Buck Creek Pass, Suiattle Pass, Railroad Creek, Upper Lyman Lake, Spider Meadow and Phelps Basin & Spider Gap - Buck Creek Pass Loop — Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East

We wanted to make the best of the Labor Day weekend, so we set off at 5:30am from north Seattle. Got to Trinity around 8am after the most disgusting breakfast ever at the Sultan McDonalds. The 30 minutes spent eating a real breakfast would have been worth it both in the taste & energy we would have got. It was sunny & fairly windy at Trinity but we soon got our packs on & headed up the trail. Buck Creek trail is easy & flat for the first 6 miles or so. The PCT detour has been good to this trail--almost too good in some parts; it looked like it had been clearcut. About 5mi in we felt raindrops on us. Odd--it was sunny out! As we proceeded we saw a bank of fog/low cloud hugging the ridge top--the wind was blowing the drops our way. It gradually got colder and when we hit the real precipitation it was snow pellets; nice because we didn't get wet! The trail gets steeper--and more scenic once it starts climbing away from the river--about 6mi in. We made Buck Creek Pass about 3:30 (yes we were taking our time--that McD's breakfast). Glacier Peak was shrouded in mist--just peeking through in parts. No one there but lots of nice campsites in the beautiful meadows. We decided to press on to a lower elevation so we didn't freeze that night. A steep & quick hour down found us at Small Creek where we decided to spend the night. Chilly & misty but we were warm with out red beans & rice--and some whisky. The next morning dawned misty & chilly. We left (still in our long johns) at 10:15. The long johns came off after about 15 minutes up the hillside. Not too steep, but enough to warm us up. 11:15 found us at Middle Ridge, pretty in the mist, but no views. Then a walk down & through the forest to the "real" PCT at 12:30. The trail up to Suiattle Pass was fairly easy in improving conditions through lovely huckleberry meadows. Took the hikers trail (not for the faint of heart) to Cloudy Pass. We sheltered from a heavy snowstorm about 300' below the pass & then went on to the blue sky we could see at the other side of the pass (4pm). The meadows on the SE side of Cloudy Pass are beautiful, if past their prime. A pity the ridges were all shrouded in fog. Lower Lyman lake was windy & cloudy so we made for the Upper Lyman Basin: what an incredible place. We pulled in to an awesome campsite completely sheltered from the wind somewhere around 5.30. The weather may not have been the best this weekend (though it was completely fine for us), but it sure made less hardy souls (and bugs) stay away. It was wonderful to have the whole Upper Lyman Basin just to ourselves. Frost on the tent in the morning. We stayed in camp (watching a bear bound across the meadows) till about 11:15 so the snow would have a chance to soften on our paths up & down Spider Gap. The trail up the gap isn't hard to find if you keep a lookout for the cairns. The snowfield was definitely the way to go. Made the top around 12:30 and glissaded (ice axe not needed) down the Spider "glacier" to Larch Knob. Boy the trail from there down to Spider Meadow is steep! A leisurely lunch at the big boulder by Phelps Creek at 1:30. We left the lower meadow at 3pm & got back to the trailhead at 4.30. What a shock! Where were the hoards of people leaving Spider Meadow who were supposed to pick up a hitchhiker & take me back to the car? We started down the road & after about 15 minutes were picked up by a lovely lady driving a red jeep. If you read this, thanks & I hope your trip to the Enchantments was wonderful! All in all a great hike, probably improved by the iffy weather keeping the crowds away. One final note: the way to do this loop is clockwise; the steeps are all downhill that way, Spider Glacier is a glacier no longer, and that 8mi out Buck Creek trail would be boring & long at the end. Okay, if you don't have a modicum of experience of snowfields maybe do it counter-clockwise, but don't be put off by the warnings that the glacier is dangerous. It isn't--at least not in late summer.