Gothic Basin — Saturday, Feb. 22, 2003

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

I drove down the mountain loop expecting to be stopped by snow sometime before the Monte Cristo road, but luckily it was still driveable all the way. On the way there the amount of new snow up on the peaks was substantial. After messing around down by the river for a while I decided to hike up the Gothic Basin trail a little to check out the snow. I soon encountered 18 inches of fresh powder, but the going was still ok. After about an hour and a half, I reached the first gully at about 4000 ft. where the trees open up to views. The snow was about 2-3 feet deep, and the views were awesome! All the surrounding peaks were covered in a thick blanket of new snow. I had some hot chocolate, relaxed a little, then headed back into the forest, which was extremely beautiful too! See some pictures of my trip: www.cascadesgallery.com