"I would definitely recommend this trip to a friend."
KENNEDY HOT SPRINGS TO STEVENS PASS
GLACIER PEAK AND WILLIAM O. DOUGLAS WILDERNESS AREAS
SEPTEMBER 1-6, 1991
KEITH, KEN, AND SHADOW KONIGSMARK
Keith was back for his third backpacking trip, and Shadow was excited to do a second trip after all of the fun he had the year before. Keith and I had looked at books and maps to scout out some new options, and after Keith arrived, we decided to try Glacier Peak Wilderness for the first time for either of us. We would hike in from the west side on the Kennedy Hot Springs trail, intersect the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) a few miles past the hot springs, and then follow this south until we came out on Highway 2 at Stevens Pass, where Morven would come to pick us up. The trails and area we would cover on this trip were new to all of us so we were anxious to see what it was like further north in the Cascades and near Glacier Peak. I also had my video camera along for the first time ever, so we were going to take enough video to show everyone else what our trip was like.
Sat, Sept 1- We had about a 2 hour drive to get to the start point, heading north on I-5, then cutting east thru Arlington and Darrington to the White Chuck River road. We reached the start point and saw only 3-4 cars there, which was nice. After pictures, Keith, Shadow, and I headed up the trail, and Morven headed home. The weather was perfect, sunny, cool, and mist rising up from the forest. The trail paralleled the White Chuck River, which was churning after record rains had just ended. An earlier flood in the spring had washed out several sections of the trail.
We had a fairly level walk thru forest, but the packs still felt heavy, as they always do on the first day. After 5 miles, we reached the hot springs, and took a side trip over to see them. We then found the trail which headed uphill to intersect the PCT, and began a climb that lasted the rest of the day. After 2 miles of tough uphill climbing, we hit the PCT and stopped for lunch. It had started to cloud up and cool down by now, so there was no view of Glacier Peak. We then headed south on the PCT, crossing several rushing streams on shaky walks across a single log.
We walked thru forest for several miles before heading steeply uphill to the higher, open meadows. By now, it was getting drizzly and cold, and we had travelled about 13 miles. We found a beautiful campsite in the meadow just below big waterfall, and no one else was in site. We set up the tent and tried to find some dry wood for a fire. The mosquitoes were terrible and were driving us crazy. We were visited by a couple of Forest Service rangers who were out in the wilderness; after they left we had the entire area to ourselves. It was tough to keep a good fire going, but we cooked up a good dinner and then went to bed to be ready for a big day tomorrow.
Sun, Sept 2- We woke to blue, cloudless skies and sunshine reflecting off the ridgetop to our south. We were low in the valley, so the cold air had settled here and covered everything in frost. A fire and some hot chocolate got us going. We planned an off-trail side trip up the waterfall chute and high up into the area of White Chuck Glacier. We left our tents and backpacks, and just took cameras. After climbing above the waterfall, we came to an open, flat plain with many streams crossing it. The sun was hitting here and warmed us up some.
We crossed the plain and began climbing a big boulder field up towards the glacier. We wound our way around and up through gaps in the peaks until we hit another flat plain covered by ice and snow of White Chuck Glacier, and an open lake. We kept climbing up on the glacial moraine and had great views of Glacier Peak, Portal Peak, and White Mountain. The alpine meadows below were bright green. We had climbed about 3-4 miles, so backtracked down to our campsite to pack up for the rest of the days journey. The mosquitoes were massacreing us so we just threw everything together and headed out quickly.
We had a long hike through open meadows with complete views of Glacier Peak, all the way up to Red Pass. By then, our legs were feeling like rubber, and we were hot and thirsty. We finally reached Red Pass and were amazed at the spectacular views in all directions. Deep valleys below and glacier-covered peaks were everywhere we looked. It was so nice, we decided to stop for lunch and many pictures. The trail then paralled the ridgeline above the deep Sauk River valley, passing through endless meadows of mountain flowers.
We crossed over White Pass in about 4 miles, and began to look for a campsite. The map showed no streams or lakes nearby, so we hoped Reflection Pond would hold good water. It turned out to be a stagnant, dirty pond, but luckily, we found a nice campsite at the junction with the White River trail, and a small stream to get water from about half a mile down the trail. The bugs weren't bad at the higher elevation, so we enjoyed a nice fire, a warm night, and a good nights sleep.
Monday, Sept 3- Another beautiful day awaited us, as we headed out on our third day. We warmed up by walking the first couple miles on a ridgeline, then dropped down into the valley of Indian Creek where we crossed Indian Pass. We took a break here before starting uphill on the opposite side of the valley. We had a steady climb to the top of Wenatchee Ridge were we met a couple of guys from Leavenworth who were enjoying the scenery. We passed by Kodak Peak, but had had enough climbing so didn't go to the top for a picture. We then passed around the edge of Meander Meadow, which was full of purple flowers.
As we looked down into the valley below Meander Meadow, we saw a bear running downhill on a snowfield below. As we watched, he tripped and went tumbling and rolling down the snowfield until he disappeared in the bushes. It looked like he had a fun ride. We stayed along the top of the ridgeline separating eastern and western Washington for the next several miles, crossing over Dishpan Gap and Wards Pass until we reached the junction with the Cady Ridge trail. We noticed a campsite on a grassy plateau at this junction, with a full, open view of Glacier Peak and Meander Meadows, so we decided to stop here for the day.
