Hannegan Pass and Peak — Monday, Aug. 27, 2001

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

After doing a shock absorber test on my truck while driving Road 32 to the Hannegan Pass trail head (this road has a lot of reverse speed bumps)I was ready for some hiking. This day started cloudy with the tops of the peaks fogged in while I started up the Ruth Creek valley. Then it decided to begin to rain when I got about a mile up the trail. The trail had been brushed out, which was a good thing since it was turning into a wet hike. About half way I encountered a rock slide covering the trail that had come down off of Granite Mtn. You can get through the slide with no problem. One half mile before the pass a side trail leads to some camp sites along a creek in a meadow area. Before I got up to the pass, the sun started coming out and I had a nice view out to the glaciers on Ruth Mtn. to the south. After a rest and snack stop at the pass, I headed north up the trail to Hannegan Peak. Once above the tree line, I had views of the mountains in the area as clouds blew in and out. Up in a high meadow, I stopped for lunch as the summit of Hannegan Peak was all fogged in. On a clear day the views from the top would have been great. When I got back down to the pass, the clouds started dissipating. Heading back to the trail head the views got better as I could now see the peaks that had been clouded over on the hike up to the pass. The weather is always changing in the Cascades. Plus now that the sun was out, so were the black flies. Day 3, Lake Ann.