Upper Lyman Lake, Railroad Creek, Buck Creek Pass, Suiattle Pass, Spider Gap - Buck Creek Pass Loop & Spider Gap — Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008

Central Cascades

Completed this loop between 8/15 and 8/19. I am not including pictures as there are many excellent recent trip reports with tons of detail and pictures (here and at nwhikers.net). In fact I was surprised by the number of people we saw in the backcountry, many on the same loop. The trip started out hot Friday and Saturday. Camped just below Spider Gap Saturday night. The weather changed and clouds rolled in for Sunday making perfect hiking weather. Lots of snow in the gap on both sides, but temps were warm and it was no problem with only trekking poles. The trail from the gap down to Upper Lyman Lakes is very rough in places with loose talus and false footholds. Caution! Tons of bugs in the meadows above Lyman Lake so we cruised past and up to Cloudy Pass. Spectacular scenery from Cloudy, now my favorite alpine meadow ever. The trail to Image was in good shape and we saw 2 bears in the Image Lake area. Myself and my hiking partner were the only people camped at Image Lake on Sunday night, the only solitude of the trip. Amazing lightning show illuminated Glacier Peak all night and held back the rain. Bugs were bad. Monday started wet and stayed that way all day. We hiked up to the Miners Ridge lookout and spoke with the ranger stationed there. He mentioned some rough weather moving in by Tuesday night with one inch of rain expected. We had originally planned on descending from this point to the Suiattle and trying to ford at some point to get up on the flanks of Glacier Peak on the old PCT. But the incoming weather, a potentially impossible ford, and the fact that the PCT hasn't been cleared in years convinced us to push on in the high country. The trail to Buck Creek Pass was cloudy with only a few views here and there of the volcano. Several groups were camped at the pass. We found a good sheltered spot to set up our tarps and start drying out. Tuesday morning was cold and foggy. We waited a few hours for the fog to lift but the weather seemed to deteriorate every hour. Headed back to the car at Trinity in order to avoid a complete soaking of our already wet gear. The trail back to Trinity from the pass was long and very boring. I can't imagine hiking it up to the pass. The Phelps Creek Trail is much more scenic I'd say, so it's best to do the loop counterclockwise and use the Buck Creek trail as the long, tired slog out. A WTA crew was working hard on the trail about half way down, Thanks!! Met a couple of cool people on the trail and gave one a ride back to his truck and the other and his 2 dogs a ride to Highway 2. My friend and I decided to extend the trip another day and head into Leavenworth for some hearty food and beers. We car camped on Icicle Creek Tuesday night with the intention of drying out and cleaning our gear. That night turned out to be the wettest, and by morning we were ready to head for home. If it rained that hard all night in Leavenworth I can't imagine what it must have been like up in the mountains. An excellent trip which opened my eyes to the possibilities in Glacier Peak Wilderness. I've already started planning my next trip in the area!