Spent 5 days on the Copper Ridge Loop with a trip out to Whatcom Pass (9/3 - 9/7).

9/2: Arrived a day early to get backcountry permits and luckily got the sites we wanted.  Stayed in Glacier at the Blue T Lodge that night.  Its behind a pizza restaurant, which was super convenient.  Being the end of Labor Day weekend, they were slammed, but we weren't in a hurry.  Grabbed some breakfast burritos at Wake 'n Bakery the next morning and headed for the Hannegan Trailhead.

9/3: Hannegan Trailhead to Copper Creek Camp, ~9.5 miles and +3100' gain.  As others have said, the road to the trailhead is washed out a few hundred feet before the trailhead itself.  Still plenty of parking though.  Trail is a gradual climb up to the pass.  There's a good spot to grab water maybe 3.5 miles in, just off the junction for the Hannegan campsite.  We continued up the pass and ditched our backpacks behind some trees before taking a day pack to Hannegan Peak.  Lots of blueberries on the way up.  We had a little bit of cloud cover first thing in the morning but by the time we reached the peak it had cleared considerably.  It was definitely worth making the side trip up there - the views are stunning.  We ate lunch at the top and spent the rest of the day going down hill to the Copper Creek campsite, picking blueberries and huckleberries along the way.  We didn't see any bugs that night.

9/4: Copper Creek Camp to Whatcom Pass Camp, ~9 miles and +3000' gain.  Day started out with a pretty easy down hill to US Cabin.  Took a quick break by the river and snapped some pictures.  Continued on to the cable car crossing.  There was a pair of gloves in the bucket which was convenient.  Definitely takes a bit of arm strength to get across (especially at the end) but its not too bad.  We continued until we hit the bridge at Brush creek and took a lunch break shortly after.  We continued towards Graybeal and confirmed that the last water before that is ~0.5 miles back.  We hadn't heard what the water conditions were past Graybeal, so we loaded up there to be safe. It was dry for maybe 1-1.5 miles after Graybeal, but then we started seeing water on a semi regular basis.  There was plenty of water at the Whatcom Pass camp as well.  Note that Whatcom Pass campground is to the West of the pass and not on top of it.  We set up camp and then hiked the rest of the way to the top of the pass.  The sky was pretty clear and we had some great views of Mt. Challenger, the Challenger Glacier and the valley stretching out towards Ross Lake.  After a few minutes here, we headed back to camp to watch the sunset.  No bugs at this campsite either, though the toilet was out of commission due to bear activity.

9/5: Whatcom Pass Camp to Tapto Lakes and Indian Creek Camp, ~9.5 miles and +1500' gain.  Woke up at 6:00 to get back to the top of the pass for the sunrise.  Brought the day pack with coffee and breakfast.  Great way to start the morning.  Valley was much more smokey than it was the night before, but we still had a great view.  After breakfast, we took a trip up to Tapto Lakes.  This is another really cool side trip that's worth the effort if you're not too tired (skipping Tapto lakes makes this a really easy day if needed).  Trail is unofficial, but easy to follow.  It gets steep in a few places but its not too difficult.  We took a quick swim at the lakes to clean up and then headed back to our camp at Whatcom to pack up.  We filled our water bottles and finally hit the trail at about 11:00 for Indian Creek.  The hike down was pretty uneventful.  There was one downed tree we had to drop packs for (and climb under) but that was about it.  There's also a cool bridge crossing just before you make camp.  There were a handful of mosquitoes at camp, so we took our dinner down by the creek which was nice and relaxing.

9/6: Indian Creek Camp to Copper Lake Camp, ~8 miles and +3800' gain.  This was going to be the biggest grind of the trip.  Indian Creek to the river crossing is a bit overgrown, but not too bad.  There are three back to back river crossings you'll need to make (kind of zig-zagging across the river).  Look for the pink markers hanging from the trees.  The water went slightly past my knees in one spot, but I think that was just because of the path I took.  It wasn't moving very fast and was easy to get through.  You should fill up on water here.  We continued hiking up the mountain though, and found one last small creek we were able to pull water out of before we started up the switchbacks for the day.  It's a long climb, but once you start getting above the tree line the views make it all worth while.  We ran across another small creek maybe 5 miles after the prior creek, and then a small waterfall just before the lake.  Towards the top there was a ridiculous amount of blueberries which we spent a while snacking on.  The lake itself is gorgeous and we decided to go for a quick swim after setting up camp.  We then kicked back to watch the sun set on the mountains to the east.  Very few bugs up here.

