My friend Mark and I attempt a backpack to somewhere interesting in the Cascades every year. Our plans have been foiled by weather and injuries that last couple years but this year the stars aligned and we were able to make a plan. For several years our plan has been to hike up the Middle Fork of the Pasayten River to Doris Lake then scramble several peaks in the area. However, the Pacific Northwest had such a heavy snow year that the trail head (TH) didn't melt out until just before the week we were scheduled to begin. We figured there'd be snow for almost the entire high route so we made a Plan B.
Plan B was to to start at Stevens Pass, hike south on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) to Lake Josephine then take the Icicle Creek Trail to the Chain Lakes Trail then on to Doelle Lakes, down Doughgod Meadow, traverse a ridge to Frosty Pass then connect with a trail to Ladies Pass (6800') and onto Lake Edna then down into the Chiwaukum River Trail, through Timothy Meadow then up to Chiwaukum Lake, over McCue Ridge and out on the Lake Ethel Trail for a total of about 40 miles. We had planned to scramble Snowgrass Mountain from Timothy Meadow if we felt up to it.
Plan B was a good one. We monitored the snow depth sites and noted that the snow was melting fast. We planned for a straightforward 5-day backpack in beautiful country, mostly on trails. We each carried an ice axe in case we needed it for the scramble up Snowgrass.
Early Friday morning I arrived at Mark's house. We each drove to the Lake Ethel TH and left Mark's vehicle there. I drove us back to Stevens Pass to the PCT TH. The hike started in the ski area, which hadn't completely melted out yet. The first obstacle was a massive frozen snow pile, which was easily negotiated. The morning was reasonably clear for western Washington and off we went. Immediately there were wildflowers to admire.
We gained the ridge and admired the view of Bulls Tooth, way off in the distance and our destination for the day. Before we had hiked out of the ski area, we had to cross at least a couple sketchy steep snow fields that had consequential run-out onto big rocks. We took the ice axes off our packs. The trail descended to Lake Susan Jane, the upper part was still under ice. At about 5 miles we reached a nice lunch spot on Lake Josephine. Some other backpackers were fishing and catching while we ate lunch.
After Lake Josephine we left the PCT and started down Icicle Creek Trail, which had not been cleared by trail crews yet. There were many many down trees over the trail. Some we could step over, heave ourselves over, crawl under or scoot around. Then we came to the terminus of an earlier avalanche that had knocked over many large trees. The snow had not melted from underneath the pile of logs. We finally got over that just to run into windfall from a big storm that had happened this past winter. Sometimes we were on logs that were more than 10' above ground. That 2-mile section of trail took about 2 hours to negotiate.
Soon we found the Chain Lakes Trail, which is an old mining trail and goes straight up. Travelers didn't believe in switchbacks during that time period. By then we were both tired from negotiating all the fallen trees but there was nowhere to go but up to our first campsite. The hike up the hill was more of a trudge with lots of resting. Finally we came to the top and traversed over to a meadow, where we both saw piles of bear skat about the size of basketballs. About 3/4 mile later we arrived at the first of the Chain Lakes. Fog began to roll in. We found the campsite between the two lakes a set up tents in a small snow-free flat area. After dinner and camp chores we were in our respective tents before dark.
The next morning was foggy but the sun peaked through as it rose. Our tents were wet from the fog but not soaked. We dried them off with hankercheifs, packed, and ate breakfast all in a timely manner then went on our way up the ridge toward Bulls Tooth. We couldn't actually see Bulls Tooth because of the fog. Once over the ridge we ran into a massive snow field that we could've skied had we brought the right equipment. Ice axes out and wishing we had crampons, we carefully made our way over to some slippery rocks to hopefully downclimb. Mark spotted me down a tricky downclimb section then we were able to get to a flatter part of the snow field where the snow was soft enough to plunge step the rest of the way down to Doelle Lakes (pronounced 'Dooley' according to guidebook author Craig Romano).
From Doelle Lakes we worked our way around to Doughgod Meadow, which was beautiful but the trail disappeared. We found some cairns here and there then finally found the trail going through the forest. After the forest we found the unmaintained trail that would eventually lead to Frosty Pass. For an unmaintained trail it was surprisingly straightforward and easy to follow.
At Frosty Pass we reached a junction where we could go on to Ladies Pass or bail out down Wildhorse Creek. Without discussion we opted to go forward to Ladies Pass. Naturally around the next bend we arrived at steep snowfields that crossed the trail. We picked our way down to a flat part of the snowfield and worked our way across to a section of dry rock that was steep but safe. We worked our way through the rocks on the edge of a moat and up through scrub trees until we reached the top of a pass.
