Went out for a two night trip hiking Copper Ridge counter clockwise on 7/15-7/17, and camped at US Cabin first, then Copper Lake. We knew this would be a hard hike given the elevation gain we would be expected to climb on the second dish, and the ranger writing the permit warned us too, but we thought it was doable.

Getting to the Hannegan Pass trailhead was easy enough and the road, even if gravel, was pretty easy to drive even in a sedan.

The trail starts off easy enough through a steady ascent to Hannegan Pass, we found the trail to be in good shape but there was a lot of bugs, interestingly they more or less disappeared once we got to the other side of the pass and entered the National Park.

From there we descended to the valley floor into the dense forest canopy, which was a very welcome shelter from the afternoon sun. There isn't too much to see except the occasional waterfall, but it's a pretty quiet trail away from most day hikers, so we found a lot of solitude hiking to US Cabin.

The campsite is pretty decent, you can get a nice view of the valley if you walk over to the Chilliwack River, and the campsites themselves are quite spacious. You won't even notice the other campers there!

The next day, we got a very early start because we know it would be a difficult day to day the least. We were looking at 14 miles of hiking up 4200' elevation. We started off the trip right away with one of the highlights of the loop, the Chilliwack River Cable Car. It was quite enjoyable and definitely not something you see hiking!

The rest of the riverside trail is rather overgrown and quiet. Since it's so overgrowth and there are numerous blowdowns, wearing long pants is a food idea in this section.

We bumped into just another group in this section. After hitting Indian Creek Camp (and a suspension bridge!), we had to ford the Chilliwack River. At the time of this writing, the water level is a little bit strong and more than knee high, so some caution is warranted. You also want to pay attention to the pink tapes in trees indicating where to go, we had to double back a few times to find the trail there.

Then came the ascent up to Copper Ridge and boy that was a knee torcher! Since we started early we took our time going up, but the trail is indeed quite steep and there's a few downed trees to navigate.

Eventually we made out way to Copper Lake and that was just a beautiful campsite. There is a food storage locker and a high tech composting toilet on-site, so it was great to see so many amenities there! There was a rather friendly deer at our campsite, but we heard from campers that a bear frequented the campground the night before, but we did not see it.

On our third and last day we broke camp early and headed to the Copper Mountain Lookout, where we met with Mashka, who is a volunteer who is staffing the lookout. She provided us with great conversation as we looked at the views of Baker and the North Cascades! It just so happened that the whole valley below us was covered with clouds, and it was really beautiful.

After that it was just a long hike back to the trailhead, and we bumped into a WTA work crew working hard building more drainage on Hannegan Pass.

Overall I loved the trip and the weather conditions were just perfect (cloudy and overcast). If I were to do it again I would add extra nights to explore Whatcom Pass or Hannegan Peak, they looked beautiful from a vantage point, and might be even better there in person!

Sidenote: Please watch where your phone is on the trail! We came across not just one but two misplaced phones on the trip (both close to the trailhead thankfully).

Spectacular 4-night backpacking trip on the Copper Ridge Loop plus Whatcom Pass and Tapto Lakes. What an incredible place!
We hiked the Copper Ridge loop clockwise, staying at Silesia Camp on night one. There are a few snowfields along the trail up to Hannegan Pass and on the ridge, but they are melting fast and easy to get across or around. We were glad to have trekking poles, but ice axes and microspikes felt unnecessary. Silesia has two lovely sites on the ridge, with a food storage container and a composting toilet. It's worth waking up early to catch alpenglow on Mt Shuksan and Baker! We found a small puddle of snowmelt close to camp to boil for our dinner, but otherwise the closest water source is down at Egg Lake. The lake is beautiful and the sites down there all looked melted out, too.

On day 2 we continued the loop to Indian Creek Camp. Our map showed Copper Lake as the last water source until the switchbacks down to the Chilliwack, but there were actually several streams right on the trail just north of Copper Lake, so you don’t have to go down to the lake for water (but it’s pretty). We talked with two different groups who had camped at Copper Lake and said they saw a black bear. Be prepared for some light route-finding over and around blowdown, especially on the switchbacks down to the Chilliwack. Others have complained about the brush on the trail, but we didn’t find it to be that extensive or bothersome; the majority of the valley part of the loop is pleasant forest-walking with lots of impressive cedar and fir trees to admire. Just wear long pants, and you’ll be fine on the brushy parts. Plus we saw tons of thimbleberry just days away from being ripe for some hungry hikers or bears to enjoy! The Chilliwack River ford is very manageable right now. There are two braids of the river to cross. One is only about ankle-deep; the water on the other section is up to about mid-thigh and feels great on tired muscles. Follow the pink tape on trees to find the route.

We made our way to Whatcom Pass on day 3. Graybeal Camp has a nice spot to fill up water on your way up. The views get progressively more exciting as Easy Ridge, Whatcom Peak, and Mt. Challenger emerge over the course of the climb, and even more peaks are visible from the pass. Definitely worth the climb! Follow the user trail to the south to get a little higher up for a better look at Challenger (unless you’re headed to Tapto Lakes like we were; the route to the lakes has even better views). We stayed at Tapto Lakes this night. The user trail to the lakes starts to the left (north) of the USGS marker at Whatcom Pass. The trail is easy to follow all the way to the lakes, but be aware that it’s fairly steep and involves some scrambling, a strenuous end to an already-challenging day. Tapto Lakes is an amazing place. It’s hard to describe how incredible it is to camp among the pristine lakes with views of Challenger and Whatcom. Next time, we want to stay for two or more nights to have time to relax and explore. If you get permits to stay here, please listen to the ranger’s instructions about how to camp with minimal impact so we can all continue to enjoy it.

