Another incredibly gorgeous hike in this beautiful state!!! Does the trail get a little spicy, sure. But was it 100% worth it? absolutely.
Arrived around 11:30am Saturday to a packed trailhead with cars lining the road, but this is to be expected as the trailhead starts off several hikes, including the popular Gothic Basin trail. Road is paved and TH is a mere 1.5 hrs from north Seattle.
Trail is flat and wide the first 4 miles into Monte Cristo ghost town, with nice river views and mountain vistas. We thoroughly enjoyed reading the signs, exploring the old ruins, seeing the railroad turntable, and imagining what life was like here long ago. There's several large camp sites at the campground here and we saw a couple overnight groups. We were hesitant to drink the water below the town (due to potential for trace mining hazards like arsenic & lead).There are signs warning you not to dig up the soil due to these elements, but we never saw any signs that warned about the water, so I'm not sure what the best practice is for drinking from the river. Might be good to call a ranger to get a straight answer.
The climb begins a bit after the town as you rapidly ascend up to the waterfall. It was hot in the afternoon heat and we enjoyed a long break in a breeze at the waterfall. After this is gets very rocky in addition to the steepness. You do have to scramble up a few sections, but it's not exposed. I'd recommend shoes with good traction. We never saw a rope, but we did see the ice cave at the base of what I'd call a snow patch rather than a glacier.
Overall the steep & rocky section is rather short (in length, although it may feel long as you struggle up it) and soon we were back to a gradual climb on a regular trail into the basin. Another trip report shared some great advice- when you reach the spot where a boulder field tumbles all the way down to the creek, you can either boulder scramble down along the creek, or climb up a little ways and walk along a bit more flat section through the boulders. Wildflowers abound, meadow creeks gurgle, and the sheer walls of the basin arise around you filling you with a sense of awe. A few snow patches remain in the basin but they're easy to skirt and melting fast. I got a few mosquito bites, but the bugs weren't horrendous and a thermacell really helped.
Tread carefully! The mossy marsh is fragile, and you can easily walk on the rocks and durable surfaces to reduce your impact. There's 1 small campsite tucked back into the trees, as you first arrive into the basin look for a sharp right cutting back into the forest. There's 1 more site just into the basin, but otherwise there's really not any other camp spots. We had a group of 4, and there was 1 other group of 2 camped in the basin that night. We saw only 1 person on Sunday until we got back to the town site. The basin is huge and we spent several hours exploring. An absolutely stunning and magical place - happy trails!
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