Author: Sean Berry

Double Crown Records surf rock label owner, Continental Magazine editor, Pacific NW hiking fan & CrossFit athlete. Hiking blog at www.reverbhiker.com

Chinook Trail Thru Hike – It’s Happening This October!

On By Sean BerryIn Chinook Trail, Overnight HikesLeave a comment

After months of planning it’s all coming together – I’m going to solo thru-hike the Chinook National Recreation Trail this October! Here is a little background info on the trail, courtesy of the Chinook Trail Association:

The concept of the Chinook Trail originated in 1986 with two lifelong hiking companions, Don Cannard and Ed Robertson, who were retired educators and elementary school principals in the Vancouver School District. Standing on the summit of Silver Star, a 4,390 foot peak noted for its glorious wildflower displays, they dreamed of a trail going through the Columbia River Gorge. Originally, the trail was only going to go through Washington, but then the Forest Service suggested a bi-state loop going through Oregon and Washington. Others agreed enthusiastically, and in 1988, the Chinook Trail Association was chartered.

The original concept developed into that of a 300 mile rim top loop trail which would encircle the Columbia River Gorge. An additional 200 miles would be designated connector trails which would junction with existing trails such as the Pacific Crest Trail and communities in the Columbia River Gorge area. The first section of new trail, the Kloochman Butte connector which connects Silver Star to Washington’s Larch Mountain, began on National Trails Day in 1993 and completed a year later.

Honoring the name of the Native Americans living for thousands of years along the Columbia River, the Chinook Trail will begin at Vancouver lake near Vancouver, Washington. The trail will climb northeast to its highest point, Silver Star Mountain, before meandering onto the rims of the Columbia River Gorge and continuing upriver to Maryhill State Park, some 100 miles from Vancouver.

Completion of the Chinook Trail will come only with an enormous amount of cooperation between local, state, and federal agencies, and private ownership.The non-profit Chinook Trail Association invites you to join us in this vision for the future.

Here is my proposed route – 279.0 miles from the start in Lucia Falls Park, just north of Vancouver, WA, and ending in Gresham, OR (at McMenamin’s Edgefield) just outside of Portland, OR:

The plan is for the hike to take 12-14 days, plus a couple of nights of R&R at McMenamin’s Edgefield at the end. I will go into more detail regarding the planning of the hike, and a few of the challenges I’ve faced, but I have to thank from the start the following people and organizations: Chinook Trail Association, Klickitat Trail Conservancy and Allgood of  ALDHA-West. I believe if I complete this I’ll be the first person to do it as a solo-hiker, although I’m not 100% sure. Allgood and Snorkel were the first to complete it, doing it in 2014. My proposed route will be slightly longer than theirs, and it is 100% not due to any sort of competition – I simply want to check out Lucia Falls park at the beginning, and I want to celebrate the end at McMenamin’s Edgefield with a comfortable bed, great food and a hot shower.

First Go At Chuckanut / Blanchard North-South Thru Hike

On By Sean BerryIn Day Hikes, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The last two years I have made it my goal to hike every trail in the Chuckanuts – everything from the most popular trails, such as Oyster Dome, Pine/Cedar Lakes, and Fragrance Lake, to some obscure trails that I just stumbled upon using the Gaia app, such as the Secret Trail or the Fiona Ridge Trail.

As I have hiked through the Chuckanuts, and joined several work parties, the thought grew that perhaps there was a way to hike the whole area, north to south (or vice versa). There are several great east/west trails, and lots of trail through the Chuckanuts, as well as Blanchard Mountain, but nothing really in between in the Oyster Creek area.

There are some older maps showing a “Lost Lizard Trail”, which would connect the Lost Lake area in the Chuckanuts to Lizard Lake on Blanchard Mountain, making a north-south trail hike possible. However, I haven’t been able to find it, and through online research it seems like no one else has either. Best I can guess, it was a proposed route at some point that was never completed (non-existent “Lost Lizard Trail” below):

So i discovered with the Gaia app/website you could easily create a route using existing trails, roads, and even mountain biking and motorcycle trails. It took some work, but I was finally able to come up with a route that started in the Fairhaven district of Bellingham, and allowed you to hike about 14 miles in a southerly direction through the Chuckanuts, connect with Blanchard Mountain, and then finish on Chuckanut Drive at the base of the Oyster Dome trail.