On day 4 we reluctantly packed up our tent and hiked back down to finish the south leg of the Chilliwack. The cable car was surprisingly delightful and in good working order. We camped at Hannegan Pass. There are plenty of nice-looking sites up at the pass if you wander towards Ruth Mountain, or if you’d prefer to camp near a water source and a latrine, you can hike 0.5 miles down to Hannegan Camp. We hiked the last 4.5 miles out on day 5, and we noticed so many more wildflowers blooming than on our first day out. This trail will continue to get more colorful and tasty (with berries) in the next couple of weeks, and the snow should be almost all gone soon, too.

Bugs were annoying at times. There were biting flies on the trail to Hannegan Pass, and they seemed especially bad at Boundary Camp when we stopped there for water at around 6pm. We saw some campers at Boundary wearing mosquito head nets which seems like a good idea if you stay there. Mosquitoes were nasty around sundown at Tapto Lakes, too. Don't let that discourage you from doing this trip, though! We didn't have any trouble with bugs at our other campsites, and the biting flies basically disappeared up on the ridge. Bug bites are a small price to pay for an unforgettable trip.

We completed a three-night, clockwise loop on 7/9, with overnights at Silesia, Indian Creek, and Boundary camps.

The most challenging obstacles were two snow-filled chutes on the way to Hannegan Pass.  The first was easy to cross but might get more difficult as it melts out. You can bypass it by dropping down or going over. The second one involved more of a scramble and might be challenging for some people. It will get better as it melts out.You can read about them in the trip reports for the Hannegan Pass trail.

Beyond that, there were no difficulties. There was intermittent snow starting about 1000 ft below Silesia Camp until we dropped off the ridge, but no problems route finding.  Copper and Egg Lake were not melted out yet. We did not need to use our ice axes or microspikes. 

One camp at Silesia was still snow-covered.

The river ford was manageable (between mid-thigh to waist on a 5'10" person). However, when coming from the ridge side, we did not take a direct course between the trails (marked on either side by pink flagging).  A shallower ford is available about 50 - 100 ft downstream, but you have to bushwhack back to the trail. Most of us took this route.

Indian Creek was in good shape. The trail beyond was heavily overgrown and berry-filled. The cable car was operating smoothly, but it might be easier to just do the ford, depending on conditions. All other bridges are in.

US Cabin Camp looks like an amazing place to stay. Boundary Camp was fine, but the bugs there are a little heavy.

It's definitely a great time to do the route now!

I hiked the Copper Ridge loop in two days going clockwise, camping at mile ~20 at Indian Creek.

If I had to do this again, I would definitely skip the entire Chilliwack River Trail section. Honestly, I'm not sure why this trail is recommended as a loop unless you intend to go to Whatcom Pass. Descending the ridge to the river is excruciating and your only reward is a thigh-high river ford and a wet, overgrown trail through the woods for the next 14 miles. You can't see anything because the trees are so dense, everything is soaking wet - the trail, the campsites, the ferns covering the trail...

If I come back, I'll camp at Egg/Copper Lake and go back the same way. The upper ridge is spectacular and the lower trail is...not.

Oh - trail conditions are basically fine. A few blow downs on the Chilliwack trail and some overgrown/sloppy trail conditions also on the Chilliwack. I saw a family of bears past Copper Mountain Lookout, they bolted off the trail before I even saw or heard them but they're around. The blueberries are still amazing up high as well (maybe accounts for the bears).

We arrived Monday morning around 10am and parked on the side of the road, the parking lot isn't accessible but it doesn't add much of a walk. We camped at Copper Lake the first night, and Copper Creek the second night, then hiked out.

Our GPS had the mileage a little off from WTA. From the TH to Copper Lake: 12.3 mi, From Copper Lake to Copper Creek: 16.4 mi, From Copper Creek back to TH: 7.9 mi

A couple notes:

-There are TONS of ripe blueberries right now!

-The hike up to Copper Lake had a lot of elevation gain, but the view at the top of the lookout was worth it. No water up there though, so be prepared. Next time, we want to figure out a way to spend a night at the lookout, the view was incredible--this was definitely the most scenic part of the whole hike.

-Copper Lake itself had a partial view of the mountains, but the view of the stars was incredible. After leaving Copper Lake and once down all the elevation, the rest of the loop was heavily forested and there were no views to be seen.

-The river crossing was not so bad for us. Make sure to bring water shoes. There is a current so poles were also helpful. We walked down closer to the log that was damming the river a bit, it was shallower there. It's harder to see the depth of the water if you're coming from the other direction. We ran into some hikers that were up to their waist in the river coming from the other way.

-DO THE CABLE CAR, IT'S REALLY COOL! There's also a suspension bridge which was a fun surprise for us.

-Bugs weren't too bad, but we had a Thermacell. 

-Didn't see any bears, but saw a couple hunters carrying a bear carcass out, they said they shot it Monday morning :(