9/7: Copper Lake Camp to Hannegan Trailhead, ~11.5 miles and +2400' gain.  Spending the last day of our trip up on the ridge was a great decision.  The views seemed to get better and better as we went.  There's a bit of a climb right out of the camp ground, but nothing too bad.  You end up at the lookout a few miles later.  We signed the visitor log and saw that there was a book inside that identified the mountains around us.  As the high point for the trip, we spent about a half hour here just taking it in.  We continued down the trail towards Egg Lake.  We had heard from other hikers and the lookout ranger that there might be a black bear with a cub on the ridge, but we didn't see anything.  When we got to Egg Lake, we again dropped our packs in favor of a daypack and headed down to the lake for a quick lunch.  It doesn't match Copper Lake, but its still nice.  We continued our hike and maybe a mile or so past the Egg Lake junction we started running into a ton of Huckleberries.  We pulled out some extra ziplock bags and loaded them up as we went.  It slowed our progress a bit, so we had to hike a bit faster than planned once we passed Boundary Camp.  The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.  Some storm clouds began rolling in that afternoon and we had a little bit of a sprinkle (not enough for rain gear).  The last few miles seemed to drag out, but all and all it was a great week.

Overall: Traveling the trail CCW gives a couple sneak peaks at higher elevation (Hannegan Peak, Whatcom Pass) before ending the trip with a stroll along Copper Ridge (where the views are stunning).  Definitely recommend going that direction if you can get the permits for it.  We generally hiked 9-5 each day, taking our time and enjoying the scenery.  I'd also recommend an extra day of relaxation up on the ridge if you have time.  And don't forget extra baggies for berry picking!

I snagged a permit for this loop earlier in the year during the advance reservation period. Five days and four nights in the North Cascades for my third ever solo backpacking excursion. 

Day 1: Hannegan trailhead to Copper Lake (12.3 miles) 
After activating my permit at the Glacier ranger station, I drove to the Hannegan Pass trailhead on a rough-at-times-but-totally-navigable-by-my-Honda-Civic road. You actually have to park a few dozen yards away from the trailhead itself because the road is washed out right before the parking lot (there's ample room for folks to park alongside the road). 

The trail climbs gradually for the first two miles or so but becomes quite exposed and steep during the last push up to the pass. I stopped at Hannegan Camp to top off my water supply, then proceeded to hike the last few switchbacks up to the pass. At the time of my trip, there was a strong stream flowing just after you hike down the other side of the saddle, and you can also stop to refill at Boundary Camp. 

I chose to do the loop clockwise. The trail to Egg Lake/Silesia is straightforward, and nothing to write home about in terms of steepness. Once I gained the ridge, I stopped pretty frequently to admire the surrounding landscape, which, by the time I got to the Egg Lake/Silesia area, was beginning to take on that mystical glow that only the evening sun can provide. I saw a mama bear and her cub chilling in the valley close to the Egg Lake turn-off. They were a few dozen feet off-trail, so I made sure to clack around loudly to alert them to my presence. They eyeballed me a bit once they realized I was there but quickly lost interest (I guess I'm just as uninteresting to bears as I am to people JUST KIDDING I'm super cool and infinitely interesting to all living creatures). 

The views were thebomb.com on the way up to the Copper Mountain Lookout. Probably even spectacular enough to distract you from how darn steep the last haul up to the lookout is. Every direction I turned offered me a glorious vista of the big pointies (i.e. mountains) of the North Cascades. It was a little hazy from the smoke, but generally pretty clear.

Tony the Wilderness Ranger (sounds like a children’s show, no?) was at the lookout when I got there. He let me in to hang out for a few minutes. Apparently, he had been dropped off at the lookout by a helicopter to monitor a small fire that had started near the Canadian border. How neat is that? While I would have liked to loiter for a bit longer, I knew I had to get to camp before it got dark. Also, Tony was eating a glorious-smelling concoction comprised of a dehydrated meal and a can of soup, and it was making me super hungry. I said goodbye to Tony, switchbacked down to Copper Lake (bear box available), set up camp, slurped down dinner, and went to sleep. 

Day 2: Copper Lake to Bear Creek (9.5 miles)
It was completely socked in the next morning. Couldn't even begin to tell ya what the views might have been like. The alpine meadows looked pretty and mysterious shrouded in fog, though. I crossed through a few scree/talus fields, then arrived at the top of the endless switchbacks down to the Chilliwack. I counted maybe 15 blowdowns in between Copper Lake and the junction to Indian Creek/Bear Creek. Mostly stepovers. 

I had to ford the Chilliwack twice. The first crossing was about ankle deep, and the second hit right above my knee (note that I am exactly 5 ft tall so your experience here might be wildly different). The current was gentle, but I was happy to have had my trekking poles with me. The trail is flagged pretty well in this area, so I didn't have any trouble staying on track. 

