Gothic Basin — Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1998

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

It was raining in Seattle, it was raining in Bellevue, it was raining in Everett, it was raining in Granite Falls, it was raining at Barlow Pass. It was raining everywhere except the Monte Christo Road and Gothic Basin Trail, which were beautiful and dry with high clouds and great views. (Okay, so I'm gloating about the weather.) This is a nice hike. Even the road walk is pretty. The lower trail is muddy in spots, but not bad. We hit snow starting at 3500 ft. and the snow was about 2 feet deep by the time we got to Gothic Basin. The trail was easy to follow under the snow; it's a continuous rising south traverse, when in doubt head that way. It was great to be out on snow again. Yay snowshoeing season!