Enjoyed a hike up through Marmot Pass to Buckhorn Mt.  Hit and miss hard packed snow/ice along with dirt trail from Camp Mystery to Marmot Pass, I used poles going up, but my teenage partner had no issues without.  From Marmot Pass going up to Buckhorn it was all melted out, but were you turn heading up the hillside to Buckhorn challenges your legs and lungs.  Coming down instead of dealing with slipping & sliding on the lose rock on the steep slope we took a trail heading NW about at Lat 47.823180 Lon 123.128597 (you have to look closely for it but once found easy to follow). It gave a more gradual though longer decent that eventually took us back to the Tubal Cain trail where we turned back towards Marmot Pass.  But on this section, we did run into a fair amount of snow covering the hillside & trail, it had a very slight/old boot path.  We found our feet sliding down the hillside, so we put on traction devices which helped a lot & got us back without any incident to Marmot Pass. 

It was a good hike it took 6 hours in total and the only snow was under Marmot pass. No snow on Buckhorn 

Nice day trip, as always. Looks like there was recent trail work done. Thank you. At the pass, I noticed (see photo) several dead trees that reminded me of a recent trip to the Wind River Range. On the way to Titcomb basin, I had noticed some similar dead snags. In talking to some knowledgeable hikers, the conclusion was that they were Whitebark Pine. These were all fairly large trees that had died a while ago.Nearby there seemed to be quite a few healthy young Whitebark pine. That pattern seems to be the same at Marmot Pass as there were many healthy young Whitebark Pines. Does anyone have any thoughts or information to share? This tree is one of my favorites.

Completed a Friday - Sunday backpacking trip to Marmot Pass with day trips to Buckhorn Mountain/Lake and Charlia Lakes. It was an amazing trip and beautiful area! More specifics below:

Road/Bugs/Crowds

The road in was amazing. It was about half paved and half gravel, but really smooth either way. I was able to average about 25 mph in a Mazda CX-5. Bugs were still alive and well, mostly bumble bees and large flies. I passed several people who had been stung by hornets, but they stayed away from me and my pup. Crowds weren't too bad, but Marmot pass was definitely busy. I avoided this by camping way up at the top of Point 6294. Once away from Marmot pass, there were very few people - I found solitude at Buckhorn Mountain, Buckhorn Lake and Charlia Lakes.

TH -> Marmot Pass

Beautiful and beautifully maintained trail through old growth forest before peak-a-boo views begin to open up across the valley. It's still 3,000+ feet of climbing, so its not easy. But the grade is never too steep for very long. The beginning half of the trail follows the river, so water is plentiful. But, eventually the trail leaves the river, the climb becomes more exposed and strenuous, and there is no more water to fill up with until Camp Mystery, so plan accordingly.

Camping near Camp Mystery/Marmot Pass

Once near/at Camp Mystery, there are plenty of forested campsites that are near the only water source nearby - a weak dribble coming from an underground spring. These spots are nice, but quite close to each other. There are additional off-trail spots after the water spring and then even more open spots off-trail (left) in the meadow just before Marmot Pass. There are several camp spots on the backside of Marmot pass, and then 2-3 sites along the southern ridge. There is one very secluded spot on a knoll up on the northern ridge. I did not see it until after coming down from Buckhorn Mtn and it looked awesome. I camped at one of the 2 obvious spots at the top of Point 6294. Views from there were amazing, but the final climb up was grueling every day and the wind was strong at night. Still enjoyed the solitude up there.

Buckhorn Lake / Buckhorn Mountain

From Marmot pass, I made a loop heading to Buckhorn Pass, then Buckhorn Lake and finally taking the long way up to Buckhorn Mountain. Buckhorn pass was beautiful and more open than Marmot pass. I had great views of Mt Baker and Shuksan. The trail down to Buckhorn lake felt long and a bit monotonous, but wasn't too bad. I needed to get to the lake to refill my water supply (no water otherwise). Buckhorn lake was a beautiful color, but mostly forested and quite cold. I've swam in many alpine lakes, and was still shocked at how cold it was for being mid September. There were tons of fish in the lake as well, so was fun to watch them try to catch flies. Eventually, I went back the way I came and headed up the ridge to Buckhorn mountain. The trail is pretty obvious, and steep-ish. It's a walk up to the false summit and then some easy class 1 moves up to the true summit. From there, I found a large rock with a flat spot on top to sit on and took in the views. Rainier was obvious, but Glacier, Baker and the rest of the cascades were visible as well. I had the summit to myself on Friday evening. I then took the steeper way back down to Marmot pass and my camp. The way back down was definitely steeper than the way I took up from Buckhorn Pass.

Charlia Lakes

My second day I took a trip to Charlia lakes. It was a long, but beautiful descent down from Marmot Pass to Boulder shelter. There was a good stream for water near the shelter, but no water before that. Then the climbers trail starts to Charlia lakes, and it's a steep one. I was huffing and puffing through the initial forested section, before things leveled out a bit and the views opened up. Things then got tough again heading up to the saddle before the lakes. The trail had switchbacks, but was quite skinny and and on extremely steep slope. There were areas where a slip, or loss of balance would result in a long slide/tumble. Once at the saddle, upper Charlia lake was visible, but so far away. The trail down to it was steep and loose, again a slip could be bad in this type of terrain. Bring poles for stability, and don't attempt it if you aren't comfortable on steep, loose terrain. Note also that the descent has many small rocks, I was kicking myself big time for not having brought my dog's boots. His paws were hurting by the time we reach the bottom. Once at the bottom, beautiful, and suprisingly warm Charlia lake greets you. It's an amazing turquoise color and the bottom is muddy, but soft. Perfect for wading. We continued on to lower Charlia lake, follwing a rugged trail down a gully. The lower lake was much deeper, colder and "blue-er". It's also in a small basin surrounded by peaks on all sides. There were at least 2 campsites at the lower lake, one on each side. We saw someone camping on the far side, but had no idea how they got there...must be a trail somewhere. The campsite on the near side of the lake was taken by 1 PM on Saturday. We ate lunch at the lower lake, then climbed back up to the upper lake to take a dip before climbing out. The climb out was easier than I thought it was going to be, it looks quite steep and imposing from a far!

Overall, I really enjoyed the trip. Buckhorn Pass and Buckhorn mountain was an awesome little side trip to take. Charlia lakes was challenging and a bit nerve-racking for me, but I think the payoff was worth it.