Backpacking in the North Cascades

About to begin

On Sunday, August 16th, our family drove way up from Newberg to the Wenatchee National Forest, Washington, to go backpacking for five nights. We camped at the trailhead that night, and headed out the next morning and into the Glacier Peak Wilderness. That day, we walked through woodland until we arrived at a beautiful meadow where we could see rugged peaks in almost every direction. We hiked up the face of one of them, until we reached a dusty campsite which looked down on the valley. The next day, we hiked up and over a glacier! Though we tripped and fell a little on the way down, it was worth the experience. We hiked down to a crystal-clear lake, and from there, it was up to a pass where we spent our second night. Deer was our problem. They circled our campsite all night long, looking for our clothes to chew on, but they were packed away. We awoke the next morning to beautiful sunshine, perfect weather for hiking over two passes! From there, we caught our first view of Glacier Peak (10541 ft.). We hiked down into a valley, only to slog up about 2000 feet to Buck Creek Pass, where we camped. Perhaps the most impressive scenery of the trip was caught there. We saw the sunset over Glacier Peak, which definitely lives up to its name. After a peaceful night, we hiked a long ways down into the Buck Creek Valley and the trailhead, where we spent our last night. Weather was sunny the whole trip with little smoke or haze, though we could easily spot the positions of nearby wildfires. We averaged about eight miles a day, and ate freeze-dried food all almost the whole time. The trip ended with a long drive west to Seattle. 

We made it!

Day 3: With Glacier Peak

Day 3: Miners Ridge

Day 1: View from camp

Day 3: Sunrise from camp

Day 2: Camp at Cloudy
Pass

Day 2: Lyman Lake

Day 1: Spider Meadow

Day 2: Spider Glacier

Day 2: Lunch