Gothic Basin — Friday, Jul. 7, 2000

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

The trail into Gothic Basin is pretty good until you get to the first snow bridge crossing (est. 4200'). Just beyond that fastly disappearing snow crossing is a large avalanche deposit that obliterated the trail for 200'. Then it is mostly snow all the way to the basin. Take an ice axe - the snow can be steep in sections. Most people are generally following the trail, but at the end the footpath is following a trail laid down by someone with a penchant for straight lines. There is still 5-6 feet of snow in Gothic Basin and Foggy Lake is mostly frozen. There was a little ring of water around the edges, but it will be a while before it melts out. Only one other party was camping in the basin this weekend. They left early due to all the fog. Couldn't see a thing. We did observe nearly six inches of snowmelt from Saturday night to mid-day on Sunday. It is melting fast. Lastly, I hadn't been on the trail in 4-5 years. What an improvement! It was actually enjoyable this time. I'll be back later in the year. It will be a month or so before the trail melts out.