At the next junction, I turned off the main loop to hike two miles to Bear Creek. The trail was very brushy (the most consistently brushy trail I experienced during my whole trip). There was one gigantic blowdown that crews had not been able to safely clear, so you have to literally climb over it using the notches that have been cut into the trunk. Anyway, I was glad when I finally got to camp, which was just a nondescript nook nestled in the underbrush. The rest of my night was uneventful. 

Day 3: Bear Creek to Tapto Lakes (11.8 miles)
After crossing the neato burrito suspension bridge, I hiked along a mercifully flat trail for about 3.5 miles before reaching the turn-off to Graybeal (and Whatcom and Tapto beyond). I hadn't brought my rain pants, so I got pretty darn soggy as I dragged myself through the dewy foliage. The trail continued to be annoyingly brushy all the way past Graybeal, though nothing I encountered over the next few days would ever compare to the two miles of Brushtown, USA before Bear Creek. 

Most of the first mile or so of trail leading up to Graybeal went through and over dry creek beds and was only really discernible because someone(s) (perhaps a trail crew) had lined it with a border of rocks and strategically placed cairns. Past Graybeal, the trail climbs gradually up to Whatcom Pass. There were a handful of trickier blowdowns to contend with along the way, but as I was hiking out the next day, I ran into a chainsaw duo heading in to clear the trail. 

The view of the Whatcom and Challenger glaciers from the pass is stunning. I dawdled a bit at the pass to ooh-and-ahh at the sights before resuming my journey to Tapto Lakes. The "trail" up to the lakes is brushy, steep, and clearly unmaintained, but as soon as you crest that last ridge, you'll be rewarded with the sight of a wide open valley dotted with a handful of tarns, walled off on one side by Red Face Mountain. I set up camp at a little spot overlooking the biggest tarn and spent the remainder of the evening in total solitude. It's worth mentioning that while you can just hang your food at other campsites on the loop, you're required to have a bear bin at Tapto. You also have to blue bag your poo up there. 

Day 4: Tapto Lakes to Hannegan Camp (14.5 miles)
I had a permit for Copper Creek for my last night, but I decided I wanted to hop ahead to Hannegan Camp so I could meet up with the WTA crew that I knew would be camped there. 

It was a smoky hike but nothing unmanageable. The cable car crossing was definitely the most exciting part of my day. Totally doable solo. The car is probably suspended about 20 ft above the river, but I felt very secure. Excellent bicep workout. After that thrilling bit of adventure, I made my way along a lovely, wooded trail that climbed gently uphill towards the pass. I got to Hannegan Camp an hour or two before sunset, which gave me just enough time to hang out with the crew for a little while before bedtime. 

Day 5: Hannegan Camp to Hannegan trailhead (3.5 miles):
Because I had tacked the extra four miles onto the previous day's hike, my last day was short and easy. I said goodbye to the crew after they left for work for the day, hiked down (passed about 10 groups heading up, day hikers and backpackers), hopped in my car, and was back in Seattle at 2pm. All in all, a wonderful five-day jaunt in the woods. 

Other things: I got really lucky with my bug situation. I think I only got two mosquito bites (and usually I am a Major Mosquito Magnet™). Also, there are so many berries to eat everywhere (blueberries, thimbleberries, salmonberries, huckleberries). 

Happy Hike-a-Thon Month! 

This trip report covers a nine day traverse through North Cascades National Park Complex, starting in Stehekin, WA and ending at the Hannegan Pass trailhead off the Mt. Baker Highway (Hwy 542) that my partner, Todd, and I did for our annual August backpacking trip. It involves going over five mountain passes, along 10 named creeks and rivers,12 different trails and all three units of the park complex -- Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, Ross Lake National Recreation Area and North Cascades National Park. Oh and throw in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest for good measure at the end of the trip.

The logistics for this traverse were challenging in two primary ways: one, the travel to Stehekin and from the Hannegan Pass trailhead and two, our ability to get 8 nights of permitted campsites as a walk-up permit (we didn't do the early season reservation period). The hiking was the easy part!

To get to Stehekin, we decided to use public transportation the entire way. This was fun to figure out (really). If you want to do this traverse (and I recommend it!) then figure in an extra day for travel on the front end of your trip as it'll take as much to get to Chelan, WA. Here's what we did:

Friday, August 3rd

We booked tickets for the 8:30am Amtrack/Greyhound bus (actually operated by Northwestern Trailways -- a fitting name for this adventure) out of King Street Station in Seattle to Wenatchee. You could opt for a train from Seattle to Wenatchee, but it leaves later in the day, which means getting into Wenatchee later. We wanted to have ample time to make our way to Chelan.

