Image Lake via Miners Ridge, Suiattle River Trail — Monday, Jul. 24, 2017

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

We set out from the trailhead just before 9am and made quick work of the Suiattle River section of the trail. It is in great shape, although it does have several creek crossings that get deeper as it gets later in the day. We took a quick break at the Canyon Creek suspension bridge before going northbound on the PCT. The PCT in this section isn’t nearly as well kept as the Suiattle River trail but it is still in good shape. It also started getting pretty hot as more exposed sections opened up in the gully crossings. At one point on the PCT we heard some fighter jets roar overhead which prompted a quick bathroom break at the Image Lake junction. From here the trail becomes a long slog of switchbacks, 38 of them to be precise, each one dustier and hotter than it’s predecessor, but also with a better view of Glacier Peak than the last. Thankfully water is not an issue on most of this part of the trail if you’re prone to going through lots of it, but be warned, the final several switchbacks don’t have any. We finally reached the top, exhausted, and opted to go have lunch under the Miner’s Ridge Lookout. We were pleasantly surprised that a forest service volunteer named Russ was up there and answered all of our questions about the area and the lookout. He told us about several cool spots that we could visit while we were up there as well. Once we got to Image Lake we set up camp, filtered some water, and quickly passed out. We awoke to a killer view of Glacier Peak and some ravenous mosquitoes, but bug spray actually seemed to have the desired effect on them this time, which was a huge relief. We ate breakfast, packed up, then decided to wander around packless for a bit. We went to a meadow that Russ recommended first and were not disappointed. It was chock full of wildflowers and just had an incredible view. Next we went partway up the Canyon Lake trail, which had an elevated view of Image Lake and also led to a pass with views of the North Cascades. There are three trails above Image Lake (Canyon Lake, the middle trail, and the lakefront trail), and I believe that the middle trail offers the best photo ops to get the lake and Glacier Peak. After we were through with our meandering we headed down the brutal, knee-jarring trail. It took us about 9 hours to get up to the spot where we set up camp including breaks and about 7 hours to get back. I would definitely recommend spending multiple nights here so you can explore as much of the surrounding area as you can (if you can after the brutal hike up).