We assumed it was Ladies Pass since my altimeter read 6800'. However, the lake on the other side seemed too close to be the next lake. We stopped at the lake, which was still mostly frozen over. It was short of our goal for the day but wouldn't change the day we'd be able to finish. After camp chores and dinner we figured out that we hadn't even reached Ladies Pass yet. We were camped at Upper Florence Lake.
Soon after we got into out tents, the wind picked up and flapped our tents, rattled the cooking gear. A corner of my tent collapsed at 2:00 a.m. I got up to reset the stake. Later on Mark got up to take care of the rattling pan. Neither of us slept for more than 5 to 30 minutes at a time. Still, I didn't feel particularly sleep deprived when we both emerged for good around 6:00 a.m. The morning was clear and pink. Grindstone hovered over us. We could look forward to the hike to Ladies Pass, which was within 30 minutes of our leaving camp. There was a trail on the edge of the snow patch. All good omens.
There were snowfields on the other side of Ladies Pass but they were easily avoided. The trail disappeared periodically under the snowfields and it took some time to figure out where the other end was. Eventually we found the trail that went by Lake Brigham (named for Brigham Young) and by Lake Flora, which is where we had originally intended to camp the previous night. From there the trail rapidly descended into the South Fork of Chiwaukum Creek. In places the trail was muddy and horse damaged from the previous year. At the bottom was evidence of a climax avalanche that had cleared the basin. Trees were twisted and broken. Crossing the rubble was like crossing a small, crevassed glacier. Above was an impressive waterfall.
After filtering water at the outflow we continued down into the long valley meadow. The meadow vegetation was shoulder high or even more and generally covered the trail. Apparently there are campsites in or near Timothy Meadow but it ws hard to tell which meadow was Timothy and where exactly the campsites were. This is where we had intended scrambling Snowgrass but it was clear that this was not the correct approach. Later we decided the correct approach would be from Wildhorse Creek near Grace Lakes.
The trail down the creek seemed incredibly long, longer than the map mileage indicated. At the end we had to gain 1900' to our next campsite at Lake Chiwaukum. But first there were two high creek crossings. Just below these crossings we came across a young fellow who had camped at Chiwaukum Lake the night before. He was in good spirits in spite of the swarms of mosquitoes. We trudged on and found safer creek crossings well upstream from where the bridges used to be. At first we thought we'd don sandals and wade across. Except the water was belly-deep and flowing fast. Too dangerous. Thankfully upstream large trees fell the entire way across the creek.
Finally the 1900' elevation gain was complete. We both felt like something the cat had drug in yet we hadn't found a campsite yet. The first one we came to was way too dusty. The second was completely occupied by one tent. Mark was tempted to move in anyway. We moved on a found a better site at the next trail junction. We stumbled through camp chores and dinner. It had been a 12-13 mile day.
Unfortunately I did not test out how level the site was where I set up my tent and felt like I was falling out of bed most of the night. I could hear Mark snoring from many feet away but generally considered it good bear protection. We hadn't hung our food in the best place but the trees weren't ideal since the branches were close to the trunk. If a bear had looked up, it could've climbed a short way up the trunk and grabbed our bags. We were lucky that we weren't on the route that evening. We heard sticks cracking but no snuffling so assumed deer or elk were walking through the forest nearby.
The next day was our last day unless something went wrong. The trail up to McCue Ridge was easy to find and in an open meadow. We came across a fisherman on his way down to the lake and chatted for a while. He was duly impressed that we had come all the way from Stevens Pass in 4 days. The trail went on throught he meadow, past the junction to Scottish Lakes, and down into the forest. Then abruptly ended at a logging road, which was a surprise. We saw the motorcycle that the fisherman had ridden to that part of the trail.
Our route continued down the side of the logging road that had been abandoned. We apparently missed the cairns to the actual trail. Instead we continued down the logging road until we came to an intersection that appeared to go to Lake Ethel. Seems to me we climbed for a while then traversed along a ridge and finally descended to Lake Ethel where we had lunch, soaked our aching feet, and watched fish rise to catch bugs.
The route out consisted of more logging road that eventually lead to many logging roads in a major clear cut. Looking around, we saw the cairns to the trail down to forest. We had another 1500' to descend. The trail was nicely switchbacked and clear of major obstacles. The final descent was straight down 150' to the parking area. What a relief to change from hiking boots to sandals.
The trip was much more challenging that either of us had expected. We had planned for a backpack, primarily on trails and got so much more. It was a great trip with many inspiring places. On our way back to my car we talked about future trips.
Here are the pictures.