Washington State Trip - Day 2
North Cascades National Park
Cascade Pass Trail, Doubtful Lake, Sahale Glacier,
and hundreds of Hoary Marmots!
Monday, September 9th, 2019
Monday, September 9th, 2019
Doing it Hoary Marmot Style!
During last year's trip to Washington, I hiked the Cascade Pass Trail and absolutely loved it!
However, I did have a few issues. First off, the final 3.5 miles of the road to the trail head was closed adding 7 miles to the total hike distance. Also, it was 2 months earlier in the season and I was not prepared for the amount of snow and ice I would have to get across. Therefore, I didn't make it as far as I had hoped.
This time I confirmed ahead of time that the road was open all the way to the trailhead and this late in the summer there should be much less snow and ice to deal with. I was also still on east coast time, so I was able to start the 2+ hour drive to the trailhead well before the sun.
I made a few quick stops to check out a couple of roadside waterfalls along the way.
Roadside Waterfall along the way to the Cascade Pass Trailhead
Roadside Waterfall along the way to the Cascade Pass Trailhead
The first part of the trail is a grueling climb of approximately 1,500 feet in elevation over about 3.0 miles. This section of trail features about 35 switchbacks (not an exaggeration) and is a masterpiece of trail design, construction, and maintenance.
It's a thick forest with not a whole lot of views for the first couple of miles. However, once past the last switchback, the trail leaves the forest and the views begin! Unless you are hiking in the fog and rain which is often the case in the North Cascades!
View from the Cascade Pass Trail
View from the Cascade Pass Trail
View from the Cascade Pass Trail
Last time I made it to Cascade Pass and there was not a cloud in the sky. This time, I could barely see a thing.
Cascade Pass Selfie
View from Cascade Pass
The only mishap I had was trying to find the trail down to doubtful lake. Every map I had showed the Doubtful Lake Trail starting about a quarter mile before where it actually starts. So I spent about an hour trying to find a safe way down with no success. I kept getting cliffed out, but did end out with a couple of unique views that you don't get from the actual trail!
View of Doubtful Lake
Doubtful Lake Panorama
view of Doubtful Lake
Shortly after I gave up on finding a safe way down to Doubtful Lake, I found the actual trail and had no problems making my way down to Doubtful Lake. However, the views are much better from up above and it is not worth the 800 foot climb.
I continued on up the Sahale Glacier Trail which even in the fog offers up some spectacular scenery! This section of trail contains 360-degree views along almost the entire stretch!
Another thing I really enjoyed about this hike was the Hoary Marmots! These curious and playful little critters were out in abundance today!
Hoary Marmot
Hoary Marmot
A pair of Hoary Marmots
Hoary Marmot
Hoary Marmot by Doubtful Lake
Hoary Marmot
They even pose for Selfies
Hoary Marmot by Doubtful Lake
Continuing on to the Sahale Glacier is no easy task. From Cascade Pass to the base of the Glacier is an additional 2,500 feet of elevation (on top of the initial 1,500 foot climb). The scenery along the way was much prettier than the Glacier itself, but it still felt incredible to finally be able to get to this spot!
The Sahale Glacier
Sahale Glacier Climbing Camp
The Edge of the Sahale Glacier
The "trail" continues up the Glacier to the summit of Sahale Mountain, but continuing on requires some series ice climbing which I have no interest in! So after a nice break, I decided to turn back. The return hike was much quicker and easier since it was almost all downhill!
Here are a few photos from the hike back down.
View from the base of the Sahale Glacier
View from the Sahale Glacier Trail
View from the Sahale Glacer Trail
Final view of Doubtful Lake
Intersection with the Actual Doubtful Lake Trail
View from the Cascade Pass Trail
Despite the rain and fog, this was an incredible hike! Overall I hiked a little over 15 miles over the course of about 8 hours with about 5,300 feet of elevation gain!
My complete set of photos are posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157710896289932
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