A little over four hours later, we emerged in Wenatchee. We grabbed lunch at The Depot (at the bus station), which has great sandwiches and the nicest folks. About an hour or so later, we walked half a block to local transit buses - Link Transit - and took a bus to Chelan ($2.50 per person, cash and change only). Note: we learned that the bus also makes a pick up / drop off stop at Stevens Pass. You could also hike the PCT to Stehekin using all public transportation this way -- bus to Stevens Pass and then reserve the way we got to Stehekin! Which would be a great hike too.

Once in Chelan we settled into our hotel room for the night.

Saturday, August 4th

We had booked tickets for the Lady of the Lake Express boat to Stehekin. Our hotel was located in downtown Chelan. We walked the one mile to the boat. Our boat was at 8:30am and arrived in Stehekin at 11:30am. This is the fastest boat to Stehekin.

Once in Stehekin, we ran up the hill to the Golden West Visitor's Center to get our backcountry camp permits. We were able to get 5 out of 8 campsites that we had wanted and adjusted our itinerary for the other 3 campsites. Our itinerary was a go!

We ran out of the visitor's center and grabbed the 11:30am red bus ($8/each) to High Bridge. It makes a 10-minute stop at the Stehekin Bakery so if you need lunch food for the first day, this is a good option. All said, we were in Stehekin for a whopping 30 minutes.

At High Bridge, we got off the bus and started our hike! We opted to walk the old Stehekin River Rd to its end and then hop on the PCT (Old Wagon Trail). The trail was in good shape.

Five miles or so later, we reached Bridge Creek and the turn off for the PCT (to head east toward Hwy 20). We headed a bit further north up the old Stehekin River Road, turning west on the road (which is now much narrower and trail like and known as the Upper Stehekin Valley Trail) to the junction with the Park Creek Pass trail.

Turning onto the Park Creek Pass trail we quickly began a steep uphill ascent to our camp for the night - Two Mile (aptly named for being at the two mile marker). A nice big footlog about 10 ft up in the air from the creek now crosses Park Creek.

That night we were treated to a thunderstorm, thankfully with some rain to go with it.

Sunday, August 5th

The Park Creek Pass trail continues to meander its way upwards, opening up in a few spots due to avalanche slopes. It also heads through the 2015 Goode Ridge Fire. The trail was cleared of downed trees all the way to Park Creek Pass. The trail is a bit brushy before the pass, but nothing too serious. It is seriously steep in some spots though, which stretched our achilles tendons a bit. By lunch time we were sitting at Park Creek Pass, which is quite the pass -- a honest-to-goodness "V" notch pass. Also interesting is that the trail actually continues UP from the pass as it rises/traverses above the pass. 

While sitting at the pass we were buzzed by what we assume was a park helicopter, likely looking for new fire starts after the thunderstorm the night before. Given the hot, dry weather we've been having, we were nervous about new fire starts, but the helicopter kept heading north, which was a great sign for us.

After lunch we took the long descent down into Thunder Basin and on to our campsite at Skagit Queen. Upper Thunder Basin is brushy at times (I got zapped by some stinging nettle a couple times too). But never terrible. We stopped to look at the remains of the mining site just above from the camp. Pretty great display of a still-standing wooden ore cart, old engine, wheels, etc.

Monday, August 6th

Now on the lower Thunder Creek trail, had a clear (and even brushed!) trail and made for good time to the last camp on Thunder Creek for us - Neve. Thunder Creek rolls up, down, close to and away from the creek itself. The terrain is also interesting in that you go from a wetter forest type ecology to a drier eastside ecology and then back again, all in a few hours' span. A waterfall or two also dot the trail.

Tuesday, August 7th

Today we turned off the Thunder Creek trail onto the Panther Creek trail. Well, first we took the Fourth of July trail up to the pass (some limited views of the surrounding peaks at the junction for the Fourth of July camp, but nothing at the pass itself, all trees). The trail today was mostly forested after the pass, winding down a narrow ridge in one spot that was pretty neat. Like Thunder Creek, this trail has been cleared to Fourth of July Pass and then there's a gap in clearing at the most remote spot on the trail. Trail maintenance resumed more toward Panther Camp. 

Wednesday, August 8th

We started out early this morning as it was going to be a hot, hot, HOT day. Right after Panther Camp there's an avalanche clearing that provides a lovely view of a waterfall. You travel along Panther Creek for much of the 4 or so miles to Highway 20. About 1.5 miles from the highway, the switchback (steeply!) uphill. It doesn't look like much on the map, but it ended up being a nice little calf burner. From there we headed down to Highway 20. Right before meeting the road we saw our one and only deer of the trip.

