Rough road and lots of ups, but incredible views much of the way and of course an explosion of gold. There weren't many needles on the ground, a few trees still had some lime needles, and they didn't seem real loose, so this is the peek, but I would guess that there should still be a good display after the rain. My best guess is 100 cars, so yes it was busy, but not crazy, and most people were courteous and friendly. There is a video of the road below.
Road/Parking: The rough road seems to go on forever. There are a couple narrowish sections, but not bad compared to many. Most of it is pretty wide with no crazy inclines or corners, just long and rough until just before the turn onto Phelps Creek TH Road. There it gets pretty rough. The pot holes weren't too bad, but there were some scary looking pointy rocks that are just waiting for the right tire to come along. There is also a pretty big channel washed in the road in a few sections that you have to straddle right. There were a few cars at the TH, but mostly mid-high clearance vehicles. On the way in we got stuck behind some slow divers and it took about 1 hour. The return trip was about 45 minutes. We had ~8.5 inches of clearance and AWD and it wasn't bad, just slow. There were a couple of cars at the TH.
8:40 the lot was full and cars were a good way down the road. There is lots of room for roadside parking and I'm going to guess that there were 100 vehicles today. There were 6 pages full in the note pad being used as a trail register. No toilet at this one but there are some at other THs on the way in. Beautiful views of the mountains tinted with golden larches way above us right from the parking lot.
Trail: It starts out pretty flat, but as soon as it forks away form Phelps it starts to climb and never really stops. Early in the day it was nicely shaded until just before the basin, but on the way down we were in full sun for the majority. There water right at the beginning and at Carne Basin, with none in between. The water in the basin is low, so it is a bit tricky to collect without a lot of particulate, but doable. Nothing to climb over above knee height. There are a couple of section that are just a few feet wide each where the trail crosses avalanche shoots and is a little narrow and slick, but otherwise there is good tread, just a lot of climbing.
You start out in light tree cover and they thin as you climb so you get intermittent views of the valley and the glaciers and larches on Buck & Clark Mountains. As things open up you get some nice rock formations and some fall colors on your side of the valley, and just a hint of larches at the edge of the ridge. There were some plumes of tiny bugs in the morning that were so thick it was nearly impossible not to breath them in, but they were gone by the afternoon.
Entering the basin was pretty surreal here. You climb with nothing but green trees and underbrush around you until the trail bends and cutting into the basin. In a matter of feet you go from green to golden! This is where the stream is and where everyone camps. The basin lighting is a bit harsh as you go east across it in the morning (10:45) and was only a little better by the time we got back (1:30). The trail takes you through the basin and then make the final climb to the summit, passing through hallways of golden trees and stunning views overlooking the basin with the glaciated peaks behind them.
At the summit there were lots of people but it was pretty quiet and there was room to spread out, you just had to wait if you wanted a photo on the summit itself. Glacier Peak was poking out and we could even faintly see Rainier. In contrast, the peaks on the far side looked parched and were really cool colors. It was an awesome summit and I'm sure a worthy summer hike too.
Stats: 8 miles, 3540 ft elevation gain, 4.5 hours moving, 5.75 total. This was a bit of a slower pace for us today, but there was lots to see and I wasn't feeling great. We hike weekly and generally are moderate/fast hikers.
Comments