Cathedral Pass Loop — Thursday, Jul. 4, 2024

7/4-7/7
Over all: very little snow, very little blowdowns, lots of water, lots of bugs.
Routes to Cathedral, Apex, Amphitheater, and Remmel were fairly straightforward as described in the route descriptions with cathedral having the most exposure.

Day one:
We started from the thirty-mile trailhead sometime around 8 or 9 am and hiked the cathedral loop counterclockwise (Chewuch Trail ->Tungsten Trail -> boundary trail). The trail was in great condition with beautiful wildflowers. Great smells and birds singing were a plus. There is a set of horseshoes up at the tungsten mine camp so we stopped to play for a bit with some entirely made-up rules. Continuing on, we set up camp near Apex Pass and went up to the peak. Between the pass and peak was quite wet and our trail runners became one with the bog. We hung out with some horned larks at the summit doing silly dances.
18ish miles

Day two:
Apex pass to Cathedral pass! We scrambled up Cathedral. The 'chasm' on Cathederal certainly requires some scrambling and navigation skills. The first crossing is doable on stable snow. For the second, I chose to do the step and mantle move rather than the jump and then jumped on the return. This would certainly be a high-consequence fall. My buddy decided not to cross and safely enjoy the sun and views below the summit. The views and experience getting up to that spot are incredible so no need to push to cross the chasm if it doesn't feel right :)
We intended to get some more milage in that day but instead spent an incredible long afternoon at upper cathedral lake swimming and watching some rad teams climb the routes beyond the lake. The mosquitos were biting but seemed to be worse at our camp site than down by the lake.
5 or 6 miles and great vibes

Day Three:
Lots to do today but lots of daylight!
We left upper cathedral lake for Amphitheater and saw our first pika of the trip. Amphitheater was an easy and beautiful peak (we approached from the west). We made a detour to Remmel lake for lunch and a swim. Amazing views and well worth the extra milage BUT there are a lot of bugs and we came out of the lake with some leeches on our feet. Around 2pm it was time to stop sunbathing and start hiking. The previous day the chewuch trail between Remmel Lake and the trail up to Four Point Lake had been described to us as a 'hellscape' so we were on the edge of our seats for what we were going to encounter. While the area is a burn zone with some muddy sections, trail crews had been thru to remove blow downs (thank you!!!) and it was beautiful with wildfires and new growth.

When we got to the trail up to Four Point Lake, we snacked up and started on the elevation gain. Someone camping near the stream crossing had left an entire watermelon on a tree stump and I'd like to know the story there. There is flowing water currently a long ways up Remmel until you encounter the area above a steep water fall. There was snow in this area as well but it was fairly brief. The trail up to the summit of Remmel is incredibly well maintained and we made it up minutes before the sun set below the horizon, an evening I won't forget! We camped a bit below the summit in a flat zone and had some 11pm noodles for dinner before falling asleep looking at the milky way.
11? 12? miles

Day four:
We hiked down from Remmel and back down the chewuch trail which was easy walking! It got quite hot and there was little shade. While the trail runs along the river, it isn't always easy to access for water especially in the last 6 miles or so so we filled up when we could and carried a bit more for the final bit to be safe in the heat. We were delighted to take a final dip in the river when we reached the trailhead.
16 miles

Thank you Pasayten Wilderness!!!