After crossing Highway 20, we walked behind the guard rail to the road bridge right before the East Bank trailhead. We hopped back on to the shoulder of the road to cross the bridge. At the East Bank trailhead, we unloaded the first few days' worth of garbage from our packs and then picked up the Happy Panther trail (also part of the Pacific Northwest Trail), which pops out right at the edge of the East Bank parking lot.

The Happy Panther trail is almost flat. It's a wonderful, fast five mile hike along Ruby Arm (although you're high above the water, you do get peek-a-boo views of the water from time to time). About a half a mile from Ross Lake, there's a fun benchmarker embedded in a rock sideways (usually they are on top of rock slabs, not on the side). Try to find it! There's also two nice creeks on this trail with substantial bridges.

At Ross Lake, with temperatures soaring near 100 degrees, Todd and I opted to hail a boat from the Ross Lake Resort water taxi and do five miles of our hike by boat. This skipped the portion of trail that travels across the top of Ross Dam and along the lakeshore (also very exposed in the afternoon sun) to the outlet of the Big Beaver River. We had hike Ross Dam to the resort before as well. Once at the Big Beaver boat launch, we picked up the trail across the Big Beaver River (a very nice suspension type bridge!) and on to our campsite at Pumpkin Mountain. You could opt to stay at the more luxury (Picnic tables! Bear lockers! Nice toilets!) Big Beaver camp, but we wanted a quieter experience (Big Beaver has more campsites with a boat-in option). Pumpkin Mountain has exactly two campsites. Given how hot the day was, we took multiple swims in Ross Lake that day and watched the Gilbert / Crescent Mountain Fire explode in the distance (huge smoke plume).

Thursday, August 9th

We had a 16-mile plus day ahead of us, so we started out early along the Big Beaver trail this morning. The Big Beaver River is beautiful -- deep, emerald green and slow moving through the first half of the trail. You are never too far from the river, but the trail mostly winds through the forest about a tenth of a mile from the river. There's a few spots where the trail comes down to the river though, with good views toward the surrounding ridge. Within 30 minutes of the start of our day, we realized upon looking down at our feet that tiny frogs (toads?) were jumping all over the trail! This lasted for a few miles and caused us to hike awkwardly as we tried to miss squishing the babies with our feet.

The Big Beaver Trail has some amazingly large cedar trees -- make sure to take note of the size of these trees, deep in North Cascades National Park. We also saw signs of a very, very old forest fire.

Eventually we headed up towards Beaver Pass, which is another unnotable pass in the trees. Although the Beaver Pass camp has a historic shelter (now only used for emergencies) that was fun to look at. After the long and gentle ascent to Beaver Pass, we switchbacked down to our camp at Stillwell.

Big Beaver has been cleared for its entire length.

Friday, August 10th

We were excited to see Whatcom Pass today as it had been handful of days since we had been above 5,000 feet in elevation. The hike up the Little Beaver Trail to Whatcom Pass felt more rugged and wild -- the valley opened up and greeted us with a wall of waterfalls and views of Mt. Challenger, the Challenger Glacier and Whatcom Peak. There's a few spots along this trail where the river has taken eroded the bank and the trail with it. A reroute through some alder and brush was pretty straightforward. Eventually we began to ascend, quiet steeply, up Whatcom Pass. The development of this trail up to the pass is quite impressive with wooden crib walls providing the structure for a handful of switchbacks. Once at the top of the switchbacks, we had a more gentle ascent through subalpine forest and meadows to Whatcom Pass. We had hoped to see a bear here, but...nothing.

As we dropped down to our camp at Graybeal, we had more impressive walls with waterfalls to gawk at and views out to the nearby peaks. At Graybeal, make sure you head out to the creek, which at some point had burst its seams -- the creek bed is wide, even flowing into the Graybeal camps. Right now, the creek is just a skip, hop and a jump. The views back toward Whatcom Pass will provide a glimpse at a waterfall and alpenglow off some snowfields higher up.

The trail coming down from Whatcom Pass has a few careful footing spots across streamlets and a few trees to clamber over.

Saturday, August 11th

Today we continued down Brush Creek to its junction with the Copper Ridge Loop / Chilliwack Trail. The trail has been cleared from Graybeal to the junction. When we reached the junction we had a decision to make -- turn right and up 4,000+ ft and a little over 18 miles to Egg Lake (our permitted camp for the night) or take the "low" route up the Chilliwack to the junction with the Copper Ridge trail. Today's forecast was iffy -- even calling for thunderstorms at some point in the day. Having been in a ridgetop thunderstorm (and one of the worst thunderstorms we've been in ever), we opted for the "low" route to save the ridgetop walking for another, hopefully sunnier, day.

