Over the July 4th weekend, we did a clockwise hike starting and ending at the the Purple Pass TH in Stehekin. Overall, the weather was amazing, wildflowers were blooming, and the scenery was top-notch. However, we made the mistake of hiking on the upper section of the East Fork Fish Creek trail (#1248) between the Chelan Summit Trail and the lower section of the Fish Creek Trail. To be clear, there is no trail anymore due to a large burn area and the most blow-down I've ever hiked through, plus a significant amount of Slide Alder overgrowth. DO NOT TAKE THIS TRAIL :). For context, my partner and I typically hike 2-3.5 mph, and we averaged nearly .5 mph in this 5 mile section (we got off the Chelan Summit Trail at 1pm and didn't make it to the lower section of the Fish Creek Trail until 9:30pm). The better move would be to take the North Fork of the Fish Creek Trail.

Besides this brutal section, this is an amazing hike. The Chelan Summit trail has some of the best views I've seen of the Glacier Peak Wilderness. We'll definitely be back in the fall.

First off let me say that the Stehekin Ferry is not doing a good job with social distancing or masking. The employees are wearing masks but the majority of passengers are not. The valley has a laissez faire approach to masking and social distancing right now, although the park service, bakery, and landing are all wearing masks and for the most part encouraging good practices. This is probably not the time to go out to Stehekin unless hiking in. Limited boat services, closed park visitor centers, and limited medical resources could mean that local resources may be strained if there is an outbreak. All that being said as I'm constantly in a high exposure environment as a nurse that works directly with Covid patients. I can maintain precautions for myself but not for everyone else. I'm generally overtaxed and overwhelmed with work and these trips allow me to regain my sanity and my composure. I know how selfish that is and that I am not special. Much like the epidemic of racist violence there are more important things than hiking right now. I am extremely privileged and fortunate to be healthy and to have work right now. Rant over.

I went on this trip with my pregnant wife and toddler and trying to get in a hike without causing any headaches or pushing my family beyond their boundaries I woke up at 3 AM to do this one. In a push from 3 AM until 6:30 with stops to admire wildflowers, look down at the lake, and catch the sunrise I made to Purple Pass. The trail is overgrown with shrubs often waist high sometimes chest high I'm about 5ft 11 but the flowers that are overtaking the trail are spectacular right now, there are carpets of penstemons, lupine, asters, paintbrush, and the character and varieties change as the elevation increases. The snow didn't really start until the backside of purple pass towards Boulder Butte, and Juanita Lake. After a quick jaunt up the butte to the former lookout site I jogged back down the trail towards the landing which seems impossibly low from the top of the pass. The trail felt every bit of 16 plus miles due to long meandering switchbacks but my knees and I were grateful for the light cruise back down the mountain. The basin up above purple pass is spectacular and the hike was well worth it. With my early start and turnaround I saw no other hikers but did see numerous deer, grouse, western tanagers, woodpeckers, a bear, an owl, and made it back to the landing at 9 AM right when my wife and son were waking up. A great pre breakfast hike definitely felt like I earned my bakery cinnamon roll.

After a debacle in Wenatchee concerning my car battery, my friend and I arrived safely in Stehekin (albeit via ferry rather than on foot, which was the original plan). 

After checking into where we were staying, we decided to see how Purple Pass looked. We had dinner reservations at 6 45p, but luckily, this trailhead is right behind the Golden West Visitor Center, which is just up the hill from the restaurant, so we were able to set off right away. 

Surprisingly, despite seeing lots of snow in the mountains on our way uplake, the trail was quite clear (though some sections had a lot of brush across them). We thought we'd encounter snow about a mile before the pass (if we got that far) and another hiker coming downhill confirmed those suspicions.

We had a snack break about 3 miles in, on a nice rocky overlook of the lake, and then hiked another mile and change, essentially right before the last switchbacks before getting to the ridgeline push to the pass. We decided that since we'd had great views on the way up, and were starting to hike away from the lake, we decided to make that the turnaround point and get back to the landing a bit earlier.  

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We did this trip in 4 days/3 nights.

On July 19 (Day 1), we took the Lady II boat from Chelan, requesting a special drop-off at Prince Creek, about 2.5 hours uplake. We disembarked in the heat of the day, around 11:15am, and started the trek up on the Prince Creek trail, with the goal of doing about 7 miles to the campsite just before the trail's intersection with the Cub Lake trail. The first 3 or so miles are hot, dusty, and exposed, but the trail here, which is not maintained, was in reasonable shape. After a somewhat tricky crossing over Prince Creek (the water was still pretty high and fast-moving-- probably would not be the case later in the season), we entered more forested terrain. The trail was passable but very brushy with many blowdowns, making the steady climb even slower. We reached camp at about 5:30, having climbed from 1100 ft to 4600 ft. The campsite is lovely-- right on the creek, where the water flows over large boulders, forming a series of small falls and great dunking pools. The main campsite is in the trees, below some large boulders that are adjacent to the creek. We actually slept up on the boulders without tents as the breeze was so nice.

Day 2: We continued upward through mostly forested terrain-- again encountering many blowdowns and overgrown brush. At about 3 miles, we passed an old shelter, but we are glad that we didn't push on the night before to get there as it would have been a buggier place to camp.  Shortly after that, we picked up the Chelan Summit Trail, turning more northward. (The Summit Trail is in much better condition than Prince Creek.) At about 4 miles, we arrived at the turn-off for Surprise Lake. Another group was headed that way and said the fishing was amazing, but we forged on. Within a mile, we came to an open cirque to the left. If you turn left on one of the fairly clear side trails (to the left), you will come to a large horse camp. This can be confusing as, at first, it seems that this should be the turn for continuing onto the main Summit Trail. It is not! To continue on, do not get off the main trail. It will naturally turn northwards (left), leading up and over a beautiful 7400 ft saddle. From there, we descended a bit and traversed through a large scree/boulder field- then up again to a lovely campsite at 7000 ft, about a half mile below Tuckaway Lake, which proved to be a great swimming spot. Total mileage for the day was about 7.5 miles, with more than 2500 ft of elevation gain.

Day 3: The next morning, we were climbing again - up and over another beautiful 7400 ft pass with 360 degree views. Then we descended downward for several miles, into a beautiful wooded valley-- then back up again to a 7100 ft pass, where we saw our only bit of snow. The views were gorgeous again and we took a break there, before heading back down to about 6500 ft. The last push of the day was back up to Juanita Lake (6800 ft) for the night. As others have written, Juanita Lake is not very picturesque or appealing-- more like a small swampy pool. We had a permit for the horse camp, where water was sparse. We had to walk about a 1/4 mile closer to the lake to access moving water. Bugs were the worst that night compared to the previous 2.

Day 4: We were on the trail by 7am, with hopes of making the 11am Stehekin Valley Ranch bus up the valley (we made it!). We reached Purple Pass by about 7:30, which provides an amazing view of Lake Chelan and beyond. Then we began the relentless downhill-- 8 miles, 59 switchbacks, 5500 ft of elevation loss. Definitely hard on our 60- and 57-year old knees. It took us about 3.5 hours.

Overall, this was a rigorous but rewarding hike-- we did something like 15,000 ft in cumulative elevation gain over about 32 miles. The advantages are that this route it is not trafficked-- we didn't see anyone during Day 2 or 3, until we were approaching Juanita Lake. The views are spectacular and with more time (or more speed), there are plenty of options for side trips to other lakes and viewpoints. We also highly recommend recovering for a couple of days at the Stehekin Valley Ranch! Massages, great food, a beautiful setting...we have been going there for years.

- Amie Bishop, 7/30/18