My wife and decided to take her brother and his new fiance on a nice leisureley backpacking trip as neither of them had ever been before. They are also both from Saskatchewan which is flatter than a pancake so we thought we would go easy on them for their first time out. Spider Meadows was the first place to come to mind as it's a spectacular place and is fairly easy to get to. So taking three days we started out on Friday morning which was pouring down rain at the TH but the weather people said it would quit by afternoon and be nice for the rest of the weekend. For the first time in ten years I decided to believe them and we headed out under the canopy of forest for the first five miles. It was wet but not bad. The temps were mild, we all had gortex on and we were getting a little warm but semi-dry. By the time we made the meadow it had stopped raining. Evrybody was in good spirits and wanted to go farther so we pushed through the meadow. None of the creek crossings were hard to cross but there was plenty of water for Ellie the dog. I pointed to the top of the valley headwall and told them that was our camp for the night. They cringed a little but agreed to go. The meadow was a nice place but it doesn't match the view from up there. The trail to the end of the valley is in good shape. The flowers were mostly Paintbrush (red and white), Cow Parsnip, Columbine, and some purple daisy type. We took a good lunch braek at the ""Y"" in the trail but didn't stay long as the bugs were starting to 'bug' us. The trail up to the top was pretty rocky and steep but not too long. It took us about an hour to make the foot of the glacier/snowfield. My favorite campspot is to the right of there and on top of the knoll over looking the valley. It has about a 300 degree view of everything. Our guest forgot all about the grueling last mile as soon as they saw the view. We set up camp and by the time we were done the sky was starting to break up. The temps at night were mild and when we got up the nect morning the sky was as blue as it gets. I told them it was a short hike to the summit of Spider Gap and the view was even more impressive so we decided to go for it. they were'nt too beat up and wanted more. SO we packed up and headed up the snow field. Some of the cravsses are opeing up and are quit deep. We picked our way around them and up to the Gap. The weather and the view were awesome. The color of upper Lyman was gem like. We broke for lunch there. Then the easy descent on the snow field towards the lake. AFter that the prairie folk thought we were trying to kill them. I forgot how brutal the scree slope to the lake can be. I have a new found hatred for people who build cairns willy nilly with no prupose other than to show off their artistic BS. I have a new found love for hiking poles! Finally make the main trail around the lake. We make ot all the way to lower Lyman looking for a spot to camp. Feet tired we had a snack and waded into the ice cold lake but man, it felt good! The sites there are tucked back into the trees and the bugs were bad mostly flies with a mosquito thrown in for good measure. Thinking we will be hiking the whole distance tomorrow we decided there was a decent camp sopt back up at upper Lyman. By the time we got back there a couple of guys had set up camp at the spot we were thinking. But some friends of mine told us about a great spto just at the top of the big falls that flow from the upper to the lowere lake so after further investigation we found it. Nice spot close to the creek for water, the falls for sound effect, the Lyman glacier for view. Perfect! The bugs were almost non-existant. Perfect! Had a nice night. By the way I have to give kudos to MountainHouse ProPack foods! Didn't have one bad meal. The next moring we got up early before the sun hit our camp. It was a little chilly but hot coffee cured what ailed us. Had breakfast, packed up everything and on the trail again. I was a little concerned about getting our guests back up to the Gap because they were getting a little trail worn. Sore ankles and knees, even the dog was walking gingerly. But we made it in good time, especially onvce we hit the snow field we were having a snack at the gap in two hours. It only took us a half our to descend the glacier on the other side and we were back in the lowere meadow in four. Stopped to cool our feet and have lunch there but the flies were SO bad we didn't stop for long. I'm not sure why but the trail from the meadow back to the car always seems like the longest to me. But we finally made, dsore but happy guess and all. I actually think we converted these two to backpackers. They were asking about other placs to go next summer. Well beers and dinner never tasted better at Gustavs before the drive home. All in all a great trip!