While we were bummed to not see some of the greatest portions of the Copper Ridge Loop, we were excited to cross the Chilliwack on the famed cable car. The cable car is a treat! While the water level of the river is definitely fordable by foot right now (although it didn't rain the night before either), we wanted to experience the cable car. It was a lot tougher to pull with two people in the basket than I expected. We thank the kind people who left the gloves behind in the basket as they sure made it nicer for our hands.

After the cable car, we eventually began our ascent up, up, up through the clouds, mist and drizzle to Egg Lake, our little home away from home for the night.

The Chilliwack and Copper Ridge trails have been cleared from the junction with Brush Creek. The Chilliwack even had a good amount of recently brushed trail (thanks for the NPS crew who we met along the way!). 

I did an overnight trip to Egg Lake with my Dad a number of years ago and it was fun to return. Egg Lake sits at 5,200 ft with a tremendous view down the valley. The lake itself does resemble its name and is one of the most turquoise-blue lakes we've seen. We only wish the weather had changed a day later as it was too cold to swim the day we were there.  

It rained all evening and into the night...

Sunday, August 12th

This morning we saw a momma bear and cub from our campsite -- and at the perfect, safe distance. They were eating berries on the opposing ridge from our camp. Given all of the miles we had traveled and only one large creature (a deer) seen, to be treated to bears the morning we were heading out made us feel like we had hit the hiker lottery!

Our friends met us at Hannegan Pass (coordinated with the use of my Garmin InReach -- very handy!) and we hiked out the Hannegan Pass trail. We met a WTA Volunteer Vacation and day work party on the way out, which was a lot of fun. We thanked all for the great work!

The Hannegan Pass trail makes for a pretty fantastic day hike with views to Mt. Ruth, surrounding ridges with waterfalls...you have views for most of the way, which you can't say for many day hikes.

On the drive back to Seattle, we hit up the bakery in Glacier for some 'real' food too!

This was a great trip that had a little of everything. It was the longest trip we had ever done in North Cascades National Park by far! It basically tackles all of the longer, major trails in the park and gives you a good feeling for a park that has some sublimely remote and rugged areas within it. I'm looking forward to heading back for the full Copper Ridge Loop and revisiting the greater Whatcom Pass area!

Some tips if you'd like to do this traverse:

• Public transportation to Stehekin is very doable - it's a long day, but worth it, especially if you don't want to trouble friends by asking for a ride.
• Book a hotel room in Chelan months before you go...Chelan hotels are fully booked in the summer. We lucked out and got a "walk up" hotel room the day we arrived, but it was a long, long shot.
• Take cash for the Link bus to Chelan and the red bus to High Bridge in Stehekin...also for the Stehekin Bakery!
• Be flexible with your itinerary -- have back up camps in mind if your ideal itinerary doesn't work. Oh and make sure to bring a complete itinerary with you to get your permits -- have it figured out in advance. It makes the permitting process much, much faster.
• If you don't want to carry 9 days worth of food, consider asking a friend to meet you at Ross Lake the day you cross Highway 20 -- you could break up the pack weight that way.
• One thing I read on the North Cascades NP website...every camp has access to water. So you know by looking at your map where guaranteed water is. You might have to hike down to it (in the case of Silesia Camp on Copper Ridge) but it's there. There was plenty of water along most of the trails we took, but it was nice knowing the camps had water (also toilets at every camp!).

TL/DR version: Some of the best hiking I've done in 10 years living in WA. Stellar views abound. So do the bugs. 

Started out from the Hannegan TH around 1:00pm on Saturday, Aug 4, after a short night's sleep in the car at the permit office in Marblemount (open an hour earlier than the service center in Glacier). WTA volunteers (hurray!) and swarms of black flies (boo!) were out in force along the first 4.5-mile stretch heading up to Hannegan Pass. Snowy views of Ruth Mountain and promises of breezes on the other side of the pass kept up spirits. We opted to forgo the hike up Hannegan Peak, but probably should have gone for it as Saturday was the least hazy/smoky day we had. Stopped for water at a small unmarked stream below the switchbacks NE of the pass, before Boundary Camp. 

We opted to do the loop counter-clockwise, and this proved to be the consensus pick among our group of four, all of whom are recent dads and didn't have the legs to make a push up the ridge on Day 1 or Day 2 (more on the benefits of this direction below). We made camp at Copper Creek just as the thunderclouds started to roll in and enjoyed the gentle rain on our tents as we bedded down for the night. 

