Kim and I flew in to Seattle on Sept 6 for a two-week trip, with plans on spending a week in North Cascades and a week in Olympic. We ended up spending pretty much all our time in North Cascades, doing three backpacking trips: an overnight, a 5-day, and a 3-day. We had absolutely spectacular weather (a fact we were reminded of by every resident we met), with sunny days every day we hiked.
The next day, after of course stopping at REI's flagship store in Seattle, we drove up to the Mt. Baker area. The North Cascades area is an interesting mishmash of federal land, with different regulations based on whose jurisdiction you're under at the time. On one hike we started in national forest, hiked through the national park and into a national recreation area, then back again. Some land is wilderness, some isn't. Politics were clearly involved when the lines were drawn.
After getting permits for a backpacking trip later in the week, we headed up to the Skyline Divide trail, which climbs up to a ridge of Mt. Baker. This is a very popular day hike, but we figured we'd have it to ourselves as an overnight. It was mid-afternoon by this time, and sure enough the crowds were all coming down as we were going up. The hike up was a couple miles through forest, then upon cresting the ridge we were greeted with open meadows and amazing views of Mt. Baker. We hiked a mile or so along the ridge before setting up camp at a spot with views of Mt. Baker on one side, and the sun setting over the sea on the other (you could see salt water but not the ocean proper; most likely it was the Strait of Georgia or Strait of Juan de Fuca). The wildflowers were still in bloom, even though it was September!
We got up to watch the sunrise the next morning, and wandered around a little just enjoying the view. We packed up and headed down in late morning, just as the crowds started heading up. Perfect timing! Our afternoon destination was Lake Ann, a small lake at the foot of Mt. Shuksan. It was a 9-mile roundtrip hike, but was uphill both ways -- the trail drops 1000 feet before climbing 1000 feet back up to the lake. We saw some climbers descending one of the glaciers on Mt Shuksan. We were told later they were on the Fisher Chimney route, which supposedly isn't that bad, but it looked pretty treacherous from my seat on level ground!
The next day we started our 5-day backpacking trip, a loop along the Chilliwack River and back over Copper Ridge. We only did around 7 or 8 miles per day, but that gave us plenty of time to enjoy ourselves. The first day we hiked up a valley to Hannegan Pass (where there were decent views but not spectacular) and then down into the valley to camp. The 2nd day we stayed down in the valley, where there were some absolutely enormous old-growth trees. The 3rd day started out level, and required the fording of two very very cold creeks. There were some sockeye salmon in one of them, bright red with green heads. Some were large and some were small; someone told us the large ones were from the ocean and the small ones had "grown up" in a lake. Right after these creeks we began our climb up to Copper Ridge: 3500 feet up, but once we were on top the views were absolutely phenomenal. We camped at Copper Lake, with the lake on one side and great views towards Mt. Challenger on the other. The next day we took a path towards Copper Mountain (we didn't go to the summit) and enjoyed the views from high above Copper Lake, then continued on to our next campsite, which had even better views than Copper Lake. Our last day, after having a bear run in front of our campsite, we hiked back out over Hannegan Pass, and took the side trail to Hannegan Peak for more great views. It was Saturday by this time, and the trail was much busier. We saw a lot of rope teams climbing Mt. Ruth, which is right next to Hannegan Peak.
After the trip we drove to Bellingham for dinner and a hotel and shower. Our trip was half over and we had only seen a small part of North Cascades! This was when we decided to skip Olympic and visit another part of N. Cascades. We didn't really do much this day other than visit REI again and drive back to the park. We spent the night in a NPS campground on Diablo Lake, which had to be the quietest car campground I have ever been in. Hooray for post-Labor Day trips.
Monday we started a 3-day loop trip to McAlester and Rainbow Lakes, spending a night at each. The 8 mile hike to McAlester was quite pleasant, and we were greeted with a lake full of small trout which were rising and jumping all over the place. The next day we headed over to Rainbow Lake, encountering a bear along the way. Rainbow also had its share of trout, but it didn't look like as many as McAlester. At McAlester you could stand on the shore and count at least a dozen trout, but we only saw a few in Rainbow. The next morning we ran into a couple guys hunting (we were in a national recreation area at this point) who pointed out a family of bears on a hillside across the lake. These were our 4th, 5th, and 6th bears for the trip. They were hunting bear but said they wouldn't take a sow with cubs. The hike out had its moments -- the trail from Rainbow was badly in need of some attention, with a lot of blowdown across the trail. Then Kim slipped and fell trying to cross a creek -- she didn't get too wet but she fell on a rock right on her tailbone. Fortunately a handful of ibuprofen did the trick and we made it out no problem. This whole loop was a little more low-key than the breathtaking Copper Ridge loop, but it still had its share of views, and the lakes were definitely a plus. Should've brought the fishing rod though...
After spending the night at an overpriced KOA campground, we took the ferry out to the San Juan Islands, where we went on a whale watch. We saw dozens of orcas, a minke whale, a bunch of Steller sea lions, lots of harbor seals, and a couple bald eagles. Not a bad day! It was a bit on the cool side since it was overcast, our first not-so-nice day since we got there. Friday we hung around Seattle and went to the aquarium (and of course went to REI again) before flying home on Saturday.
In summary, this was a spectacular area that I'd go back to in a heartbeat. And I'm sure we will someday, since we didn't get to Olympic this year. And a trip to Mt. Rainier is on the list at some point; I'd like to hike the Wonderland Trail. As for next year, we're looking to hike the John Muir Trail, assuming we can get all the logistics figured out!
