Thunder Creek — Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015

North Cascades > North Cascades Highway - Hwy 20

We took along our dog and hiked out 6.5 miles, one-way, from the Thunder Creek trailhead to McAllister Camp and back. We got a pretty early start about 8:30 am. Most of the trail was a nice matt of fir needles without much mud, and wasn't slippery. Early on there was some fog which burned off as the weather warmed up. This hike feels fairly level though it trends up from about 1200 feet to 1800 feet. There are some ups and downs but they aren't too long. In the first section of the trail, prior to the big bridge across the Thunder Creek, there is a water wash across the trail which is rocky, but easy to pass over. There are 5-7 creek crossings that don't have bridges, and they were running pretty high. The rocks that we can usually step on were submerged. It took a few minutes to choose a spot and make the way across using bigger rocks and logs. I used my trekking poles for balance and only stepped off into the water twice. Oh well. Also, for additional excitement, there are quite a few tree blow downs, a couple were pretty challenging to get around. I included a photo of two or more full size cedar trees that were across the trail. We picked our way through where it looked like others had been. Just past the McAllister horse camp there is a clearing with a great view of the river and the mountains. We had lunch there, then turned around. This hike was well worth the drive and the effort, we were happy to be able to get out for such a nice hike in February. I don't know the exact temperature but I'm guessing it warmed up to about 40. During the day we saw 18 other hikers.