Crater Lakes, Eagle Lakes, Cooney Lake, Sunrise Lake, Boiling Lake, Martin Lakes, Foggy Dew Creek & Angel Staircase — Friday, Sep. 3, 2010

North Cascades > Methow/Sawtooth

Excellent views, great fishing, clean campsites. Different trails in this area have unique multi-use rules. Some allow bikes, and some allow motorbikes as well. Check with your local USFS Ranger Station for complete regulations for all the trails in this area. I did a volunteer backcountry ranger patrol of this area. The trails are in very good condition. The fish are very easy to catch. If we all apply the concept of hauling out whatever we bring into this area, this place will remain healthy and beautiful, and it would make my job much easier. If we bring glass, cans, tin foil, etc., we can't just leave it in the fire pit. Pack it out. Make sure to dig a proper hole to bury your 'number 2' waste; we're lucky we aren't required to blue-bag it out, as is required in many other areas I've explored. There's so many things that a backcountry ranger can be doing beyond cleaning up trash from lazy campers, and the USFS doesn't have an unlimited budget by any stretch of the imagination...