It looked like some cult had used this as a worship site since we found a rock circle set up which had animal bones scattered in little piles around the edges. We knocked it apart and began to set up our camp. After setting up camp, we tried to lay out in the sun on our mats but the bugs wouldn't leave us alone. Keith decided to take a snooze in the tent, while Shadow and I walked up to Lake Sally Ann to clean up and hang out. The lake was full of ice still, but I took a quick bath in the outlet stream. The bugs were better here, so I found a nice sunny spot on the big boulders at the edge of the lake, and read for a couple of hours without seeing or hearing another person.
Shadow chased marmots and kept trying to get into their holes. When I went back, I pulled out two Cokes that I had kept in my backpack as a nice surprise for the halfway point of our trip. We enjoyed them and the great views as we cooked dinner. I had seen huge, purple patches of flowers on the ridgeline above us as I hiked to Sally Ann, so after dinner we walked up the ridge to see them. The grassy meadows were full of purple lupines, with Glacier Peak covering the background. We took lots of pictures and enjoyed the beautiful walk through the meadows. As we sat around the campfire, a bright orange sunset took place, which we watched until darkness, and then soon went to sleep.
Tues, Sept 4- We zipped open the tent flap in the morning to a gorgeous view of the sunshine reflecting off of Glacier Peak; a perfect way to start the day. After breakfast, we climbed back up to the PCT and headed south along the ridgeline at about the 5600 ft level. We walked through mostly open meadows with clear views in all directions. After a couple of hours, we descended down to Cady Pass, then began a long climb with lots of switchbacks up to Saddle Gap.
It had gotten hot by now, so we were sweating plenty. After finally reaching Saddle Gap, we found a small, grassy open area to plop down in for lunch. While we were there, four females and their dog came by, and Shadow had fun playing with the other dog while we talked. We headed out along the top of the ridgeline again, sometimes on the eastern side of Washington and sometimes on the western, but with nice views all along. As we got within a mile or so of our destination at Pear Lake, we came to a boulder field that we had to cross that had boulders as big as houses, with a pathway winding between them.
We finally reached Pear Lake after a final stretch, and it was a beautiful sight to see; crystal blue water, some big rocks to sun on, and no one around. We set up camp on a flat spot next to the lake, put some wine in the water to cool, and headed to the outlet stream area to wash up and lay in the sun. Two idiots came along who sat down in our camp and appeared to want to set up right next to us, but we were unfriendly enough to them that they got the message they weren't welcome. After they left, we had the whole lake to ourselves and had a great dinner with wine and popcorn for dessert. The camp had a big stone reflector by the fire pit so we had a huge bonfire before going to bed.
Weds, Sept 5: We had another day of perfect weather as we headed out. The trail went downhill immediately to Wenatchee Pass, before starting a steady climb for the next 3.3 miles. We were mostly on the west side of the ridge so the morning sun missed us. We made it to Grizzly Peak and stopped to enjoy the view back to Glacier Peak and all of the surrounding mountains. The bugs were bad here though, so we kept going.
We stopped next on a ridge above Glasses Lake, which was shaped just like a pair of glasses. From here, we kept following the ridgeline until we began to drop to Lake Janus. We found a flat meadow by the lake and tried to eat lunch here, but the bugs were driving us crazy. So, after a quick bite, we loaded up and moved on. We were back into deep forest soon, and after 2.2 miles, reached Union Gap where another trail comes in.
We rested in the woods awhile, away from the bugs, then headed on to Lake Valhalla. It sits in a bowl surrounded by mountains and was deep blue as we looked down on it. We found a nice campsite in the sun, then headed to the lake to find a nice, sandy beach. The water was a bit cool, but it felt great to wash up and jump in anyway. Shadow went cruising all over the lake. Each of us then went to find a private rock in the sun and enjoyed a couple hours of quiet and rest before dinner. Since it was our last night, we finished up all of our food and had a feast, including Shadow, who liked the Turkey and Gravy. We enjoyed one final campfire for our trip, before heading to bed.
Thurs, Sept 6: Our final day was another sunny warm one. We headed out through meadows and forest for Stevens Pass, where Morven was to meet us at 12:00. We had about 6 miles to go. After rounding the third peak, we could see Highway 2 off in the distance and start to hear the sounds of traffic. It seemed to take forever to finally get to end of the trail as we followed a hot, open stretch that looked like an old railroad route. But, we reached the trailhead, and civilization by about 11:00.
We found a spot to lay down and wait at a boarded up gas station and enjoyed some Skittles. Before long, Morven came cruising up in his new Taurus, and had Dennis along as well on a day off from the Navy. They surprised us with a bag of Tim's chips, dip, and a cooler of Rainier beer, which we quickly broke open. We smelled terribly, but they wanted to head to Leavenworth before going to Issaquah.
We stopped in Leavenworth and found a German cafe where we each ordered a big knockwurst to go with a pitcher of beer. It all tasted great after being away for a week. After a bit, we headed for Issaquah, where we finally cleaned up and washed off a weeks worth of smell. We were pooped by now, so for dinner just stayed in town and had a pizza at Round Table. This had been our prettiest hike to date, with spectacular mountain scenery, meadows, and flowers the entire way, so we were anxious to get the pictures in and developed. We decided we'd have to go back to Glacier Peak Wilderness again on one of our future hikes.
Note: This is backcountry wilderness travel. You are responsible for informing yourself of the hazards and taking the necessary precautions.