Hannegan Pass and Peak, Ruth Arm — Friday, Jun. 21, 2002

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

Six of us decided to tackle Mt. Ruth as a worthy objective for an overnight backpack/climb. The road to the trailhead is in great shape - any passenger car can easily negotiate the few small potholes that dot the way. The trail to Hannegan Pass was a slightly different story - many of the creeks had weak snow bridges as the only way across. We all fell through holes at least once. The snow on the first four miles of the trail is melting so fast that it will likely all be gone within a week. The last mile to Hannegan Pass will likely linger for a few more weeks as it appears quite deep and solidified. As of yesterday, the route leaves the proper trail and ascends a small snow chute. Pay close attention to find where the path rejoins the proper trail on the right of the chute. Follow the trail to a sign post that indicates where the summer campsites are and climb up the fall line to the pass. We continued up to the pass proper and created a lovely snow camp with a view of Mt. Shuksan and the Ruth Creek valley. The best part of early season mountaineering and backpacking is the absence of bugs. We only encountered mosquitoes at the trailhead on our way out. The following morning we ascended the snow covered knoll immediately east of the pass and kept to the left of the rock that marks the western terminus of Ruth Arm. We followed ski tracks as we traversed to the saddle at the base of Mt. Ruth. From there it was a straightforward climb up the north ridge of Mt. Ruth to glorious cloud-free views of Mt. Baker, Mt. Shuksan, the Pickett Range, Glacier Peak, and the rest of the North Cascades area. Glissading cut the descent time to what seemed like a few minutes. We struck camp and walked back to the cars at the trailhead. Total trip length was 14 miles with 4100' elevation gain. Photos of this hike can be viewed at www.dvandkq.net.