Three Fingers — Saturday, Sep. 9, 2000

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

Yay! Winter in the Pacific Northwest! Oh, wait, it's only September. Hmmm... This late-summer hike is one that's best done in exactly that... late summer. Warm, clear, sun shining down. Unfortunately, this Sunday was none of that. We hit the trailhead at about 9:15 (almost 2 hrs later than we had hoped) and took off with the hope of getting to Goat Flats and maybe, depending on how the bodies held up, to Tin Pan Gap and that we might be joined by the forecasted afternoon clearing. The first .5 mile or so of the trail was more like a creek bed than a trail. The run-off from the falling rain was 2-3 inches deep in most places and anywhere there wasn't running water, there was mud. That nice, glooey, suck your foot in kind of mud. Where the trail passes by Saddle Lake... the trail passes through Saddle Lake. The exit creek was very flooded and the lake was overflowing. For as little elevation is gained in the 5 miles to Goat Flats, my guess is that you gain and lose that much elevation at least twice. The trail has a lot of ups and downs... not so bad on the way in, but extremely disheartening on the way out. The only clearing of the day began to arrive at we reached the Flats. Encouraged by this, and hoping that it would continue, we forged on the extra 1+ miles to Tin Pan Gap. I'm really glad we did. It made the entire hike worthwhile. Marmot scree (our name for it) was chuck full of marmots. They were everywhere. At any given time we could see at least 5. There was a mama marmot and her 4 babies in one spot. It was really cute. Anyway, they were everywhere. You couldn't turn around without seeing another one. Maybe the yucky weather helped bring them out. It was nice. There's still some snowfields to cross as you approach the pass, one in particular is quite steep and a bit scary. Fortunately, all were crossable with minimal slippage. The view from the Gap (or very close to it) was at its best just as we arrived. All three fingers of Three Fingers were visible, along with the blue glacier and accompanying crevasses, in the basin below. It wasn't long before the clouds rolled back in and we had fun tossing rocks over the glacicer and watching them roll off into white nothingness. The wind picked up and the clouds were back. All the surrounding scenery was suddenly disappeared behind an enormous white/gray curtain. The return trip was long and wet... very long... and very wet. All in all, it was a very long day. I suggest that if you are motivated to do this hike that you wait for dry, clear weather. Timing: UP: Trailhead 9:15, Goat Flats 12:50, Tin Pan Gap 2:00; DOWN: Tin Pan Gap 2:40, Trailhead: 6:30.