I proposed this route to a few friends who seemed into doing it – 14 miles is a great day hike, but between work and family commitments, conflicting schedules, etc, it hasn’t worked out for all of us to get together to do it. So having a free day, dry, and temps in the low 60’s I decided to just go for it. I decided to drive to the Alaska Ferry Terminal in Fairhaven, starting at sea level, and working my way south from there.

The trail starts out pretty mellow, following Padden Creek initially as you make your way past the Fairhaven Historic District on the way to Fairhaven Park. You have to leave the trail for a few hundred yards, walking past the tennis courts, restroom and parking lot before getting back on trail at the Chuckanut Community Forest (or as locals refer to it, the Hundred Acre Woods). There are quite a few options for ways to get through this section, but with a goal of connecting with the Interurban Trail, I decided to take the Main Vain and Swamp Trails.

The Interurban Trail then connects with Arroyo Park and the Lost Lake Trail – in working on this thru trail, I had to decide between using the lower Lost Lake Trail, or the higher, rougher Ridge Trail. Since this was my first time, and not knowing what the middle section of the trail was going to be like, I decided to go with the easier Lost Lake Trail. In doing it this way, it isn’t a ridge hike, but it is a great north-south route.

One of the things I liked about this route was that it followed the east side of Lost Lake, which is one of the better sections of trail in the Chuckanuts, but for some reason they don’t show it on the trail maps. There must have been a decision at some point to de-emphasize that trail, and it seems to have happened at the same time they stopped permitting camping at Lost Lake. In any case, there is a large rock in the mid-section of the lake that made for a great lunch spot (enjoyed a can of Bitburger there as well).

I was excited for the next section – it was the middle connecting the Chuckanuts with Blanchard Mountain – no man’s land! After reaching the south end of Lost Lake, you hit a Y in the trail – going to the right takes you back towards multiple trails in the Chuckanuts, but going left takes you out of the area and into what I thought would be primarily logging roads. It wasn’t a great start, as the trail was quite overgrown – I had to use my trekking poles to push my way through. However, for trails that supposedly aren’t used that often, it wasn’t quite as bad as I expected.

Eventually the trail did merge with logging roads, crossing the upper section of Oyster Creek, past a pond called Easy Reach Pond (where you can’t really see any water – it seems to just be an overgrown swamp), and into a network of motorcycle / mountain biking trails. There was only one clear cut section, and it was rather small – for some reason I expected more clear cuts in this area.

This section was all pretty mellow – not too much in the way of hills, just easy hiking. However, that changes as you approach the base of Blanchard Mountain. I knew there would be some uphill hiking involved – after all I was at about 800 feet and I knew Lizard Lake is at about 2000 feet. The last section of logging road was a pretty gentle uphill, but then it met up with the British Army Trail – a trail that I’ve been looking forward to checking out. I’m not sure how it got the name, but it didn’t take long for me to decide it was because of how steep the trail was – it would be good training for any army! It’s a great trail though – it doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves, but it’s likely because there really isn’t a proper trailhead at either end of the trail.

Eventually you get to the shores of Lizard Lake, probably my favorite lake in the Chuckanut/Blanchard area – it’s not the largest lake, but it is really nice and has probably the best campsite in the area. I haven’t reached the lake from this direction before, but I liked how it came close to the shoreline.

At this point I had reached the base of the Lily-Lizard Connector Trail, the last uphill of the route, so I took a breather and drank half a liter of water and refueled with a Snickers. However, I don’t think I was dreading this uphill as much as the final downhill section – 2000 feet of descent on the Oyster Dome Trail….

Well, this final section took much longer than I had hoped – distance-wise it was only a few miles, so it should have only taken an hour. However, after the previous 13 miles, my pace slowed down quite a bit as I descended. However, it was awesome to finally reach Chuckanut Drive, just shy of 9 hours after I started (this time included a 30 minute lunch break, and a couple of other 15 minute stops along the way).

Oh, if you are paying close attention you may have noticed that the Gaia GPS app said this would be a 14 mile through hike – in the end, it somehow ended up being 18! There was the extra bit at the beginning, from the Alaska Ferry Terminal to Fairhaven Park, but that likely is just shy of a mile. So somehow the actual hike was about 3 miles longer than I expected. It was fine, but I’m still not sure how or why the app was so off.

I am happy to have finally completed this route, and as sore as I am a couple of days later, I’m already planning to do it again, possibly this coming week. I am going to go in the opposite direction, starting with the steep uphill Oyster Dome climb, but I may veer off and take the Pacific Northwest Trail up to Lily Lake instead. Knowing my knees, I’m thinking it may be better to do it as an uphill climb and get it out of the way first, and then have the gradual downhill from the Lost Lake area to Fairhaven to look forward to. I am also thinking of doing the Ridge Trail from Lost Lake to Arroyo. These changes add a few miles, but I think after doing it I’ll be able to combine the two to come up with the definitive Chuckanut/Blanchard thru hike route.

