Advice on North Cascades NP - Washington State

Bluethroatedone · Jul 5, 2005

Hi,

Well we finished a presi traverse yesterday and now have to plan our next great adventure...

Wondered if any of you could help on a little trip planning. My wife and I are hoping to go spend a week in Washington State. The highlight would be a guided climb of either Rainier (w/ RMI) or Baker (w/ Mtn Madness). Before that we would like to do a nice ~5 day backpacking trip.

Ideally we are looking for something like the Grand Teton loop (Jenny Lake to Teton Village), or Lafayette to Appalachi in the Whites...

We are looking for about 6-8 hours of hiking a day, have winter gear but wouldn't want anything too technical (ie no crevases etc.).

We love peaks, and ridges, not huge fans of endless bellow treeline hiking. A lake to swim in would be great etc.

Any thoughts?

-Blue

dms · Jul 5, 2005

I've used MM several times in the past for guided climbs, but they are also very helpful in giving the type of advice you are looking for, and no one knows that area better than they do. great staff!

AntlerPeak · Jul 5, 2005

The trouble is there are just too many places to go. My hiking partner and I have climbed over two hundred peaks mostly in the South Cascades, Rainier west side to Saint Helens areas. But in the north it is equally spectacular. Check out the "Keep Kool" trail north of Mt Baker outstanding. Backpacking in the Alpine Lakes offers scores of great opportunities. That area is east and north of Seattle. A bit south of what is considered the North Cascades. The Pasayten Wilderness, North Cascades could keep you occupied for a month or longer. Check out this website. They have trail reports, online trail guide and lots of info http://www.wta.org/~wta/cgi-bin/wtaweb.pl?0+fp
Check out my site for some pics taken on the Keep Kool trail if you want.
http://mysite.verizon.net/antlerpeak/

sardog1 · Jul 5, 2005

"Go North, young/old/middle-aged man/woman, go North!"

I lived north of Seattle for six years. North Cascades NP is a fabulous place. Check out the CascadeClimbers.com North Cascades forum. You might also look at and/or hook up with The Mountaineers. They have lots of useful online links and the best collection of publications about the Pacific Northwest outdoors scene.

IMO, Alpine Lakes gets too much traffic, a consequence of its proximity to Seattle and its 'burbs. The farther north you go, the wilder it gets. (E.g., parts of the North Cascades are under serious consideration for management as grizzly bear habitat.)

EDIT: The cartographic analogue to the AMC trail maps is Green Trails Maps.

Brian · Jul 6, 2005

Lived there one year and tried to squeeze in as much as possible. Some good but non technical climbs or ascents where you have to find your own route are the Enchantments (east side of the Cascades on rt 2), Mt Olympus (though you have a long walk through the rain forest that puts the wilderness trail to shame), Mt Pugh (short day hike with trail to summit), and Sahale peak off of Cascade Pass. As others have siad, there are countless numbers of peaks, 90% of which are completely wild and its up to you to find your way up. Many are class 4 and up (requiring technical rock climbing skills and ropes for safety). I drew the line at class 3 (which is like the headwall of Huntington Ravine).

I still have two books by Fred Becky which I occassionally take out and drool over. Wonderful photos and descriptions of routes up many of the peaks. Too bad most of them are class 4 and above.

Note that all this info is dated from 1983!

Brian