Pictures:
1. Flowers and Mt. Baker along Skyline Divide Trail
2. Mt. Baker again
3. View from Copper Ridge
4. Copper Lake
5. View from Copper Ridge (with marmot on the rock)
6. View from our last campsite on Copper Ridge
7. Mt. Ruth from Hannegan Peak
8. Rainbow Lake
The next day, after of course stopping at REI's flagship store in Seattle, we drove up to the Mt. Baker area. The North Cascades area is an interesting mishmash of federal land, with different regulations based on whose jurisdiction you're under at the time. On one hike we started in national forest, hiked through the national park and into a national recreation area, then back again. Some land is wilderness, some isn't. Politics were clearly involved when the lines were drawn.
After getting permits for a backpacking trip later in the week, we headed up to the Skyline Divide trail, which climbs up to a ridge of Mt. Baker. This is a very popular day hike, but we figured we'd have it to ourselves as an overnight. It was mid-afternoon by this time, and sure enough the crowds were all coming down as we were going up. The hike up was a couple miles through forest, then upon cresting the ridge we were greeted with open meadows and amazing views of Mt. Baker. We hiked a mile or so along the ridge before setting up camp at a spot with views of Mt. Baker on one side, and the sun setting over the sea on the other (you could see salt water but not the ocean proper; most likely it was the Strait of Georgia or Strait of Juan de Fuca). The wildflowers were still in bloom, even though it was September!
We got up to watch the sunrise the next morning, and wandered around a little just enjoying the view. We packed up and headed down in late morning, just as the crowds started heading up. Perfect timing! Our afternoon destination was Lake Ann, a small lake at the foot of Mt. Shuksan. It was a 9-mile roundtrip hike, but was uphill both ways -- the trail drops 1000 feet before climbing 1000 feet back up to the lake. We saw some climbers descending one of the glaciers on Mt Shuksan. We were told later they were on the Fisher Chimney route, which supposedly isn't that bad, but it looked pretty treacherous from my seat on level ground!
The next day we started our 5-day backpacking trip, a loop along the Chilliwack River and back over Copper Ridge. We only did around 7 or 8 miles per day, but that gave us plenty of time to enjoy ourselves. The first day we hiked up a valley to Hannegan Pass (where there were decent views but not spectacular) and then down into the valley to camp. The 2nd day we stayed down in the valley, where there were some absolutely enormous old-growth trees. The 3rd day started out level, and required the fording of two very very cold creeks. There were some sockeye salmon in one of them, bright red with green heads. Some were large and some were small; someone told us the large ones were from the ocean and the small ones had "grown up" in a lake. Right after these creeks we began our climb up to Copper Ridge: 3500 feet up, but once we were on top the views were absolutely phenomenal. We camped at Copper Lake, with the lake on one side and great views towards Mt. Challenger on the other. The next day we took a path towards Copper Mountain (we didn't go to the summit) and enjoyed the views from high above Copper Lake, then continued on to our next campsite, which had even better views than Copper Lake. Our last day, after having a bear run in front of our campsite, we hiked back out over Hannegan Pass, and took the side trail to Hannegan Peak for more great views. It was Saturday by this time, and the trail was much busier. We saw a lot of rope teams climbing Mt. Ruth, which is right next to Hannegan Peak.
After the trip we drove to Bellingham for dinner and a hotel and shower. Our trip was half over and we had only seen a small part of North Cascades! This was when we decided to skip Olympic and visit another part of N. Cascades. We didn't really do much this day other than visit REI again and drive back to the park. We spent the night in a NPS campground on Diablo Lake, which had to be the quietest car campground I have ever been in. Hooray for post-Labor Day trips.
Monday we started a 3-day loop trip to McAlester and Rainbow Lakes, spending a night at each. The 8 mile hike to McAlester was quite pleasant, and we were greeted with a lake full of small trout which were rising and jumping all over the place. The next day we headed over to Rainbow Lake, encountering a bear along the way. Rainbow also had its share of trout, but it didn't look like as many as McAlester. At McAlester you could stand on the shore and count at least a dozen trout, but we only saw a few in Rainbow. The next morning we ran into a couple guys hunting (we were in a national recreation area at this point) who pointed out a family of bears on a hillside across the lake. These were our 4th, 5th, and 6th bears for the trip. They were hunting bear but said they wouldn't take a sow with cubs. The hike out had its moments -- the trail from Rainbow was badly in need of some attention, with a lot of blowdown across the trail. Then Kim slipped and fell trying to cross a creek -- she didn't get too wet but she fell on a rock right on her tailbone. Fortunately a handful of ibuprofen did the trick and we made it out no problem. This whole loop was a little more low-key than the breathtaking Copper Ridge loop, but it still had its share of views, and the lakes were definitely a plus. Should've brought the fishing rod though...
After spending the night at an overpriced KOA campground, we took the ferry out to the San Juan Islands, where we went on a whale watch. We saw dozens of orcas, a minke whale, a bunch of Steller sea lions, lots of harbor seals, and a couple bald eagles. Not a bad day! It was a bit on the cool side since it was overcast, our first not-so-nice day since we got there. Friday we hung around Seattle and went to the aquarium (and of course went to REI again) before flying home on Saturday.
In summary, this was a spectacular area that I'd go back to in a heartbeat. And I'm sure we will someday, since we didn't get to Olympic this year. And a trip to Mt. Rainier is on the list at some point; I'd like to hike the Wonderland Trail. As for next year, we're looking to hike the John Muir Trail, assuming we can get all the logistics figured out!
Pictures:
1. Flowers and Mt. Baker along Skyline Divide Trail
2. Mt. Baker again
3. View from Copper Ridge
4. Copper Lake
5. View from Copper Ridge (with marmot on the rock)
6. View from our last campsite on Copper Ridge
7. Mt. Ruth from Hannegan Peak
8. Rainbow Lake
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