks.  

[End] Rainy Pass Trailhead: After getting to the trailhead (after dark), we hiked the ~0.3 miles out of the parking lot, spending some time de-icing our snowshoes before heading out.