I really can’t recommend this route enough – you really get to take in everything the area has to offer – great views, lakes, moderate uphills and downhills, and it also works year round (other than occasional winter snows). I’m not 100% sure how access works in the middle section, as parts of it are not DNR or state park land (maps just say it’s “Private Land”), but I didn’t see any signs saying you couldn’t hike through, and didn’t see any logging trucks or equipment. In fact, I didn’t see a single person from Arroyo Park until Oyster Dome Trail – probably because it was a Thursday, but I was surprised not to see anyone in the Lost Lake or Lily/Lizard Lake sections.

If you have any questions about this hike, you can send me an email at records@dblcrown.com. I would be more than happy to send GPX / KML file of the route to you as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Quick Shakedown Overnighter In The Chuckanuts

On By Sean BerryIn Overnight HikesLeave a comment

With a forecast in the 70’s and no rain, it was a perfect opportunity to try out some of my new gear with a quick overnighter in the Chuckanuts. I had a new backpack (Osprey Atmos 65), sleeping pad (Therm-A-Rest NeoAir X-Lite) and quilt Enlightened Equipment Revolution 20 to try out – both performed amazingly well. Temps dropped down to maybe upper 40’s or so, but I was nice and warm all night long. My intention was to hike 9 miles each way, but about 4 miles in it was already 7:45, and I didn’t want to set up camp in the dark, so I found a nice spot for the night. The new pack felt amazing – it was the perfect size and was super comfy, and definitely helps with back sweat. The only thing I didn’t like were the tiny hip pockets – while hiking they are nearly impossible to stuff anything into, and impossible period to zip up. To solve this I think I’m going to have to get a clip on pouch – it just sucked not having easy access to stuff like a phone, snacks, lip balm, etc. Other than that little thing everything was great and a nice warm up to the upcoming season.

WTA Trail Work At Larrabee State Park & Shiny New Hard Hat

On By Sean BerryIn Day Hikes, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Another great day of trail work, this time at Larrabee State Park – now that I’ve done 5 trail parties I’ve earned a shiny new WTA hard hat. Going with the trail name “REVERB” they put that on one side of the hat and my real name on the other. Everyone joked that I should rub it in dirt and rocks, but when I actually went to do it they said no, keep it shiny!

We took our tools across Chuckanut Drive to the work site – today we were working on a re-route, so we were making new trail just below a steep bank with Chuckanut right above us. In among ferns, branches, blackberry vines and undergrowth, there was a ton of trash – mostly glass bottles. We cleaned as we made trail, filling up 5 or 6 buckets in the end. It was kinda interesting, as we dug deeper we started to find all sorts of glassware from long ago, likely from the 40’s through 70’s, and we compared our finds as the day progressed. In the end we got a lot accomplished, and the rain that was in the forecast thankfully held off until we were back at the toolshed enjoying our post-work snacks and beverages.

Making New Trail With The WTA On Lookout Mountain

On By Sean BerryIn Day Hikes, UncategorizedLeave a comment

It was my 5th volunteer work day with the WTA, which means I’ll receive my very own green hard hat! This one was at the Lookout Mountain Forest Preserve, near Lake Whatcom, an area I haven’t had a chance to explore yet. It’s a great area to explore, with a short hike to one of the tallest waterfalls I’ve seen in the greater Bellingham area. We had a good group of about 15 volunteers, with the goal of creating a new switchback to replace a section of trail deemed too steep, and filled with roots in anticipation of greater foot traffic in the coming years. There is a plan to add lots of new trail to Lookout Mountain, and at the end of the work party we had the opportunity to view the network of trail that is planned for the area. Needless to say, there will be LOTS of volunteer opportunities in the area this summer!

The area where the new trail was going in was moderately steep and well marked with orange flags. My group took the bottom part of the trail, while another group started at the top, the goal being to meet at the switchback. We transplanted ferns, moved duff and worked on creating nice, gradual uphill trail. We lacked rocks – the area was primarily soft dirt, but we made really good progress throughout the day. Our lunch break was up at a nice waterfall, with a wood fenced lookout that made a nice perch for our group of volunteers.

