Hannegan Pass and Peak — Sunday, Sep. 5, 1999

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

We left for Mt Challenger and the Picket Traverse on a cool, high overcast morning. Shouldering packs that weighed in at half of our body weight (yes, we brought a scale and calculator!!)(but what do you expect from a team comprised of three engineers'!), we slowly headed up the trail. The trail was in excellent condition, with the exception of a large blowdown about 3 miles from the trailhead. A group of horse travelers had to turn around there. At Hannagan Pass, we met another party that was headed for Mt. Challenger, but turned back because of an injury. Near Copper Creek, we met yet another party that was also bound for the mountain, but turned back because they didn't like the look of the grey sky. Well, it wasn't raining yet... The trail to Easy Saddle begins when you can see the Chilliwack River from the trail, and an obvious path leads from the trail to the river. There is currently a log across the river that can be crossed. After an exciting log-crossing of the Chilliwack River (at the end of the log, I lost my balance and ended up in the river up to my butt!)we headed up the relentless but well-defined climbers path to Easy Saddle. The start is a little tricky and bush-whacky, and enters the brush just upstream of the log crossing (about 50 yards). We camped that night at Easy Saddle. The rain moved in after midnight, and didn't let up for two more days! We packed up and headed up Easy Peak (what humorless person named this one''), where the wind and rain, and the committing nature of going forward, caused us to make a painful decision to turn back from our climb. Tired, wet, and generally down in spirits, we headed down the steep trail to find shelter for the night. We camped at Copper Creek, and ran into a group of hikers (""Team Carnivore"", from all the fresh meat they took on their trip!) who managed to get a fire going in the dreary, saturated conditions (Thanks, guys! Your fire managed to keep our bodies and spirits warm for the night!) It rained all night, and all the next day on our way back out. The trail in the National Park is well maintained, but there is blowdown between Hannegan Pass and the National Park boundary. We dried out at Lake Chelan for a day and a half, enjoying sunshine and renewed psyche for a trip to Ten Peak Mountain via the High Thunder Traverse... Still Loving Life... The MounTAIN Woman