 Greetings
!
We've spent the last four days
backpacking in North Cascades National Park. The park is located on
the border of Washington and British Columbia. The North Cascades
boasts breathtaking scenery including high jagged peaks, ridges, glaciers,
ice fields and high mountain meadows blanketed with wildflowers. The
following is an account of our adventures in this wonderful park.
The first requirement for traveling in the backcountry of the park was to
obtain a backcountry permit. We picked ours up the night before we
planned to head out. The National Park Service allows you to
pick them up in person up to twenty-four hours before your planned
departure. After getting the permit, we drove about halfway to the
trailhead on a National Forest Service road and camped.
The next
day we made our way to the trailhead and found about thirty-five cars in
the parking lot. It seemed that we wouldn't be alone in the North
Cascades. We then loaded up our packs, locked the truck and headed
out on the trail to Hannegan Peak. The trail was very kind at
first. The grade was gentle and the trail was well worn. The
route passed through the Mount Baker Wilderness Area with great views of
the Noosack Ridge. The ridge was covered with snow, ice and
waterfalls. The slopes were covered with beautiful
wildflowers. Eventually, we encountered switchbacks up to Hannegan
Pass, but still not too bad. Now came the hard part. We were
now on a trail to Hannegan Peak. This trail was narrow, steep, and
in direct sunlight. And if that wasn't enough, there were three
false summits to break your spirit. After finally gaining the
summit, we were rewarded with 360 degree views of the surrounding peaks
and mountain ranges. That night at dinner we took in a spectacular
sunset to the west , gazed upon the glaciers and snowfields of Mount
Baker, Shuksan and Ruth to the south, the aptly named Copper Mountains to
the east and the mountains of British Columbia to the north . As
evening fell our attention was drawn to a brilliant array of stars and a
bright moon. The silence of the night was only broken by ice and
snow thundering to the valley floor and the howling wind.
The
destination of the next day was Egg Lake set on Copper Ridge. We
made the descent from Hannegan Peak to the Copper Ridge Trail. We
followed the up and down route to the lake. The views were fantastic
along the way. As we gazed at Ruth Mountain we discovered where a
majority of people whose cars were in the parking lot had gone.
There was a steady parade of climbers attempting the snow and ice ascent
to the summit. The trail down to the rightfully named Egg Lake was
short but steep. We knew the pain we endured on the way down would
increase dramatically on the way up. There were three designated
campsites around the lake and two compost toilets. The lake was set
in an alpine cirque bordered by a steep slide area and steep wooded
ridges. There were views of Copper Ridge and Silesia Creek
Valley. We spent two nights at this
location.
 During our stay we took a
couple of interesting day hikes. We made the ascent to the ridge
twice for the sunset and moonrise and upon recommendation of a Park Ranger
we took a hike down a creek bed towards Silesia Creek in search of
bear. The route down the creek bed was easy for the first couple
hundred yards. Then we encountered an immense slide area with a
large snow patch covering the creek bed. Negotiating this steep, icy
section was extremely challenging. Our hike continued downward as we
climbed over steep ledges and waterfalls. Upon coming to a fifteen foot
waterfall and observing more of the same in the distance, we decided to
turn back. It was a great hike even though we didn't see any
bears.
On our final day we hiked about eight miles from Egg Lake to
the Trailhead. We then broke down our packs, got into the truck and
headed out in search of a place to shower.
Wildlife was abundant as
usual, mostly in the form of swarming flies that made rest on the trail
very brief. We saw no big game on this trip. We did see a
large marmot moving across a slide area near the shores of Egg Lake.
Ravens and Juncos were the predominant birds of this subalpine
region. Wildflowers of many different colors were abundant.
Spruce, Fir and Pine tress comprised the forest.
We found our
experience in the North Cascades to be exciting, challenging and
rewarding. Although there were many cars at the trailhead, we saw
very few people. The people we did meet were seeking the same
experience as us, making conversation on the trail enjoyable.
Another chapter of the tour has been completed. Next stop:
Olympic National Park.
See You in the Outback!
Kevin and
Steve
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