#cascade pass

[fitnessgeekandcoffeefreak]

Nothing in this trip went to plan, but we made it to the top regardless. This is just so beautiful ❤️

[i8seattle]

North Cascades Photography – Hike to Stehekin

Along Cascade River Road

The hike from the Skagit Valley up and over Cascade Pass and down along the river to the remote village of Stehekin, on the northern shore of Lake Chelan is a magnificent journey. Sort of like crossing the Misty Mountains to get to Rivendell, there is a lot to see!

It is a 23 mile (37 km) hike from the Cascade Pass parking lot to High Bridge, where shuttle service is available to Stehekin. The entire trip falls with in the North Cascades National Park. Depending upon your level of motivation the basic trip can be done in 2 or 3 days.

However I would recommend 3 or 4 days for the trip. There are several detours along the way that are really to incredible to miss.

The journey starts along the Cascade Loop Highway in Marblemount. The North Cascades National Park Wilderness Information Center is located there. To camp anywhere in the park you need a permit. Here is all you need to know to obtain one! I highly recommend the trail guide: “Hiking the North Cascades” by Erik Molvar (Falcon Press). There are accurate and detailed descriptions of the trails and you’ll find a lot of useful info.

Once that’s all done you’ll be heading up the Cascade River Road to its end, at the parking lot for Cascade Pass. The road gets a bit sketchy at the end, and you wont be able to stop gawking at the views!

#gallery-0-21 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-21 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-0-21 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-21 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Cascade Pass

Cascade Pass

Doubtful Creek

Doubtful Creek

The trip has one up section, and this is it: 3.7 miles of switch backs to Cascade Pass, an elevation gain of 1,700 feet. The views start near the top, there is one last switchback and then the trail turns east and approaches the pass.

The Pass is a great place for a break, and you’ll see a lot of people there. From this spot, its all down hill to Stehekin!

Dropping from Cascade Pass the trail navigates around the upper basin and soon passes the Pelton Basin campground. It’s not long before the switchbacks start. Whereas the trail up to the pass from the Skagit side is completely in forest, here the trail is exposed to the hot sun.

One nice surprise is the waterfall along Doubtful Creek as it bisects the trail on the east side of Cascade Pass, where there are small pools providing a much needed break and swim.

Many people who make the sojourn from Cascade Pass to Lake Chelan make a straight trip from the Cascade Pass parking area to Stehekin, with no side trips. But there is one of the most awesome valleys in all the North Cascades (Horseshoe Basin) that you should not pass up as you make your journey.

#gallery-0-22 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-22 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-0-22 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-22 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Glory Mountain from Horseshoe Basin, North Cascades National Park

Horseshoe Basin, North Cascades National Park

Horseshoe Basin, North Cascades National Park

Black Warrior Mine

Black Warrior Mine

Black Warrior Mine

Black Warrior Mine

A short distance from Doubtful Creek is the trail to Horseshoe Basin. You can drop your big packs and day hike up to the Basin, or, if you scored a camp site at Basin Creek Camp, you can stay an extra day exploring Horseshoe Basin and the Black Warrior Mine.

The trail follows the stream up from the trail junction into Horseshoe Basin; it follows a course along the stream, across the stream and in the stream, brushy and wet. Shortly the trail emerges into a clearing where boulders dot the basin floor. Climbing up on the largest, the view is transfixing. The green bowl is surrounded with grandeur, full of color and drama.

Horseshoe Basin, North Cascades National Park

The Horseshoe Basin trail is less than 2 easy miles from the trail junction to the head of the valley and the Mine.

The North Cascades are full of old mining claims; piles of colorful tailings and rusted remains of sluices and Pelton wheels littered about. But I had never visited a mine that I could enter and explore. The Black Warrior Mine operated until the mid-1950′s and is a National Historic Place. There is a sign at the entrance giving a brief history of the mine, the names of the prospectors and misled investors who poured their mostly futile efforts into this hole. There are two main cavernous rooms blasted into the mountain side which make the opening of the mine. One of these “rooms” served as a kitchen while the other was used for workbenches and tools. Wooden supports and floor boards are flooded with water. Old tables and remains of habitation litter the floor. The shaft of the mine runs deep; several miles of tunnel remain, open for any brave person to explore.

When you tire of the basin and continue on your way down the Stehekin Valley you’ll pass several camp sites: Cottonwood Camp was once the last stop on the bus route from Stehekin! Traveling is pretty easy, for the most part you are following along the road following the bus route to Stehekin. But the road has been washed away in several places, replaced by a foot trail.

At Park Creek is another camp and the trail (Park Creek Trail) heads up to Park Creek Pass and continues over and down to Colonial Creek camp, on Highway 20.

Bridge Creek is another large camp along your route and is where you meet the Pacific Crest Trail. From here its 5 miles to High Bridge. Many years ago the entire road washed away in a flood. So for the next 5 miles you’ll be hiking along the PCT!