Took the Lady uplake to Lucerne, then the bus to Holden and hit the trail around 1 PM. Once out into the valley it's mostly sunshine. Hot sunshine. Very hot sunshine. My REI thermometer read 96 degrees. Heat stroke seemed a real possibility. Hart Lake didn't come a moment too soon, and the campground, nearly full of Boy Scouts on a Thursday, was much nicer than I expected - shaded, in the trees, across the trail from the lake. There were fragrant bog orchids along the shore and the occasional mariposa lily, as well as evidence of beaver activity. Watching sunrise and sunset and looking upvalley from the shore was magical. Waterfalls everywhere. Met a nice couple from California - she a member of the California Native Plant Society - much trading of plant names and excitement. They couldn't believe how beautiful the area was and thought we were very lucky to live so close. The second day dawned and stayed rainy. We trudged up a brushy trail to lower Lyman Lake anyway - 9-10 miles round trip and about 1500 feet elevation gain. Mosquitoes biting in the rain. We were comprehensively wet and rather chilled on our return, but luckily, that was the end of the rain and our clothes dried quickly enough. Still can't find a pair of socks though. The next day was absolutely perfect. Clear, sunny skies, light breezes, temperatures in the 60's and 70's. We went back to lower Lyman Lake and took the side trail to upper Lyman Lake. I've wanted to see that gorgeous Lyman Glacier for years and look at Spider Gap and see if it was doable by me. Probably, but no thanks. Not too surprisingly, the glacier is much diminished from Ira Spring's picture in my 1988 book ""100 Hikes in the Glacier Peak Region"". We stopped for lunch on a rise just before the moraine, and it was stunningly beautiful. Azure glacial lakes, waterfalls, glacier, clear blue skies, breezes, almost no bugs, beautiful heather meadows, lots of partridge foot, occasional gentian, peanut butter sandwiches, Seattle chocolate, Cloudy Pass, Mt. Chiwawa, Spider Gap. It doesn't get better than this. About 13 miles and 2000 feet elevation gain from Hart Lake. We saw no one else at upper Lyman, and only a few folks at lower Lyman. Sunday was another story. It seemed that the entire staff of Holden had hit the trail headed for Cloudy Pass. Found some ripe huckleberries along the trail out. Bugs (biting flies, mosquitoes) had been bad on the way in, but the rain seemed to beat them into relative submission for several days, which was a gift. We surprised ourselves by arriving at Holden in time to catch the early boat downlake. A fabulous trip.

If you've never taken the Lake Chelan boat to Lucerne and then school bus to Holden Village on your way to a number of North Cascade trailheads (I hadn't), it's kind of a pain in the butt. It's also expensive, between parking at the boat company dock ($6/day), the boat ride ($46/person rt on the express plus $24 rt for the dog), the school bus ride ($10 rt). BUT, it's worth it since in gives you a head start on some SPECTACULAR scenery. Also, Holden Village generously lets returning backpackers take showers for free. The trail is in terrific shape (we saw the ranger and a FS employee doing trail maintanence this weekend). No bugs except for some pesky gnats at our lower Lyman Lake camp. The huckleberries are all done-not a productive year, said the ranger. There was a dusting of fresh snow on the tops of the surrounding peaks. There were only a few other hikers in the area (though there were two parties of hunters getting ready for high buck season)-lots of empty campsites to choose from. There are lots of great day hikes and explorations to do from Lyman-we went a ways over Cloudy Pass, then up some side trails (the trails stop and start-just keep going up) to a knoll below Cloudy Peak (fabulous views), and to Lyman Glacier. We camped at Hart Lake our last night so we would be closer to Holden to catch the bus back, and we saw bear twice way up on the mountainside.

Four memories - outstanding views, heat, flowers and bugs. Have wanted to link these destinations (Buck Creek - Spider Meadows) together for several years, finally put together a 5 day trip last week. Was planning to meet my wife at Spider Meadows at the end of the trip so started up the Buck Creek trail, getting a late (11am) start. Flys and heat were oppressive, making this a real challenge, but it was all worth it once I arrived at the pass. Good breezes, plus flowers for the last mile made it all worthwhile. Got a great campsite above the pass with dead on views of Glacier Peak, shared the pass with only one other party. Day 2, hiked up toward High Pass, losing all bugs in the breeze, and gaining incredible views plus absolutely outstanding flowers with every step. Trails end is one of the most gorgeous spots in the Cascades, views of still frozen Triad Lake, Clark, Buck, Glacier, Baker, Fortress, Chiwawa, Red, too many others to name. Spent hours here soaking it all in, saw only 4 others. Reluctantly returned to camp, spent the rest of the afternoon taking in views of Glacier from camp, and visiting Flower Dome for sunset, more great views and flowers. Day 3, off to Image Lake. Beautiful trail, some up and down, but all nicely graded. The old growth near Miners Creek was especially beautiful. Some avalanche debris between Middle Ridge and Miners Creek, but easily worked around. Flowers were wonderful here too, especially once Miners Ridge was gained. Unfortunately, flys were again persistent, and the open ridge walk was hot in the early afternoon. Flowers in the last mile, from Lady Camp to Image Lake were wonderful, and the breezes kept the flys down. Finally arrived at Image Lake, and, despite having seen numerous photos, was unprepared for the sheer beauty of the spot. Tiny high alpine wildflowers (3 inch high white paintbrush was everywhere, plus loads of others) and the view - wow - the view! I expected to see at least a few others here, given the reputation Image Lake has, but ended up having the entire place to myself. Spent the remainder of the day taking in the views, and battling the voracious mosquitos - until about 4, when a breeze picked up, and the bugs finally calmed down. Loads of marmots, marmots everywhere... Day 4, off to Lyman Lake. Was unsure where to camp here, as Lower Lyman didn't