Castle Pass, East Bank Ross Lake — Friday, Aug. 11, 2006

This report covers sections of the Pacific Crest trail and the Boundary Trail that a friend and I hiked over a period of 9 days, beginning August 12th and ending this past Sunday, August 20th, 2006. Our starting point was Rainy Pass. One of us dropped the other off at Rainy Pass and drove on to the parking area above Ross Lake on Rt 20, hitching back to Rainy Pass to commence the hike. The course of our hike took us North on the PCT to Castle Pass, 4 miles shy of Canada, and then West to follow a section of the Boundary Trail from Castle Pass out to Ross Lake. We'd arranged for a Ross Lake Resort water taxi to take us back down the lake at trip's end, leaving a 1 mile hike up to the car. The focus in this report is on water sources, campsites and trail conditions, but I want to say here at the outset that the scenery was astonishingly beautiful throughout the trip. It was certainly the most challenging and rewarding backpack trip I've ever done. Water: I've heard conflicting reports about how dry this section of the PCT is for this time of year; I can't say whether the trail is unusually dry for this point in the season or not. Nevertheless, finding water was often a concern during the trip and we frequently felt compelled to carry a fair amount of water on us, in case a next putatively permanent stream was bone dry. What follows are details about where we found water and what the state of each water source was, as of mid-August. Some technical terms: I'll use ""strong trickle"" to mean a stream in a state such that you can put a measuring cup under the flow and fill a pint in a dozen or so seconds. A strong trickle could be termed a ""babbling brook"" but the former term, though less pleasant, has a stronger connotation of impermanence, which is the appropriate connotation in the present context. A ""meager trickle"" means the flow is significantly less than strong. But even meager trickles may afford small puddles from which one can collect clear water readily enough. Green Trails maps: Washington Pass, Mt. Logan --------------------------------------------- Rainy Pass to Cutthroat Pass - there are still several good sources on the way up; Porcupine Creek was running strong and at least two other streams feeding into porcupine were strong trickles. Cutthroat Pass to Granite Pass - I saw no water at all on this section. Granite Pass to Snowy Lakes campsites - There is a strong trickle crossing the PCT just 50 yards or so south of the campsites on the trail, below Snowy Lakes, and a meager trickle that passes through the north end of the campsites. This meager one may well dry out soon, but the strong trickle should be present for a while. Snowy Lakes campsites to Methow Pass - saw no water Methow Pass to bridge across W. Fork Methow - several streams cross the trail in this stretch, and one parallels the trail for a bit. The first stream we encountered was a meager trickle, but the rest are stronger. One especially strong trickle runs across the PCT at a very pleasant forest campsite; it is probably the northernmost permanent stream noted on the small segment of the PCT on the Green Trails Mt. Logan map. The W. Fork Methow itself was running strong. W. Fork Methow to Brush Creek - no water between the two. Brush Creek was running strong. Brush Creek to Glacier Pass - there may be some points along the PCT as it ascends the Brush Creek basin where one could access the creek, but it looks like even the closest would be a 100 yd struggle with Slide Alder and other brush (""Brush Creek"" is aptly so-called, btw, and the PCT itself in this stretch is a bit overgrown). At Glacier Pass we found some puddles of water probably left over from a melted snow patch. They can be reached by taking a small spur trail just North of the Glacier Pass campsites down to a grassy meadow. We found one puddle among the bunch that was at least 1/2 ft deep. It had clear, cool water. These will probably be no more than mud-puddles very soon. Glacier Pass to Grasshopper Pass - saw no water near the trail after the snow-melt puddles at Glacier Pass. Grasshopper Pass to Hart's Pass - there is a very good source of water below a trail side campsite in a basin on the East flank of Tatie Peak (about a mile beyond Grasshopper Pass). I saw no other water near the trail before or on the way up to Hart's pass. Hart's pass to Windy Pass - A strong trickle crossed the PCT about 1/3 of a mile beyond Hart's pass. Though the Green Trails map shows a few ""permanent"" streams touching or near the PCT as it traverses the Southwest side of Slate Peak, we saw no water. We spent the night at Windy Pass, and found water about a 1/3rd of a mile down a miner's jeep-trail heading Southwest from the pass. Green Trails maps: Pasayten Peak, Jack Mountain ----------------------------------------------- Windy Pass to Goat Lakes & Wilson Camp - Continuing just beyond Windy Pass (less than a half-mile North, past a couple of corridors of larches and a scree slope) you reach a strong trickle crossing the PCT and just beyond that, some very nice campsites at Windy Basin. The proximity of the stream makes this a great place to camp (look above the trail for premium spots). After this campsite you go up and over a shoulder/ridge on the Northeast side of Tamarack Peak, and there is a campsite on the far side above a lovely basin (Oregon Creek) but we didn't see appreciable water. We saw no water from