White Chuck Bench — Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2009

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

Finally had a chance to try-out White Chuck Bench. I love these kinds of trails in the "off-season," when daylight is short and the high country is all icy and forbidding. Besides, Mina's not getting any younger, and these days a hike like this is about right for the ol' girl. As prior reports state, some nice improvements have been made in the first couple of km (why are there KM markers here? Somebody from anywhere else in the world involved?)... beyond that the trail gradually degrades into brambles that may or may not be worth your time to penetrate. We gave up at about 2.5km or so, at an opening where you could see the River. Too cloudy to see much else. History note: at least twice the trail follows an old logging-railroad bed (probably 1920s vintage). You can tell it's a railroad not a road because it's cut into a V - roads just follow the contours, but railroads had to maintain a minimum curve radius and their routes would cut-off sharp bends in the terrain. Another thing I was considering is the possibility this was the original trail up the White Chuck before the logging road was punched-in on the other side of the river. That road has a symbolic, notorious reputation... and now that it's washed-out I'm hoping the Forest Service will leave it that way, since really it should never have been built in the first place. For background, read "Wilderness Alps: Conservation and Conflict in the North Cascades" by Harvey Manning, available at www.northcascades.org