We pushed hard through the afternoon, and by the end of the day we had the trail nearly completed, other than the switchback and some shoring up of the trail with rock or logs to prevent erosion on the downhill side of the trail. Otherwise it was looking really good and I was surprised that making a substantal length of trail go so fast.

To volunteer, please visit the Washington Trails Association website at: www.wta.org

 

 

Volunteering With The WTA (Washington Trails Association)

On By Sean BerryIn Day Hikes, UncategorizedLeave a comment

One of my resolutions for 2018 was to get involved with trail work with the WTA (Washington Trails Association), a resource that I’ve used in researching new trails to hike and overnight adventures. Last year my wife and I made a big effort to hike every single trail in the Chuckanuts, as well as Blanchard Mountain, and I think we made it 95% of the way there, so it was only natural to get started with trail work in this area. It doesn’t hurt that it’s literally across the street from where we live.

So far I have volunteered four times – twice on Blanchard Mountain (Alternate Incline Trail) and twice in Arroyo Park. We’ve built up turnpikes, turned mud bogs into comfortable trail that will last for years, built rock walls, and more. Mostly it’s been digging up rock, moving rock, rolling rock, etc. So much rock work that I have literally had dreams about rock! I’ve learned the difference between a McLeod and a Pulaski, helped set up a zipline to move dirt and rock from a pit up to the trail, and gained knowledge about water drainage. It’s been great excercise, lots of fun and I’ve met a bunch of great people. I’m looking forward to doing more, perhaps even some overnighters before the year is over. If you’d like to help fund this great organization please visit their “Join WTA” page.

Backpack Setup Going Into 2018 Season

On By Sean BerryIn Overnight HikesLeave a comment

I had pretty good success last year with the gear setup I had, but the one big issue I had (like many other backpackers) was my overall weight. Even hiking into the backcountry 4-6 miles was a struggle at times – not super bad, but my pack was a $65 Mountaintop 65L Outdoor Hiking Backpack. I liked the storage capacity, compartments, straps and it was relatively comfortable, but somewhat heavy and not very breathable. I knew going into this year I wanted a lighter backpack, but more importantly for me, I wanted one that was more comfortable and more breathable. I was happy with 65L capacity, so after doing some research I settled on the Osprey Men’s Atmos AG 65 Backpack (Large). I haven’t had a chance to test it on a backpacking trip yet – it’s been a long, snowy winter in the Cascades, but hope to do a test trip up in the local Chuckanut Mountains soon.

Putting the pack on, I was instantly amazed at how comfortable it felt and how the hip belt pads hugged my hips – empty, the pack stayed on my back without even clipping the belt. I anxiously filled the pack with my gear, and even with 22 pounds of stuff it still felt great. I am super-excited to get out with this pack!

The next big upgrade was my sleeping bag – I picked up the Enlightened Equipment Revelation 850DT 20° Quilt which is over 2 pounds lighter than my previous sleeping bag (which was the TETON Sports Tracker +5F Ultralight Mummy Sleeping Bag – a comfortable bag, and packed small, but at 4.1 pounds pretty darn heavy). It’s amazing to me how light this new bag is – yes, it’s a 20 degree bag, but I’m planning on using a closed foam pad as well as my inflatable, so combined I should be alright on colder evenings.

Overall I feel like I have a pretty solid setup for 1 or 2 night backcountry trips – for anything longer than that I’d ideally like to drop 3-5 pounds, in order to accommodate more food. I actually like bringing my bear can on these trips – it’s heavy, but it’s great to keep little critters out (I’m not too worried about bears, but it keeps them out too). I’ll probably pick up an Ursack at some point though, depending on where I plan on hiking this summer.

Here is the rest of my setup (items with a star are items that I’m looking to upgrade):

https://lighterpack.com/e/92hc7i

First Snow Of Fall On Yellow Aster Butte

On By Sean BerryIn Day HikesLeave a comment

 

With reports of snow in the mountains, as summer transitions into fall, there was one hike that had eluded me the past few years that I wanted to complete – Yellow Aster Butte. While I really wanted to make it an overnighter, time and circumstances didn’t allow that, so with a half a day free I decided to go for it, hoping that there wasn’t too much snow up there.

As I headed up the Mt Baker highway I began to see a light dusting of snow in the peaks above – although it was hard to judge if it would be enough snow to impact the hike, I was optimistic and would make a call once I reached the trailhead. I grabbed some trail snacks in Glacier, then continued up the highway to the Twin Lakes turnoff. Now this road had beat me earlier this summer – I took my boys up for a planned overnighter up near High Pass/Mt Larrabee, but my car stalled a couple of times on the way up, and we ended up having to turn around (plan B was an overnighter near the Chain Lakes). I theorized that the problem was the heat, altitude and thick smoke from the summer forest fires. With two of these three not a factor (the altitude of the road obviously never changes…), I decided to give it another shot. Sure enough, there were no issues whatsoever, and I made it to the trailhead, thankfully clear of snow.

