The road in was ok, a few potholes, but not as bad as the Darrington RS website claims. No sign at the trailhead. We slogged up the trail, which had virtually no snow until after passing 3 O'clock Rock. Quite a chunk o' granite there, no wonder the rock jocks like it so much. Real snow didn't start for some distance beyond, but by the Squire Cr Pass area it was maybe 6 feet deep. The trail is nicely maintained to the rock climbing area, then resorts to near-abandoned status. Lots of blowdowns up high. We donned snowshoes well before the pass, then slushed our way to Ulalach Peak. While on the ridge it was obvious that we'd have to traverse under the peak, then climb the far side. That went well (may not without snow cover due to lots of sloping granite) until the last 20 or 30 feet, which was corniced and too scawwy. Eh... close enough! On the return I left Dave to descend to the trailhead, and went up the easy Higher Squire. Suddenly, out of nowhere, and without warning, in an instant, the skies opened up with quite the graupel shower. That dampened spirits considerably. I reached the car soon after Dave, soaked from the waist down. No bugs!

I joined a WTA work crew today. After complaining to the USFS about maintaining this trail, I decided to put my money where my mouth is. We quickly hiked a short mile to Three o’clock Rock and divided into Team Shade and Team Sun. Some rock steps were built and retread was accomplished. Another group will continue work on Sunday. This is an example of great leadership and an awesome group. Safety, fun, sweat, candy bars; we had it all. I will now redouble my efforts to ask the USFS to get all the blow downs (there are a lot) off the upper half of this trail so WTA volunteers can finish the job to Squire Creek Pass. Four climbers and no hikers were seen today.

Glad to be spending time with Cap'n Calm on this incredible first day of summer. Overcoming injury for my first outing this year. This is the only sensible way to the Squire Creek Pass area since landslides wiped out access from RD#2040. There is no trail sign, only a wide spot in the road. This trail has had some amazing maintenance for the first time since I tried it five years ago. WTA and the USFS should be applauded. Perhaps we need to encourge them to finish the trail to the pass. The first 1000' are steep but clean. Then the fun begins. Be ready for bushes, windfall, mud, routefinding, more bushes and plenty of snow above 3400'. Blazes on trees are helpful, wands would have been better. At some point we just headed straight towards the mighty and feared Point 4879. I think we took the steepest route up, maybe to 50 degrees. Great views of Dakobed and Koma Kulshan, with the Three Fingers-Whitehorse massif right in my face. Plenty of slabs to play on. 7 miles R/T, 3000' gain, almost six hours away from the car.
[Online Editor's note: Much of the work was done by the Access Fund with support from WTA and the USFS. You can be certain we will be working on it more in the future.]

Squire Creek Trail, from Clear Creek to Squire Creek Pass. The portion of the Squire Creek trail in the Clear Creek drainage, from the Copper Creek spur of the Clear Creek logging road up toward Squire Creek Pass, was the site of a WTA sponsored work party the weekend of July 8-9, 2000. In addition to the WTA, the project was sponsored by the North Face, a clothing and equipment manufacturer, and the Access Fund, a rock and mountain climber's advocacy group. The trail is currently in reasonably good condition from the trailhead in Clear Creek up to a polished granite face known as Three O'Clock Rock, a little over one mile up the trail. However, the trailbed is rocky, and there remain some muddy areas - sturdy footwear is recommended and the trail may not be suitable for small children. The trail passes through some previously logged but never-the-less quite beautiful forest, and emerges into the open for some views of the valley and surrounding peaks just as one approaches Three O'Clock Rock. The upper half of this trail, from Three O'Clock Rock to Squire Creek Pass, is in poor condition. Beyond the open area described above, the trail enters brush and soon ascends into a forest where an avalanche has come down and completely obliterated the trail for 1/4 mile. Should one persevere and climb/scramble/crawl past this obstacle, the trail is generally passable though brushy from there up to the pass. As of July 7, there was snow on the trail up near the pass itself. The trail in the Squire Creek basin, from the Squire Creek Pass down to the Squire Creek trailhead, is in much better condition and is at present the recommended hiking route to Squire Creek Pass. The Pass offers excellent views of such impressive features as the east wall of Three Fingers Mountain, the Squire Creek Wall below the east side of Whitehorse Mountain, and Mt. Shuksan to the north. --Matt Perkins, July 10, 2000

I explored this long-abandoned trail, the eastern approach to Squire Creek Pass, in preparation for a work party in conjunction with the Access Fund this weekend. About a mile up the trail is a popular rock-climbing area with a number of bolted routes so rock climbers as well as hikers are interested in reviving this long-ignored trail. The trailhead sign is missing, but is marked by a Volvo hub-cap and a blue bandana. If you go beyond it (as I did) you will know -- the road degenerates quickly. The trail begins on an old-logging road bed that is wet and rocky, but not difficult to walk. There are several drainage problems on this trail, but because it has been ignored for so long, the biggest problem is over-growth. In many spots, salmonberry and pine seedlings are crowding out the trail. The trail has seen some amateur maintenance so there is lots of ugliness - many small pines along the trail have been sawed-off two-three feet above the ground leaving a phalanx of dead, pointed sticks along both sides of the trail. There are also many tree limbs that have been sawed off many feet from the trunk leaving dried, pointed branches extending into the trail, some at eye-level. As you leave forest just below the rock-climbing area, the trail degenerates into a boot-beat path through slide-alder and berry bushes. I scrambled around amongst the various paths that lead to the climbing rocks. It was raining heavily at the time and I got thoroughly soaked. This whole area needs brushing and re-treading. I wasn't able to figure out where the trail continues on up to Squire Creek pass.