Horseshoe Basin — Saturday, Aug. 28, 1999

North Cascades > Pasayten

After a six hour drive from Seattle, we arrived at the trailhead ready to get out of the car and hike. To get there, we drove to Winthrop, and then took forest service roads 37 and 39 to Iron Gate Road. This is different than most books describe, and is quite scenic. But it takes just as long as driving to Omak and then Loomis, and I actually recommend the latter, since it is all pavement and the drive from Winthrop to the trailhead is 2.5 hours on dirt road. A note about Iron Gate Road. It is 6.4 miles from the road beginning to the trailhead, and it is the bumpiest road I've ever been on. We were in a small car, but I seriously don't recommend driving it with anything other than a four wheel drive vehicle with some clearance. Most books say it's bumpy, but it's nearly impassible by cars. The trail is easy to follow and climbs very gently. Watch out for horse poop. At 4.5 miles or so, you'll be in gorgeous meadows and climbing gently to Sunny Pass (7200 ft). We arrived at Sunny Pass within 2 hours. It was warm and there was no snow anywhere. The views are amazing and the sunsets spectacular. We found a nice flat spot on a ridge and set up camp. It was getting dark by the time we finished our dinner, so we called it a night and went to bed, planning on doing some exploring and hiking in the morning. Unfortunately, we woke up to wind and snow. Now this was a lesson for me, as we were not really prepared for that type of climate: even if it's 85 in Winthrop, it can start snowing in Horseshoe Basin the next day. All of eastern Washington was quite cold that morning, but if you head up there, be prepared for anything. About an inch had accumulated when we packed up our stuff and left, and it was not showing signs of letting up. Snow was falling all the way down to 6300 feet. We saw several deer, but that was about it. It's a gorgeous place, but I'm not sure if it's worth the drive from the Seattle area.