Big Beaver Trail — Friday, Jul. 23, 2010

North Cascades > North Cascades Highway - Hwy 20

We hiked up the Big Beaver valley from Ross Lake to Beaver Pass and back, camping two nights at Luna Camp. We took the water taxi both ways, keeping the mileage down to just over 30 miles including the hike to and from Ross Dam. The trail is in fine shape with no blowdowns and some of the avalanche chutes newly brushed out. There was a youth trail crew camped at the Beaver Pass horse camp, so it's possible the rest of the chutes are done by now. The bugs were intermittently bad, but tolerable at the camp, which we had to ourselves both nights. We met several parties doing the loop starting at the mouth of Little Beaver Creek, and it sounded as if the trail wasn't too bad there either. We were able to cross the two creeks just before Luna Camp with our boots on, though doing so definitely tested their waterproofing. All the other crossings were bridged, trivial, or dry. We had beautiful weather, and the huge old growth trees are awe-inspring, but the mountain views are mostly of the "Zen" or "peek-a-boo" variety, so do this hike for the forest experience, not the spectacular mountain views, unless you're inclined to leave the trail and head considerably upslope.