look that great. Trail between Image Lake and Cloudy pass is great, more flowers, great shape. Took the hikers cutoff to Cloudy Pass, which turned out to be just as much work as dropping down over Suiattle Pass, but was probably more scenic. Cloudy Pass is an amazing spot, but sadly, from here to Spider Gap, mosquitoes, black flys and horse flys were horrendous. Made my way down from the pass, and considered camping in the beautiful meadows just below the pass. Retrospectively, should have, the sites are great, the meadows are beautiful, the views are wonderful down to Lyman, upper Lyman, Spider Gap. Instead made my way to Upper Lyman lake and camped on the sand just down from the glacier. Awesome spot, incredible up close view of Lyman Glacier, but again horrendous bugs, esp. mosquitoes and horse flys. Hiking back to moraine provided some relief, and the contrast of wildflowers and larch trees with the ice and blue of upper Lyman was amazing. View of Bonanza Peak is also incredible from here. Day 5, waited for the sun to warm up the snowfield below Spider Gap a bit. Upper Lyman Lake (at least the end near the glacier) is still covered in a large raft of dirty snow, so the lake doesn't look as impressive as it does later in the year, when lonely ice bergs dot the aquamarine waters. The route up to Spider Gap is clearly marked with cairns, but is very rugged. About half way up you hit the snow, and the going is easier from here. Snow field was not very steep, poles helpful, ice axe unnecessary. Took in the incredible views from Spider Gap, then reluctantly made my way down Spider Glacier to larch knob. From here it is a hot, steep descent to Spider Meadows proper, the meadows were beautiful, camp sites a bit crowded and dog filled, but still found a nice spot off away from the crowds. Met my loving wife (who even hauled in a 6 pack and a great dinner!), and spent a wonderful, cool, finally somewhat bug free evening hanging on the rocks at the edge of the meadow, complete with a family of marmots with 3 babies who were loads of fun to watch. Thanks to Doug Lorain and his ""Backpacking Washington"" for providing the inspiration to do this trip. Book and trip highly recommended.

Day 1, We leave our car at the Buck Creek trailhead, and hike 2 and a half miles of dusty road in the hot sun to the Spider Meadow trailhead. It is a long 2 and a half miles. After resting, we head towards Spider Meadow. The trail seems pretty well-kept. We see little snow between the trailhead and the meadow, and the meadow, which is beautiful, is virtually snow-free. We camp at the North end of the Meadow, just before the trail enters the trees again, having hiked roughly 9 miles. Day 2, we hike another long, steep mile to Spider Glacier. We don’t see much snow until we reach the glacier. Here we put on snow gear and rope ourselves together, although we didn’t really need to. Our ice axes are useful, but the snow is pretty soft. At spider gap, there is a great view of upper and lower lyman lakes. The trail is covered in snow though, here and at Upper Lyman lake. But the snow here is soft too, so the descent to the lake is no problem. We don’t find the trail until after we are descending towards lower Lyman lake, though. It seems to curve to the left at the North end of the lake before going over the ridge. Here the trail is a little overgrown, and very slippery because of the mud. At Lower Lyman lake, there isn’t any camping within I think 200 feet of the lake. The water is very cold, and some of the campsites are still covered in snow. The mosquitoes are terrible. Day 3, we hike to Cloudy pass, first through trees and then through meadow. The trails here seem in good condition, just muddy. We take a detour to Cloudy peak. There doesn’t seem to be a trail. If you go to North star peak, which seems to be a longer but easier hike, probably two miles, with perhaps better scenery, I would suggest traversing around the right side of cloudy peak, where the meadow meets the rock. At any rate, the views from Cloudy peak are spectacular. Continuing on from cloudy pass, we head for Suiattle pass. The trail is pretty good, although muddy, until it meets a boulder field which is still buried in snow. The trail is also buried in snow, traversing across is a little dangerous. If there is still snow, it might be better to take the longer route which goes down into the valley bottom and back up to the pass. We traversed across though. At one point is slipped and slid about 20 feet down the mountain on the snow, but stopped myself with my ice axe. I got a few scrapes, but that was all. After the pass, where the bugs are quite bad again, we take the miner’s ridge trail to Image lake. The trail is good and snow-free, giving great views of glacier peak and rolling meadows. It is much hotter here, though. We camp at image lake. Day 4, we leave image lake, and hike back to the miner’s ridge trail junction, and take the pacific crest trail down into the valley. It is a nice trail, and the descent isn’t too bad. I think it’s supposed to be 2 and a half miles to the next junction, but it seems shorter. The junction is hard to find, because the tree that the signs were nailed to has blown down. We were lucky to spot it. At the junction we take the Buck Creek trail. This trail is in pretty bad condition. There are many blowdowns, and it is very overgrown. There is a boulder field which is still covered in snow, and we lose the trail here. We eventually find it. Head up the field, towards the mountain. The trail leaves to the right. It was a quarter to half a mile up the snowfield from where we came in. We have to cross some streams that don’t really have any logs or rocks to cross on. I fall in one of them. This is a very steep trail, but once again, great views from the pass. We camp at buck creek pass. There are campsites, but I looked for an hour for a toilet and wasn’t able to find one, even though there are supposed to be three. We watch the sunset from flower dome, a one mile hike away, and it is amazing. Day 5, we hike the final 9 and a half miles back to the buck creek trailhead. The descent is gradual, and it is fast going. The trail is pretty well maintained, too, it seems. The last few miles are very long, but seems to be the way it goes, especially when you are eager to reach the end.