Gothic Basin — Tuesday, Jul. 22, 2003

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

Since the Monte Cristo area is one of my favorite places I decided a trip to Gothic Basin was in order. Words don't do this trail justice. It's definitely a good one for practicing your rest steps. Gothic Basin is free of snow now, but definitely not free of annoying bugs. The mosquitoes are out and biting something ferocious. Foggy Lake is probably 80% snow free. I lacked the motivation to scurry up Gothic or Del Campo but those routes seemed to be marked by only a few small snow fields. Being something of a mining buff, I decided to visit the Upper Del Campo Mine. Even though they didn't find any good ore, they couldn't have picked a prettier location. For those interested you visit the mine by heading left as you enter the basin. After passing a few small tarns and you've reached the cliff, head right(west) and follow the boot track to the stream rushing down the steep gully. You'll come to a broad notch which held the mine buildings and a narrow trail that leads to the adit, right beside a nice waterfall.