Day 2 was from Copper Creek to Indian Creek, and proved to be an unexpectedly fun and adventurous day on what we had otherwise billed as a rest/river walk day. The cable car across the Chilliwack is definitely the way to go versus the river ford. Just a short 1.2 miles from the cable car is a great spot to fill up on water and soak your feet/take a nap at Brush Creek. Highly recommend making the stop there, as the 3.4 miles from Brush Creek to Indian Creek are long ones through extended stretches of thick brush requiring plenty of noisy presence-making. We spotted a black bear sow in the brush who was still there 10 minutes later after we had slowly backed up the trail to give her space. She and her cub (now both uphill about 50 feet from our location on the trail) slowly sauntered off after the second sighting, and we calmly continued on our way, bear spray in hand until Indian Creek. There was a downed tree just past our bear sighting that required packs off and under which we moved as efficiently as possible. 

The suspension bridge over Indian Creek capped the day's adventures. We tucked in to an unclaimed campsite at the far end of camp (sorry NPS, but we were not overly enthusiastic about your description of the overgrown trail to the no-man's-land Bear Creek Camp at dusk) and waited three hours until around 8:00pm before we decided it was unlikely another party was coming to claim their permitted site, and finally pitched our tents. There was a fair amount of twigs and branches snapping in the woods (in otherwise calm weather) throughout the night, which further solidified our decision to not have pushed on to Bear Creek. 

Day 3 started with an easy walk down to the Indian Creek/Chilliwack River fords. As you approach the water, look for pink flags on both sides of the first crossing to guide you. When we crossed around 8:00am, water was calf-high and relatively easy to navigate. Once across the first crossing (heading west), we continued to follow the pink flags across a large gravel bar that led to the second crossing. Here, we had beta from a couple who had crossed in the opposite direction that there is very large downed tree with a medium-sized blue swimming hole to your right (heading toward the ridge), and that was the best place to cross, as it is not flagged. We found the log and the swimming hole, crossed, and went for a quick swim before getting our boots back on for the long haul up the switchbacks. 

The good news about heading up the ridge is more than 2/3 of your elevation is gained under relatively good tree cover. We didn't end up putting on sunscreen until around 4,400 when the switchbacks break out above the treeline and you're starting to go up through hot brush, all the while thinking your're going to duck back into some trees, but never really do. All the more reason to break your camp as early as you can that morning and avoid having to hike the last 3.5 miles to Copper Lake in the worst heat of the day. Other than the heat above the treeline, the only other minor annoyance (no bugs!) on the push upward were a few easily hopped logs down across the trail. None required packs off. 

From above the treeline heading toward Copper Lake, we spotted a small fire flaring up on the SW side of Nodoubt Peak across the valley. We talked to the NPS ranger the next day at the fire lookout and she said they'd sent a helicopter to check it out. 

The one section before topping out on the ridge we had heard might still have some snow was crossing a large boulder field about 1.25 miles before Copper Lake. The trail clearly ducks just below the remaining snow, and while slightly exposed, the boulder field crossing posed no problems. Alas, I'd carried a pair of microspikes all that way for nothing. 

Swimming in Copper Lake was a godsend after a hot day gaining the ridge. The mosquitoes kept us dancing around camp or hunkered down in our tents the rest of the evening, even after dusk. That said, all agreed (including a previously incredulous Coloradan) that this must be one of the Top 10 campsites in all of the Great American West. The haze throughout the valley was thick in the afternoon, but clearer in the morning enough to enjoy some pretty crisp views of Whatcom, Challenger, etc. And the moon rising across the valley with a galaxy full of stars was equally surreal/spectacular at night; set an alarm if it's clear. 

The push up to the fire lookout from the lake on Day 4 did not mess around -- steep and stunning switchbacks make their way above the lake as though it were on fire, and soon enough our legs were. The view from the lookout, much like the camp we left below, must be one of the singularly greatest west of the Mississippi (begging the question how many great views are actually east of the Mississippi), and surely in all of North Cascades NP. It's the kind of view that makes you want to return to the trailhead and civilization if only to rattle off a resignation letter for whatever job is keeping you from wandering that and other equally impressive ridge lines for years to come. 

Coming down off the ridge (begrudgingly), you're still treated to stellar views and the teasingly distant line of the trail hundreds of feet below as you make your way toward Egg Lake. We opted to carry extra reserve bags of H2O to treat along the way rather than drop the extra 300 vert. ft. to Egg Lake for a fill-up. If you're smart, you can make it from Copper Lake to Boundary Camp (or a stream running down the scree field just below the switchbacks back up to Hannegan Pass that looks to be good for at least another couple weeks) without the detour to Egg Lake. Two small streams marked on the Green Trails map below 5,400 on the Copper Ridge Trail heading back toward Boundary Camp are bone dry this time of year. 

