Squire Creek — Saturday, Dec. 18, 1999

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

The road is slick, but four-wheel driveable to the trailhead. The snow is shallow to nonexistent the first one and a half miles. Through the mist, the frosted Squire Creek Wall on Whitehorse appeared. Plenty of water, roots and rocks to dodge. When the trail starts to gain elevation in the switchbacks, the snow becomes deeper. We postholed like crazy. Snowshoes will not be helpful at this time, as the deteriorated condition of this trail routes most of the water where people can walk. Mostly we just went upstream. We lost the trail just below the boulderfield. At this time it was snowing lightly, and visibility was about fifty feet. We imagined what the view of Queest-Alb would look like and turned around. On a clear day, the three miles to the viewpoint at the boulders is more than worth the effort. R/T six miles, four hours.