The temperature was actually perfect, probably low-to-mid 50’s as I made my way up the initial switchbacks of the trail. The trail then entered the forest, steadily going uphill towards the junction of the Yellow Aster Butte/Tomyhoi Lake trails. There were a couple of campsites in the area, both nice, but knowing what it was like further up towards the butte and the tarns below it, I knew that my future overnighter would be up there.

Snow covered the trees and lush blueberry bushes at this point, and while it was beautiful, the sound from the snow coming down from tree branches, or even falling the short distance from the blueberry bushes to the ground, made me think there were critters large and small all around me. However, I became used to the sporadic noises and moved forward, knowing it was nothing to be concerned about.

It got colder as the trail climbed towards the butte, but for me, it was still perfect. Before long I reached the junction where you have a couple of choices, you can go down towards the tarns and campsites, or you can go up a steep, 1/4 mile trail up to the top of the butte (well, technically it’s not the true summit, which is another 1/4 of a mile of semi-treacherous trail beyond). However, given the snow which now covered everything except the trail, going up this stretch would be good enough for me. While steep, this section isn’t a big deal – you just have to go up slow and steadily. It wasn’t long before I had reached the top, taking in the amazing 360 view with Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan off in the distance, partially obscured by clouds. Other peaks that could be seen include Church, Goat, Larrabee, Winchester and many, many more. It was fairly cloudy to the north, east and south, but it was clear and sunny to the west and the views in that direction were quite good. The wind was a factor up here, so most people were only spending 10-15 minutes at the top before descending. I had a few snacks, and pondered whether it’d be worth it (and safe enough) to make it over to the true summit. However, it looked like the path was snowier in that direction, making it an easy decision to save it for another day.

The hike back was pretty uneventful – I had to be back in town fairly early, so I made good time coming back down. It was amazing to see that except for the final stretch to the top of the butte, most of the snow had now melted, exposing all of the trees and blueberry bushes that had “spooked me” on the way up. Overall it was a great hike, about 2 hrs 15 min up and about 1 hr 45 min down. I look forward to making it up again next year, for an overnighter at the tarns or perhaps up the trail on Tomyhoi.

Through The Smoke To Camp Kiser / Mt Baker

On By Sean BerryIn Overnight HikesLeave a comment

Last year I took the boys on an overnight hike on the Ptarmigan Ridge trail near Mt Baker, with our goal being Camp Kiser, a climbers camp on the NE side of the mountain. We made it about 4 miles before it got dark, so we found a great place to camp on a ridge above Goat Lake. One of my goals this year was to make it up to Camp Kiser – unfortunately with a busy summer, and school now in session, I did this as a solo overnighter. I had the time set aside, but with the wildfires and subsequent smoke in Washington State, I knew the views would be diminished. Also, I worried about hiking 5 miles each way through the thick smoke.

Starting off from the Artist Point parking lot, I could see that there wouldn’t be much to see beyond a mile or so from the trail. Normally you can see Mt Baker and Mt Shuksan, but both were hidden behind thick orange/brown smoke. Still, what could be seen was still pretty amazing, so I hit the trail with enthusiasm, and wondered if by the end I could actually see Mt Baker. About a quarter of a mile in I paused for a bit of water and found myself somewhat short of breath and started to think of a plan B or even a plan C. I knew I could shorten the hike by camping overnight at the Chain Lakes, or I could just bag it all together and turn around and give it a try another day. I decided to give it a bit longer though, and would make a decision once I reached the junction of the Ptarmigan/Chain Lakes trails.

Thankfully, once I got there everything was fine and the smoke wasn’t bothering me anymore – the temperature was okay (probably mid-70’s or so), so I decided to press on. There were a few other hikers along the way, in both directions – normally there would be dozens more, but the smoke was definitely keeping people away. My plan at that point was to hopefully make it to Camp Kiser, but if it got dark I knew there were a few other options to spend the night. With this area, if you plan to overnight, you need to make it at least a mile past the Ptarmigan/Chain Lakes junction. At that point there is a nice area with a few flat spots to camp – if you are looking for an easy overnighter this area is great, only 2 miles from the parking lot. But I still had a fair amount of daylight left so I pushed forward.

