Ruth Arm, Hannegan Pass and Peak — Saturday, Sep. 6, 2008

North Cascades

This was a great hike. No snow on the trail until up on Ruth Arm, and even then only a few patches. The views from the pass are nice, but continuing onto Ruth arm is well worth it. The only bad part of the hike is the trail climbing the hill up to the arm from the pass. This is basically a vertical trail in a rocky trough. No idea why there aren't switchbacks up this hill. Coming down it was even worse, so this isn't recommended for the faint of heart. We continued up to the summit of Ruth, but that involves glacier travel and shouldn't really be done without crampons and an ice axe. The views from Ruth's summit were perhaps the best I have ever had, though. Views ranged from Canadian peaks all the way south to Rainier, but the east side of Mt. Shuksan was the highlight, being only a stone's throw away.