Squire Creek Pass via Eight-mile Trail — Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023

The conditions of this hike will likely be significantly different since the date of this hike, so be prepared for much more wintery conditions going forward!

The road to the trailhead was pretty decent with average potholes. Passable for any vehicle. Trail starts on a rocky old road bed up a couple long switchbacks and then has a nice stretch where the trail is well maintained and has seen recent trail work. But once the trail reaches the wilderness boundary, it then becomes much more rugged and rooty, with some steep sections but never too challenging. The old growth is very impressive along this trail, with one massive cedar tree that is particularly incredible! You will know it when you see it! The trail also passes a giant slabby cliff called 3 O'Clock Rock that seems like a fun climbing destination. There is just one giant blowdown which requires you to climb over it or crawl under it. At around the 3600 foot level is when snow started pretty suddenly and was constant the rest of the way to the pass, but at the time of this hike the trail was still easy to make out for most of the way to the pass. There were several stream crossings in the 1/2 mile or so before the pass, and all the streams were completely frozen solid which was quite a beautiful sight! Slipping on the ice of the streams would result in a pretty disastrous slide down the slope, but fortunately most the crossings were easy enough to step across on snow. There was one crossing where we did cross on the ice where we found a safer flat place to shuffle our feet across (or putting on microspikes would be helpful). From the pass, the view was so impressive of Three Fingers and the ridge to Whitehorse! We originally planned to scramble up Higher Squire, but I ultimately opted to save it for another time, satisfied with the scenery at the pass.

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