Bedal Basin, Cutthroat Lakes via Walt Bailey Trail — Saturday, Jul. 18, 1998

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

The Mallardy Ridge trail is the one sane way to get to Cutthroat Lakes, and Bald Mountain. It is about 4.5 miles to the lakes, with a 600 ft. total gain, but includes numerous ups and downs, so it can be strenuous in both directions. The DNR road from the Sultan side was locked, so we went to the ranger station at Verlot, who handed us a flyer describing this hike. We had thought about the Bald Mtn. trail, but it is over 10 miles one way. This is a gorgeous hike, with dozens of lakes at the end of the trip. The first 2 miles are an easy walk. It gets a bit harder at 2 miles, as it starts to climb. The lakes are beautiful, with numerous camp sites. Bald Mtn. is an easy climb above the lakes. The flies were pretty bad, and they went away as we applied bug repellant, then the mosquitos found us. It urged us to keep moving. There was almost no snow on the trail. This was a great day hike, and we will do it again.