Cascade Pass and Sahale Arm — Friday, Aug. 1, 2014

North Cascades

Hiked up and camped at Sahale Glacier Camp on Friday and Saturday nights. The short snow fields that you cross along the Arm are inconsequential. Otherwise the well-worn trail is easy to follow, except the last half mile to camp where you scramble steeply up over unconsolidated scree and dirt. Bugs, mainly deer flies, were occasionally annoying at the camp, and manageable with DEET. Friday night we watched in awe as a thunderstorm approached from the south and chased us into our tents. Fortunately the lightning never got closer than about a mile away, otherwise we would have exited our tents and found low ground. We spent our time at the camp just sitting and admiring the view that never gets old and welcoming dayhikers and climbers bagging Sahale's peak. We enjoyed socializing with our campsite neighbors both evenings and mornings, sharing trail stories, food and drink while we were treated to two spectacular sunsets. A bear was photographed by one of our party in a meadow up above Cascade Pass. We were visited by several goats, and a small marmot rummages around camp all during the day, seemingly unfazed by our presence. Ground squirrels were quick to police up any crumbs, and mice popped out of the rocks after sundown. Be sure to put all your food in the bear canister (required for camping, and can be borrowed from the NPS in Marblemount). One note about permits -- if you want to be all but guaranteed a required overnight camping permit, get to the Marblemount Wildlife Information Center before 7AM the day BEFORE your trip. I got there at 6:30AM and others showed up soon thereafter.

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenstreks/sets/72157646235232713/
• http://blog.kenstreks.com/2014/08/sahale-glacier-party-camp-aug-1-3.html