Suiattle River Trail, Upper Suiattle River & Gamma Ridge — Monday, Jul. 29, 2019

Anyone reading past trip reports of Gamma Ridge might be as uncertain as we were whether the ridge was indeed accessible without a huge effort of crawling over blowdowns and trailfinding various lost or faint trail segments. The answer is a definite “yes”! Thanks to the sawing and flagging work of some unknown heroes, Gamma Ridge is again open to anyone willing to deal with the 15 long miles of deep forested access, and nearly 5000’ elevation gain, depending on how high you wish to explore this gorgeous ridge. 

Hulk in his July 2015 trail report mentioned a “black hole of information” for Gamma since the reopening of the Suiattle River area. We hope this report clarifies some of this “black hole” and encourages visits from anyone intrepid enough to tackle Gamma Ridge. 

The Suiattle River Trail to the junction past Canyon Creek with the PCT is a long, dark freeway, in excellent shape, with only a few very minor exceptions. Those in a hurry might find it dull, but anyone focusing on the gorgeous array of shrubs, groundcovers, mosses, and fungi will find a lot to admire. The previous blowdown at 2 miles from the road is nearly fixed, though extremely muddy; at 3 miles a brief landslide causes very uncertain access for horses, though easy for hikers. 

The recently-constructed PCT, crossing the Suiattle River soon after the aforementioned junction, then winding through a stunning forest (including some gigantic Douglas Firs and Western Red Cedars just beyond Dolly Creek—worth the hike alone!), is in fine shape. 

The crossing of Vista Creek on a foot-wide, flattened log, would be simple with day packs, but our group of experienced backpackers found it a bit nerve-wracking; it’s easier on the way in, as the log is wider on the north. Returning, most of us walked across, gingerly, but some crawled and/or slid on our rears. Wading near this log would not be impossible, for those afraid of such crossings. 

The Upper Suiattle Trail from Vista Creek crosses Gamma Creek after an easy, flat half-mile (clear water here, as opposed to glacial Vista Creek, and a good campsite), then continues to the junction with the Gamma Ridge Trail in about another mile.   Despite one massive blowdown, easily negotiated, this trail is in fine shape and easy to follow, with some evidence of recent sawing, though the trail is much narrower and less-traveled than the trails earlier. The “scarecrow” at the junction is lacking some of the chainsaw elements mentioned by BryBry in 2018, but is still mostly there. 

We worried about the Gamma Ridge Trail, but due to all the sawing and flagging (thanks—you know who you are), we needn’t have. Lots of new sawing, up to about 4700’, where there are a few challenges. The first mile from the junction rises slowly to another stream crossing, the final water of the trail until 5500’.   Good campsite here, dark and surrounded by gorgeous foliage. The trail then heads directly up, sometimes with switchbacks, though levels off a bit at 4200’. A truly gigantic sawed-through tree at 4700’ reminds you of all the effort you’ve saved thanks to the work of others. From here to 5400’ is the remnant of the “jack stawed mess of blowdowns” Hulk reported in 2015. The mess is not continuous, and the trail is often easy to find between blowdowns. Flagging helps a great deal, though we found at least one false flag leftover by earlier attempts at routefinding. Generally we were only off the trail for 10-15 seconds at a time until one of us spotted the next flag or trail section. Most of the very worst has been cut. There’s at least once where the trail itself is now one of the downed trees, a giant of about 60 feet. 

The forest transitions to lupine meadows at about 5500’, where the alpine beauty begins and where, except for one or two easily-passed blowdowns, your navigational worries are over.   There’s a well-established camp here, with a mossy trickle for water a few steps to the south, though the camp lacks the awesome views that are just ahead. The next hours are up and down on a gentle, lupine-flooded ridge with increasing views, first of the spectacular, if rather terrifying, dropoff to Dusty Creek, and then, at last, Glacier Peak in full glory. We made camp in open meadows at about 6400’, at a slight descent after a ridge (prior to marked summit 6602’). Gullies to the south were very promising, but were dry; we found an excellent, though slightly inaccessible, source deep in the next gully to the north, below an easily-recognized section of the trail traversing an open barren area. Best tent sites are here on the bench before the traverse, or in the saddle before it. 

Not to be missed is a full day exploring higher on Gamma Ridge. Gamma Peak has a trail nearly all the way up, and has what surely must be one of the grandest views in the Northwest. “It’s like Paradise on Mt. Rainier but with no roads and no people.”   We saw a herd of 11 mountain goats here. The ridge continues farther, practically to Dusty Glacier, quickly melting into magnificent waterfalls; a bit tricky the higher you go; we turned around at a gentle ridge summit west of the marked summit 6722’. Even higher explorations are possible for experienced scramblers. 

Our attempts to reach Gamma Hot Springs were not as successful, unfortunately. Two of our intrepid team did advance work and discovered a clearly well-traveled trail with bootprints, heading straight down the gully to the hot springs, starting about N 48.14815 W 121.06856, NNE of Gamma Peak. They reported that the route between Gamma Ridge just east of Gamma Peak, to the start of the trail, was a mess of steep gullies, and very discouraging; it’s much easier to descend a hundred feet into the “water source gully” mentioned above, near camp 6400’, then head west, traversing relatively open meadows, using goat trails, and avoiding the first few gullies beckoning you downhill. Once on the trail, we found it led directly above Gamma Hot Springs (having once gotten cliffed, and leaning right into a gentler gully, where the trail resumed). Here we found a cache of blue tarps, and a tube containing a note from a party in 2018.   The note mentioned a rope hanging below and to the right. “From here, use your own rope, and you’ll be down to the springs. Enjoy!” We stood there looking down the clifflike levels above the springs, frustrated.   50 yards from the springs.   Foiled! We made a group decision to turn back. Without that second rope, the terrain was too steep for us. Other groups may have better scramblers, but I’d advise severe caution. BTW none of us saw any evidence of pools or any “improvements” of the hot springs, though that doesn’t mean they weren’t there. 

The next day we made two more stabs at the hot springs, farther to the east. One was from the ridge’s biggest lupine meadow, 6100’, west of the 6218’ ridge bump marked on topo maps, and the other from about ¼ mile further west, in a higher lupine field at 6200. It had rained that morning, and all the slopes were very slick, and during our explorations through what appears on maps to be relatively moderate, forested terrain, but is in reality a series of steep, hard-to-traverse, frustrating gullies ending in near-vertical cliffs, we all slipped repeatedly, which (literally) dampened our urge to keep pushing on. One of our attempts ended at 5100’, practically the level of the hot springs, though too far to the east, and with many insurmountable gullies in the way. One of our group visited Gamma Hot Springs nearly two decades ago, scrambling through forest in this vicinity, and must have luckily stumbled on the perfect ridge or gully that got him safely down. Judging from online posts, it can be done; we just don’t know how.   Curiously, all route information to the springs is somewhat vague. We suspect this is to keep this magical place a secret. A debate could be had as to whether keeping backwoods secrets is wise. Certainly none of us wants to open the floodgates to careless yahoos. One would think that anyone willing to make it to such a remote place as Gamma would have learned some respect and reverence, but I understand the concern. Yet information is valuable and can even save lives. If we had known the route, or, for example, known about the need for that second rope, our team could have reached the springs, and could have avoided our wet, steep, and precarious attempts. 

In any case, the scenery of the lower forest and the upper, flowered ridge made the trip more than worthwhile, even without the springs. It’s a gorgeous and special place.