There were a couple of areas that required snow crossings, but with decent boots and poles they were relatively easy, and even a slip and fall wouldn’t (likely) be catastrophic. Before long I made it to the spot I camped at with the boys last summer – there was a lot more snow here than there was last year, but again, crossing it wasn’t bad. I noticed that nearby Goat Lake was still covered with snow and ice. At that point the trail rounds Coleman Pinnacle, with a mile or so left before Camp Kiser. This is probably my favorite part of the trail, with lots of blueberry patches, a couple of decent overnight spots (including one by a large snowfield – great for water or cooling down beverages).

The Camp Kiser area reminded me so much of Iceland – just rocks and fine dust. There are a few decent sites to set up a tent, including a large spot that is so perfectly flat I thought it was actually a concrete pad from a distance. There was a bit of wind so I found a spot off the ridge that was protected a bit. It was fairly dark by now so I set up my tent using my headlamp, then made dinner – a Good To-Go meal, which was the first of three that I have tried that I actually thought was really good (the Thai Curry). The others were so-so – I appreciate the natural ingredients they use, but they just didn’t taste very good. This one was pretty awesome though! Along with a can (yes, a can!) of House Wine it was a somewhat refined backpacking dinner. It was a great, quiet evening – without even a nearby stream to make noise, it was amazing how perfectly quiet it was.

I got a fairly early start the next morning – I woke up around 6:30 and made breakfast and lounged around for a bit, before breaking down camp and heading back around 9. There were a few hikers making their way up, all day hikers. I did have a funny moment though – I rounded a blind corner on the trail and saw a somewhat large, dark, furry creature with it’s back to me blocking the middle of the trail. It startled me, and my first thought was – crap, this is a bear cub! My heart quickened and I started to reach for my can of bear spray, when at that moment the creature turned around and it was just a big, furry dog with a jolly look on it’s face and tongue sticking out. It was off leash and it’s owners were a ways away. So I was startled for a second, but it was friendly so I gave it a pat on the head and made my way forward.

Passing the Ptarmigan/Chain Lakes junction there were lots of hikers, even though the conditions were still just as smoky as the day before. It slowed progress a bit, but I was still able to make it back to the car at a 2+ mile per hour pace. Overall, despite the smoke, it was a fun, and scenic overnighter. I did think about hiking up from Camp Kiser to the Portals, but will save that for a clear day.

Solo Overnighter To Lake Ann / Mt. Shuksan

On By Sean BerryIn Overnight HikesLeave a comment

I was finally able to do a Mt Baker hike that I’ve always wanted to do – the Lake Ann/Mt Shuksan trail. It’s just over 4 miles each way from Artist Point, which you start by losing about 1000 feet of elevation in a mile, then leveling out for 2 miles in a beautiful creek meadow, before finishing with a 1500 foot or so climb in the last mile through boulder fields and a small patch of snow. Found a great camping spot up an obscure trail above Lake Ann, with great views of Mt Baker on one side and Mt Shuksan on the other.

I got a late start, hitting the trail at about 5:30 pm – it was a bit of a race to get to the end, since it’s getting dark around 8pm or so this time of year. I figured I could do 2 miles/hour, which would leave me about 30 minutes of light to set up camp at the end. Thankfully, that’s exactly the way things worked out. I arrived at the ridge above Lake Ann right at 7:30 and had a choice to make. I saw a few tents around the lake (but just a few – this was a Tuesday evening), but I had read reports saying that above the ridge (just north of the lake) there were some great campsites with a view of Mt. Baker, Mt. Shuksan and the lake. There wasn’t much of a trail, but after 50 yards or so I did see a faint path up towards the campsites. I passed one level site and took the second one, which did have a great view. The next morning I explored a bit and found even better sites further up.

After a great night of sleep I woke to a sunny morning with the occasional sound of crashing rock on the steep face of Mt. Shuksan. After coffee and breakfast I packed up and went down to the lake to check out the view from there, and walked a 1/4 mile or so down the climbers trail towards Mt. Shuksan and Curtis Glacier. While the trail does go all the way to the glacier, from reports I’ve seen it’s steep and narrow, with a washed out area towards the end. I didn’t have time to go all the way this time, but hope to give it a shot sometime in the future.

The hike back was pretty uneventful – it was a warm day but my pack was lighter so it wasn’t bad. There were tons of people on the way up though – even though it was a Wednesday, the parking lot was full by the time I got back. Overall this hike did not disappoint, and was maybe slightly more difficult than I thought it would be.