With deep snow still lingering in the high country, creeks and rivers running very high, and many access roads closed due to bridge washouts or fallen trees, we found our hiking options more limited than usual as we contemplated a hike somewhere along the Mountain Loop highway. We searched our various trail guides and the WTA Hiking Guide and trip reports, looking for a trail that was mainly snow-free but nevertheless yielded good alpine views. Since it promised to be a hot, sunny day, we also hoped for shade along the way. As always, we were looking for solitude and a dog-friendly trail. The trail to Squire Creek Pass along Eight Mile Trail seemed to fit all these criteria. At the end of the day, I would say that it did fulfill all of our hopes, although the effort required was somewhat greater than we had expected.
The road in to the trailhead is in quite good shape and I think it could be managed by most vehicles with reasonable clearance. There are some deep potholes and dips, but most of the road is smooth gravel or double track. One caution is that the brambles and bushes have overgrown the verges and they brushed against our Subaru Ascent many times. If you are concerned about minor scratches on the finish of your vehicle, this is not the road for you (in our experience, these can be buffed out).
There was only one other car at the trailhead, and that belonged to two young women who were heading up to climb Three O’clock Rock. They left just as we arrived, and we caught up to them at the base of the rock as they were starting their climb. They were still climbing down as we hiked out. They were the only other people on the trail all day.
The trail starts out on an old, very rocky logging road and then proceeds upward on softer tread through a series of pseudo-switchbacks in open, second growth forest. The trail climbs relentlessly but at a moderate grade until it reaches Three O’clock rock. Just below the Rock, it crosses an old slide on a very rocky tread, and this section is almost obscured by the trailside bushes. At the base of the Rock, trails lead both left and right. The left trail is a climbers’ trail. Take the right if you are going up to the pass.
Three O’clock Rock is a clear transition point in the quality of the trail. From here up to the pass the trail is downright nasty. For most of the way it is very steep, extremely rooty and rocky, and often overgrown by trailside vegetation. The higher you go, the worse it gets. In many places we were climbing more than hiking, having to pay close attention to where we placed each foot, and bracing ourselves with our hiking poles to guard against slipping backward on the slick roots (see photo). On the way down, we were constantly checking our momentum, taking one careful step at a time with the help of bracing hiking poles. The few places where a brief 50 – 100 feet of soft, even trail allowed a decent hiking pace were short-lived relief. Several large logs are across the trail but these were relatively easily negotiated. Many creeks cross the trail, but we were able to rock-hop across all of them without difficulty. None presented problems for our stalwart trail dog, Crockett. The upper sections of the trail were often muddy as well as rooty, and in several places, the streams run down the trail, making for slippery going. For the last half mile below the pass, snow still covers the trail intermittently, but it is easily crossed. We never had trouble finding the trail at the other side of the snow field. Faint traces of last-weekend’s hikers still remained in the snow to guide us.
Cairns provided helpful guides once we reached the open, granite slabs below and at the pass. The stunning view west to Whitehorse and Three Fingers mountains revealed itself just as we reached the pass (see photo). We followed more cairns left (south) for a few hundred yards, climbing slightly above the pass, before settling on a lovely spot for a late lunch. Snow becomes continuous about 100 feet above the pass, but it looked like a use trail continues up to that ridge. We were too tuckered from our battle up the trail to forge any further and were satisfied to just enjoy the lovely views of Three Fingers and Whitehorse peaks and the steep, wild ridge connecting them. Knowing that we faced the steep, slippery trek down was daunting enough.
The upper reaches of the trail pass through great swaths of huckleberries and heather meadows, but wildflowers were few and far between. We saw a few Tiger Lilies near Three O’clock Rock, bunchberries here and there, and occasional Avalanche Lilies, but that was about it for flowers.
All in all, given the limitations of trail choices this early in the season, this was a good choice. However, the trail is rugged and challenging with few views along the way. In its present condition, it is a more daunting hike than the hiking guide descriptions would suggest. We think it is also somewhat longer than the 5.4 miles given WTA Hiking Guide. Our GPS, which tends to overestimate distances, gave a return distance of 7.3 miles. Day Hiking North Cascades gives 6 miles. Given the difficulty of the trail, budget more time than you would normally for a trail of the stated distances.
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