the stream at Windy Basin through Shaw Creek, but Shaw Creek had a strong flow. Then again no water to be found till we reached Wilson Camp, which is a campsite under development, in a basin on the West flank of Holman Peak. The PCT switchbacks East to a large parkland and levels greatly before turning North again to contour below a shoulder of Holman. Just at the corner where the PCT turns North for the contour is Wilson Camp. We found two or three trickles here, all of them meager, and they may not serve as a source of water much longer. We were intending to stay here but we didn't find great camp spots, so we decided to check out Goat Lakes by taking a spur trail across the meadows, heading Southeast from the PCT. At Goat Lakes we saw trashed out campsites; some A**HOLE(s) having left a rusting gallon canister of gasoline, half full, at one of the spots. That'll help a forest fire. We pressed upward from the lower Goat Lake and found idyllic campsites adjacent to the upper lake. Note: if you want to get to the upper lake most efficiently, cut up from the spur trail to the lower lake early-on, and head high. You'll reach the beautiful meadows surrounding the upper-lake eventually. The ridges off Holman Peak are easily accessible from the upper lake and make a wonderful side-trip that shouldn't be missed. Goat Lakes to Hopkins Lake - About a 1/4 of a mile along the PCT past Wilson Camp there was a decent trickle (more than meager, less than strong) that crossed the trail. This probably corresponds to the spring noted on the Pasayten Peak Green Trails map, mid-way along the contour of the basin on the West flank of Holman.(just before the PCT reaches the map's edge). But this was the last water we found for quite a ways. In particular, we found no accessible water at Woody Pass. We'd heard that there was a sizable snow patch at Woody Pass just the week before our trip, but no evidence of it remained by the time we got there. There were a couple of snow patches maybe 200 ft up a steep scree slope. Fortunately for us, we found another trickle on the traverse along the West flank of Three Fools Peak. Fill up here, because no more water is to be found till Hopkins Lake. We stayed at Hopkins and that is a fine place to stay. Beware the bold, marauding deer! Hopkins Lake to Castle Pass - We crossed several strong trickles and one solid flowing stream after Hopkins Pass, as the PCT traverses the West flank of Blizzard Peak. No water at Castle pass though it was reported to us that there is water about 1/4 mile further along the PCT going North. We turned West at Castle Pass joining the Trail 749 (the Three Fools Creek trail, a portion of the Boundary Trail). There's a small meadow at Castle Pass. The start of Trail 749 is marked by a large cairn in the meadow. Castle Pass to Big Face Creek crossing - Don't believe Harvey Manning. The springs in the several basins along this stretch of trail--before you reach the basin of Big Face Creek--are bone dry as far as we could see. A good idea if you're following our itinerary would be to load up full on the way to Castle Pass. There was finally a strong trickle that crossed the trail as it traverses along the side of the long ridge extending Southeastward from Freezeout Mtn. Probably at or just below the 6400 foot contour line. And then there is a strong flow at the Big Face Creek crossing. NB: beware of highly obscured trail once you get down into the Big Face Creek valley, even before the crossing. It is well nigh impossible to find the trail. It's a short section, but it's in worse state even than the part after the crossing that's marked ""hard to follow"" on the Green Trails map. Big Face Creek crossing to Elbow Basin - We saw no source of water after the Big Face Creek crossing till Elbow Basin; the trail does parallel the creek for a ways but no other easy access was evident and it's very overgrown there. We camped in a beautiful spot just after the trail crests the ridge separating the Big Face Creek drainage from that of Elbow Basin. We found a wonderful, strong flowing stream below our camp, about 1/3 of a mile away. Proceed down into Elbow Basin from the ridge top meadows, keeping to the West side of the basin. You'll find an old campsite in the trees and the stream is just 50 ft below this camp. There is a pond in Elbow Basin further below. Elbow Basin to Three Fools Creek - The trail follows a ridge crest above Elbow Basin, and we found no water along this way until the trail switchbacks down over 3000 ft to Three Fools Creek. There are various points early on, while the trail follows Three Fools Creek, where you can easily reach the creek and get water. Green Trails Maps: Jack Mnt & Ross Lake --------------------------------------- WARNING: The 4 mile stretch of trail from the bottom of the switchbacks (way point 2900 on the Jack Mtn map) to the Lightning Creek crossing is RIDDLED w. blow-downs. The trail eventually ascends and leaves Three Fools Creek and we found no more water till the trail crosses Lightning Creek. The trail improves greatly once you join the Lightning Creek trail in the Ross Lake Recreation Area. There was one meager trickle that we crossed on the Lightning Creek trail, about mid-way between the Lightning Creek crossing and the Lightning Creek campground on Ross Lake. But it will likely be gone very soon. Seeing glimpses of Ross Lake from various open spots on the trail as we approached, I felt that I was nearing the Pacific Ocean.