The final push back up over Hannegan Pass was a breeze compared to the climb up from the Chilliwack to Copper Lake, and we cruised the last 4.5 miles from the Pass to the TH in record time knowing that a good long soak in Ruth Creek, followed by pizza and beer in Glacier, awaited us. Prying ourselves off those bar stools was nearly as hard as prying us away from some of the best views of the Cascades one could hope to have. 

I've heard from multiple people that Copper Ridge Loop was one of best multi-day hikes to do in the North Cascades, so I knew I need to give it a shot! After getting denied an advance reservation permit (bummer paying a fee for nothing!) I drove up the day before our hike and waited for the Glacier station to open to snag a walk-up permit. My plan A wasn't possible due to camps being full, but I got the last spot for my plan B! The road to the trailhead was no problem, although it does end short of the actual trailhead due to a washout and you have to park along the road. Not too much of a problem though.

Day 1: Hannegan Pass Trailhead to US Cabins. 12.3 miles

We were told the bugs were the worst in the first 4 miles of the trail, so we tried to get an early start to avoid them, but didn't end up getting on the trail till 9am. Despite our later than planned start, the bugs still weren't the bad. I suspect that's because of the cooler weather from previous days before and isn't normal for this time of year. Once at Hannegan pass we ate lunch and dropped off our packs and did the quick side trip up to Hannegan peak. Well worth it! What was originally suppose to be a cloudy/rainy day turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. After that we continued to US Cabins. We filled up our water bottles on a stream right before Boundary Camp. We took a break at Copper Creek Camp, and were at US Cabins by 5pm. The best campsite is the one second to the right. It's the closest to the creek and seemed to have the most usable space. Around 6:30 a large thunderstorm came in and we prepped our camp for the rain and hunkered down for the night. Luckily the inside our tents stayed dried, but it was definitely some serious rain. Even heard a large tree branch fall nearby in the middle of the night that woke me up.

Day 2: US Cabins to Copper Lake. 12.8 miles

The next morning the rain was long gone, but unfortunately everything was still wet due to rain water still dripping from the trees. We hit the trail by 8am, and really enjoyed the cable car crossing (which I told by a Ranger was just inspected for safety). Because of the thunderstorm the night before, we got absolutely soaked from the portion between the Whatcom Pass junction and Indian Creek. The trail gets seriously overgrown in some portions, and all you can do is look down and protect your face from the branches, but not for terribly long stretches. After you pass Indian Creek Camp in one mile you have to ford Indian and Chilliwack creek. We followed some pink/orange ribbons which took us to the best spot to ford. The water was just below our knees at noon (and no spawning salmon yet). We had a hard time finding the trail on the other side of the creek and it look the three of us searching for about 20 minutes until we saw what looked like a trail on the other side. At this point we laid out our wet gear and took a lunch/drying break for an hour, then continued up to Copper take. I don't know if it was the heat or elevation gain, but this section of the hike exhausted us. It took us about 4 hours to get to Copper Lake from the river crossing, but once at the lake we ate dinner and immediately felt better. We found that the campsite following the trail on the left at the fork was the best spot (most secluded and closest to the lake). The lake was surprisingly warm and even though the sun was behind the mountain at this point I still jumped in, and boy was it refreshing. The mosquitos were annoying at the camp, but since it was cooler we could be fully covered and not get bitten.

Day 3: Copper Lake to Hannegan Pass Trailhead. 11.4 miles

Got up early to make coffee and watch the sunrise over Mount Redoubt which was an amazing site. We then packed up, stopped at the renown Copper Lake Camp compositing toilet, and hit the trail at 8. The next 4 miles is when you really reap the reward of the hike. The views from Copper Ridge were incredible and lived up to the hype. We stopped at the Ranger look out and chatted with her for a little bit. We noticed quite a few game cameras on the trail, and she mentioned it was to track rare animals and the declining marmot population. We continued on to Boundary Camp and stopped at the nearby stream to eat lunch and refill waters. We then hustled for the last 5 miles back to the car, which I'm thankful we did because it was very warm and the bugs were back out in full force.

I'll admit that we definitely got lucky with the bugs not being too bad and the weather being significantly better than forecasted (minus the evening thunderstorm). If I could do this trail again, I'd probably add an extra day/night so we could soak it all in a bit more, especially on the ridge. Overall though this trailed lived up to the hype and we had an amazing time!