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Trip Report

Navaho Pass — Saturday, Jun. 3, 2017

Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway
Heading up to the pass after the meadows

We hiked up to Navaho Pass on Saturday. Not too many cars in the parking lot when we got there at 10:30am. The dirt road leading up to the trailhead in was in pretty good condition overall with only a few major potholes and some more rocky areas. The hike itself was great this time of year, since it was not too hot and there were lots of wildflowers: Indian paintbrush, fairy slipper orchids, lupine, fields of glacier lilies, and a large patch of shooting stars. Stafford creek is still running high, with only a couple non-trivial stream crossings at some of the tributaries. (Thankfully we didn't have to cross Stafford Creek at the first trail split!) Near the split the trail was pretty wet since all the meltwater was running down, so you'll want waterproof boots.

After the split, there were some small snow patches, but it wasn't until the meadows by the campground that the trail was almost entirely covered in snow, but it is quickly melting with unstable snow bridges. There are a lot of different boot paths that meander around the meadow, most of which probably lead up to the pass. It would still be helpful to be familiar with the trail or to have GPS. From the meadow to the pass is a slog along slushy snow, but the views were worth it. The pass itself has plenty of snow-free places to sit.

We brought gaiters and microspikes but did not end up using them. Unfortunately, we forgot our poles, which would have been useful on the snow and for some of the creek crossings.

A panorama from our lunch log
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