IF you have the time and energy, plan another day here and make a day trip up the North Fork of Bridge Creek. Its too long to describe here and will be the subject of an entire post soon!

#gallery-0-23 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-23 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-23 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-23 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Mount Logan

North Fork Meadows

Goode Mtn, from North Fork Trail

Walking along the Stehekin River Road is in itself fantastic. The river cuts a deep cleft through the cliffs at High Bridge and the confluence with Bridge Creek creates a wondrous series of cataracts and islands. From High Bridge there is a regular bus that takes you the last 10 miles to Stehekin. Check the Park Service site for the bus schedule.

Your hike must include a visit to the Stehekin Pastry Company. Delicious, fresh treats, ice cream, espresso, friendly staff and a comfortable place to relax…

#gallery-0-24 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-24 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-0-24 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-24 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Lake Chelan

Stehekin

Pastry Heaven

Welcoming Committee

Organic Garden

Arriving in Stehekin

Everything about Stehekin is awesome. Its remoteness (you can only reach it by hiking, ferry boat or float plane), the people are cool, scads of awesome things to see and do…even the Post Office is a neat place to just visit!

Beside the Pastry Company there is a restaurant, a lodge, and a post office. Thru hikers on the PCT mail resupply items to them selves at Stehekin. Its the last stop on the route to Canada. Late in the summer you will often run into some of the PCT hikers as they finish the last few days of their 2,400 mile trek!

When you’re done restin’ and ready to go home you can either walk back the way you came, or catch the Lady of the Lake to Chelan!

Here are a few more images from the trail…

#gallery-0-25 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-25 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-0-25 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-25 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Sahale Peak from Stehekin River Trail

NCNP Bus

Rainbow Falls, Stehekin

Along the Stehekin River Road

Bridge Creek

Lake Chelan

      North Cascades Photography – Hike to Stehekin North Cascades Photography - Hike to Stehekin The hike from the Skagit Valley up and over Cascade Pass and down along the river to the remote village of Stehekin, on the northern shore of Lake Chelan is a magnificent journey.

[adventuresoffinder]

Cool cascades on the descent from Eldorado Peak, with Cascade Pass in the distance. 

[klang-art]

Revisited that plein air piece and finished it up, really like this one.

[earthycrunchie-blog]

Another shot from climbing at pitchoff right. I'm sad the ice season is coming to an end, but I'm ready to climb some rocks!

[fitnessgeekandcoffeefreak]

Sahale Glacier (via Cascade Pass)

This is one of the top 3 rated hikes in Washington State, and some say it's actually #1. I haven't hiked all the mountains so I guess I can't say, but it was the most gorgeous place I have ever hiked. Nothing went as planned. Permits weren't available for the glacier camp so we decided to day hike the entire thing. . .

14 miles (there and back) and almost 5,000 ft elevation gain. Some spots were well over 1K ft elevation gain in less than a mile. It was, by far, the most difficult hike I've finished according to stats, but I felt good. My back was definitely done, but I felt like my body handled it very well.

I had a list of animals I wanted to see along the way and I saw most of them! The goats were amazing! The marmots are so interesting to watch. My hiking friend was at the front of us and he saw a baby black bear cub scurry off into the grass, but I missed it. (That would've completed my list!)

Trips like this always remind me how ridiculous all of our problems truly are. You only objective is to finish and survive, really. To enjoy the things around you and really be living in the moment. The mountains are SO big and beautiful and, just, amazing. I do wish I would've taken a few more pictures, but honestly, I was really trying to be fully engaged in the experience.

[i8seattle]

Park Creek flows south from the slopes of Buckner Mountain, bound for the Stehekin River and Lake Chelan…

The trail starts at the junction with the Stehekin River trail, once a road served daily by bus, the upper reaches fallen back to their native state.

After gaining almost 4,000 feet the trail tops out at Park Creek Pass. This is one of the most scenic and seldom visited passes in the North Cascades National Park.

#gallery-0-13 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-13 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-0-13 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-13 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

I have visited twice and am hungry to return. The trip has been on my “must do” list for a while, but weather, fires of some other element distracted me. Now I was prepared to go…

The 40-something switch back to make Cascade Pass get you warmed up. We arrived before 9am, an early start. Heading down through Pelton Basin, the trail made a hard left and plunged down into a new climate. The headwaters of the Stehekin River bring dry eastern air far up this western valley.

Doubtful Creek bisects the trail, a welcome distraction…

A spur trail leads up to Horseshoe Basin…

#gallery-0-14 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-14 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-0-14 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-14 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

The next day I am camped at Buckner Camp, along Park Creek. Here are the images from a magnificent trip!

#gallery-0-15 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-15 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-0-15 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-15 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

  Cascade Pass, Horseshoe Basin and Park Creek Park Creek flows south from the slopes of Buckner Mountain, bound for the Stehekin River and Lake Chelan…

[earthycrunchie-blog]

Enjoyed a lovely day ice climbing at Pitchoff in Cascade Pass