We had 10 boys and adults on this second-to-the-last 50-miler shakedown hike. We spent Friday evening camping along the riverbank on the trail to Monte Cristo. We would start the Weden Creek hike in the morning. Saturday morning arrived and the weather was terrific. We overslept so we got a late start on the trail. It must have been about 10am when we finally got going. The trail started off through a dense wooded area that had a few very deep mudholes. We had read trip reports earlier in the week, which warned of the trail construction efforts going on. The reports said to follow the little flag markers since the trail has detours around the work areas. We did follow the flags, which took us through heavy brush. I think we were blazing the new trail. We weren't alone, however, as there were several others both in front and behind us. The ascent started in this section of the trail. The gradual uphill turned quickly into relentless climbing. We were carrying full 40+ pound packs (just for the experience of it!). At the first water crossing, I lost my balance, and my foot was in the river with water gushing around the top edge of my boots. One wrong move and wet socks would be my companion on the miles ahead. Some friends grabbed my arms in attempts to help me out of my predicament, but to no avail- both feet became submerged. Oh, well. It was going to be in the 80's anyway. Each mile of the trail became steeper and steeper. We were thankful at about mile point 2, when we were able to stop at a stream to filter water, and dunk our heads. The heat of the day had arrived, and we were all hot and ready to end our journey. The last mile seemed like several. There are boulders to scale, mud to avoid, snow to cross, downed trees to crawl under, and steep gullies awaiting any wrong move. Everyone coming down the trail said that we only had about a half-hour to go. That half-hour was more like 2 hours! 2600 feet of elevation gain in 3 miles. It is spring here now, with many wildflowers in bloom. Tired and totally spent (the adults, that is), we arrived at Gothic Basin. There is still snow in the basin, and it is beautiful, but at the moment, we are too tired to appreciate anything but the arrival at our destination. There were several others camping here. We found a wonderful campsite to the left of the trail and UP (of course) a hill. The site has a 360-degree view of the Cascades all around us. The sky was clear and sunny. It was such a different perspective to be at the top of the mountains looking down at the valleys. The sunset was gorgeous! We melted snow for our dinner water, ate, and went to bed early to allow plenty of time to dream about the trip down. We got another late start the next morning. We had planned on a grab-and-go breakfast, so that worked out good. We hit the trail and began our re-entry into civilization. I'm not sure if the climbing the day before was more difficult, or the descent on this day. It was refreshing to use different muscles today, but just as tiring. The last mile of the trail, we forgot to follow the little trail flags, and we ended up at the river, which was too deep and wide to cross. We had to backtrack. All in all it was a great trip. >19980722|MT PHELPS||a|troy|128| Mount Phelps - The Alpine Lakes - We figured this would be a quick moderately challenging route, perfect for after a half day of work. The first obstacle is getting to North Fork Snoqualmie River Road. USGS and road maps are not detailed enough to locate, and even locals only have a vague idea. Go to North Bend, turn right on North Bend Road, turn left onto Bartall (sp') and you are into the woods. This road changes names several times, and becomes even more confusing at a certain Y. Contrary to what the sign says, go left up the ""Dead End-road closed 24 miles"" road into Weyerhouser land. Strange views of outskirts of Alpine Lakes follow. We followed Pilar's instructions after this point, and only made every wrong turn. Poor Bug could only go 0.3 miles up #5736, up to a bouldery stream crossing. We found the abandoned road, and what is left of the ""mine"". We even found a red piece of flagging that might mark a trail. However, all paths into the clearcut were horribly overgrown and quickly disappeared under the slash. We tried four routes along the road end, but all ended in misery and near impalement. This could still probably be done in a long day of powering up the slash until the ridge, but coming down this at night meant certain bivy. This one is probably best done in early spring (but I'll be back!).

The one word to describe this trail is ""Steep"". No time wasted on switchbacks. The final 500 feet were straight up a snow gully. The basin is completely snowbound, the lake is just beginning to thaw around the edges. We had some devine intervention, a one hour long sucker hole that allowed us to summit Del Campo...we were sitting on top of the world! Going down this trail is very tricky...don't miss that turn off or you'll be backtracking to find the pink maintenence flags. When will they invent a personal handheld helicopter so we won't even have to walk up trails anymore' A little knowledge gets you a lot further that a few thousand bucks spent on GPS units and electronic compasses. Just another way for the improperly prepared to get in over their heads.

Glacier Peak Area - Weden Creek trail was overgrown, rocky, rooty, etc -- in other words more of a climbers trail than a hiking trail. Upon reaching Gothic Basin, we found a beautiful snowy vista, and the lakes in the basin were still mostly covered with snow and ice as well. After ascending several snowfields, we scrambled up a rock gully a few yards, veered left along a shelf, and scrambled up and to the right along great stair steps with bomber handholds. We worked our way back to the left slightly and were on the summit of Del Camp before we knew it. Its really not nearly as difficult as it looks from below. 5.5 hours from the car at Monte Cristo road. Incredible views.

Shortly after leaving the Monte Cristo road at the Sauk River Bridge the trail could use a little brushing-- lots of ferns crowding in, but no noxious flora, so only an annoyance if wet. Stream crossings are generally safe, but highest big stream has snow bridge which most hikers were (but ought not to have been) using. Gothic Basin and Foggy Lake can be reached without needing an ice axe, but the basin is pretty much snowed it; lake is frozen. Beautiful spot under present conditions. A good breeze kept insect pests at bay, but don't count on that! Snow was in good condition for step-kicking--firm with soft surface--but that may have been owing to warm, sunny weather. Best to take an ice axe if contemplating exploring terrain beyond Foggy Lake.