6 Day loop hike in the Pasayten. In at Andrew's Creek Trailhead. Out at 30 Mile Trailhead with 6 miles out the gravel road back to Andrew's Creek Trailhead.
Day 1: Andrew's Creek Trailhead. 4 miles up Andrews Creek to camp in the burned valley.
Day 2: Hiked up over Andrew's Pass, through last year's burn for a mile, to Spanish Camp.
Day 3: Boundary trail in alpine country to Upper Cathedral Lake and Ampitheater Mountain. An easy scramble to one of the lower summits of Cathedral Peak.
Day 4: Boundary Trail to Tungsten Trail. Camped in the forest at an established camp.
Day 5: Hiked out the unmaintained portion of the Chewuch River Trail and camped on the gravel turn-around at 30 Mile Trailhead.
Day 6: 6 Miles out the gravel road to Andrew's Creek Trailhead, munching on Thimbleberries.
Thoughts:
Andrew's Creek Trail is long and unremarkable except for the monotony of the burn, the exposure, and how few safe places there are to camp. We ran into lots of trail crew working here, both afoot and ahorse. Also a few hikers exiting. Spent the night at a spot about 4 miles in where there were fewer snags that might fall on us.
After Andrew's Pass you hike through a mile or so of last year's burn. Eerie and beautiful. Everything was black but some new grasses and lupines coming up through the black earth.
Spanish Camp, luckily survived.
The boundary trail from Spanish Camp to Amphitheater Mountain is lovely. I wish I could have spent more time up here. Perhaps another day.
Amphitheater mountain was the worthy focus of our trip. Upper Cathedral Lake beneath this mountain is an amazingly beautiful place. We also took an easy scramble to one of the lower summits of Cathedral Peak for better views. From here we also marveled at the Canadian Border, 40' of clearcut as far as one can see. Some mountain goats walked through our camp at the lake and licked our pee off the rocks. Mosquitoes were a mild nuisance here.
The next day we saw a lynx as we headed toward Tungsten Trail. We camped on Tungsten trail between a couple creeks. A nice spot. The Tungsten Trail drops down through a monotonous lodgepole forest and we saw many hikers heading up to the Tungsten Mine and the Boundary Trail.
The next day we headed down to the Chewuch River Trail. We went past the intersection with the Cathedral Driveway Trail, where all the hikers we saw came from. From here the Chewuch River Trail hasn't been maintained for perhaps a couple years because of a washout on the road to the 30 Mile Trailhead. The trail is brushy. At one place on a floodplain we lost the trail for 45 minutes. But it wouldn't have been hard to keep the trail, we were a bit careless and followed some false trails on the gravel floodplain. If this happens to you just stay to the East, away from river, and you'll stay on the trail.
This portion of the Chewuch River Trail was my favorite portion of low country on our trip. The river goes through some beautiful rapids, a waterfall, and a canyon. Even though this area burned 15 or so years ago it is much more beautiful than Andrew's Creek. There are some stands of older trees and the river is more interesting.
A wonderful steel bridge let us cross the river to the trailhead where we camped on the gravel turn-around. The bathrooms were spotless and appreciated. The bathroom was also very warm and we successfully left our damp clothes in here to dry over night.
The 6 miles out on the gravel road to Andrew's Creek Trailhead was pleasant enough. Thimbleberries lined the way. There is also a touching memorial to 4 firefighters who died trying to control the fire in the valley. It tells a moving and informative story.
I hope more people get to hike the lower portion of the Chewuch River Trail, it is a much more interesting route than Andrew's Creek. And Ampitheater Mountain is a destination worth heading toward.
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