Copper Ridge Loop, Copper Ridge, Hannegan Pass and Peak & Copper Lake — Thursday, Jul. 28, 2016

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

This was a breathtaking four-day loop with camps at Boundary, Copper Lake, and U.S. Cabin. Permits go quick so we grabbed ours Wednesday morning. We’ve hiked Hannegan Peak before, but never explored beyond. Thursday, July 28. Our party of two escaped work early and reached the trailhead around 4:30 p.m. on a clear hot day. Few other cars. Road to Hannegan Pass starts smooth but gets rougher in the last 3 miles. My low-clearance car made it without any real trouble. The first views of Ruth Mountain are nice, but we hardly stopped to enjoy it as we sweated through the first 4 miles of gradual ascent in a Biblical swarm of flies. Bug spray kept them from biting, and once we hit the pass the flies tapered off. We gave a passing thought to camping on Hannegan Peak, but we would have felt guilty if we didn’t use our hard-fought permit for Boundary camp. Descended for another mile into the valley. Stream at the campsite may dry up late this summer, but it’s deep enough now. Stock up, because there’s not much water between here and Copper Lake. Friday, July 29. We took the clockwise route, to get the views and lay of the land first. Ascent to the ridge isn’t too bad, though I wouldn’t call it easy. On a clear day you catch views of the Pickets, Ruth, Icy Peak, Easy Peak, Mineral Mountain, Luna, Copper — lots of things you won’t see on other trails. Once it really opens up Baker slowly emerges behind Shuksan. This trail has a lot of up and down, like a slow roller coaster, as another report said. Silesia Camp had the best view of the range to the south, and the valley to the north. Other than snowy puddles, or a 0.8-mile side trip to tiny Egg Lake, we saw no water till Copper Lake. In the final climb the lookout taunts you from its rock wall fortress. It’s a steep haul but worth it. On the other side the panorama fills out with peaks: Whatcom, Challenger, Indian, Bear, Copper, imposing Mount Redoubt, and as far as Glacier Peak. One of the best 360-degree views I’ve seen. The fire lookout was padlocked. We spent an hour up there, alone, drinking coffee, eating crackers, swatting flies, writing in the guestbook. On the way down we saw a cairn that must mark the turnoff to scramble Copper. Given a choice between that and relaxing by the lake till sunset, we chose the latter. (No regrets.) Camps at the lake — a beautiful, not-freezing lake — are spread out, with food storage lockers and views of Redoubt, etc. And at night, dark clear skies. Staying up to stargaze was a great idea. Saturday, July 30. On our map, no landmarks for the next 7 miles to the Chilliwack River ford. First, there are crashing streams to cross; stagnant muddy waters in green alpine meadow; bewildering giant rocks the size of apartments; more surreal outstretched bright green meadows, with Redoubt looming so close; blooming paintbrush, phlox, and multicolored wildflowers; and finally a steep rock face at a bend, with a slice of Chilliwack Lake in view. The real descent starts here. Red huckleberries got riper and juicier as the elevation dropped. Crossed a few small blowdowns with no problem. Then, an abrupt change to river valley flora, and suddenly we’re at the Chilliwack River, and for the first time seeing other hikers doing the loop. They pointed out where to cross, where it’s barely knee deep and the current is slowest. Water shoes would have been smart. That’s a painful minute of bare feet on sharp rocks. There’s a second crossing on the other side, but follow the markers to a wide log bridge. We counted dozens of sockeye salmon hanging out in the clear water below. So pink, so … weird. A fallen tree took out the sign at the junction, and past the Indian Creek camp, trail conditions got much worse. Long pants were crucial. There were at least 50 blowdowns, one trunk was about 5 feet in diameter, and at several points the trail gets lost under fallen trees or thick overgrown brush. All of that added an hour, maybe two, in our 12.7-mile trek to U.S. Cabin. Cable car was very cool — a little unnerving to see pieces of rope flying off as you’re suspended dozens of feet above the Chilliwack, but whatever! It’s fun! Our campsite was right along the river, with opposing views of Easy Peak and Copper Ridge. Sunday, July 31. The hike out had much more uphill than expected. Did not realize how deep we went into the gorge. Part of the way back we were leapfrogging a crew of four rangers working very, very hard to clear the trail. So hopefully that rough stretch will be smooth soon. Saw two marmots fighting over a rock by Boundary Camp. Skies were dark overcast so we decided, again, to bypass Hannegan Peak. In the distance about a dozen ant-sized climbers were scaling Ruth. This time, no bugs on the Hannegan Pass trail, till we were within a mile of the trailhead. Parking lot was packed over capacity, with cars parallel parked far back along the dirt road. Edit: More photos linked below.

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