Copper Ridge Loop — Thursday, Jul. 21, 2016

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

I hiked this with four friends beginning July 21. We got our permits the day before. The person at the Glacier Station didn't tell us anything about large numbers of fallen trees or overgrown trails. The road up has large potholes that will bottom out low clearance vehicles. We spent our first night at Egg Lake. There's a lot of trail reports about Hannegan pass that tell you what to expect up to the pass. Beyond that, you drop down 600 ft into the valley before climbing to copper ridge. The views are great once you finally attain the ridge. Egg lake was a nice camp with a bear locker and beautiful views, but a total of over 3,700 ft vertical gain from the trailhead in ~8 miles. Staying at Silesia would've given even better views, but been much further from water. Bugs weren't to bad on the initial four miles, and there weren't many after that. The next day we awoke to rain, and then clouds moved close in. We saw none of the fabulous views this hike is famous for as we made our way to the Indian Creek campsite. It was a disappointing hike in the fog. Past Copper Lake the trail becomes narrower, and there's a hazardous stream crossing below the lake. There was also a somewhat steep snow field we had to cross. A slip here could have sent you sliding into a rock field at high speed. As you descend into the valley, the trail become less maintained. There's a couple blow-downs and patches of trail that are completely overgrown and you have to scout around a bit for the trail. Then, you have to cross the river twice. For us, it was 2-3 ft deep due to the morning rain, so we crossed on fallen logs. The next river crossing did not have a clear path to the large wooden tree over the river (and indeed, that is a ways off where the trail meets the river). The trail to Indian Creek at the junction of the bear creek trail is hard to find, due a tree that's fallen and taken out the sign, which is now just placed on the tree. There's more blowdowns and overgrowth as well. On our third day, we made our way to Copper Creek Camp. There were dozens of blowdowns and long patches of completely overgrown trail, including stinging nettles. Our pace was about 1 mph overall. Where the trail split to the cable car crossing is easy to miss because a giant tree has fallen down alongside the length of the cable car trail route at the junction point (look for hanging pink flags). Once we got past US Cabin camp the trail improved somewhat. The final day, hiking up from Copper Creek, had fewer blowdowns, but quite a steep ascent up to the pass. The final 4 mile stretch of trail to the car felt at times like being in a greenhouse, since the shrubbery traps the heat of the sun. I would not recommend this as a loop. The trail in the valley could hardly be considered maintained. It is a frustrating experience to navigate 50 foot stretches of fallen trees, and push through patches of overgrowth that completely cover the trail (with stinging nettles mixed in). Some trees have been fallen for years, and it will take a great deal of work to clear this trail, and a great deal of time. And besides, all the great views are along the ridge, so why go into the valley?