Day 3
On
day 3 we just had to hike out.
Another six miles with a little uphill and a lot of downhill. We slept
in until about 7:30 am. It was another chilly 45 degree night. The bugs
were up early to greet us. Our site sits in a spot where it loses sun
early and does not get it until late. Just to the west of us was early
sun and we were in the shade. We hoped to have some sun to dry out our
damp tents before we packed up. Across the way in the sunshine was
another tent. That guy did not arrive until after 9:00 pm the night
before. The sunshine did arrive and our tents were mostly dry when we
packed them up. It was 9:30 am when we hit the trail. We stopped
briefly to talk to the other camper. He hauled up some heavy camera
gear for the photo opportunities.
Our trip through the wildflower fields slowed us down on the way in. It slowed us down on the way out though not to the same extent. Lots of ups and downs at first as we made our way back west. Gary recognized the unsigned path up to Sunup Lake. It is a short steep trail to the lake. We left our packs at the bottom and headed up. There is another unsigned junction on the way up. Stay left. We ran into a group of five coming down. Almost as many people as we had seen in the first two days. Once they went by we continued up. At the top there was another group of four packing up to leave. Nine folks overnight must have filled up most all the campsites.
The lake is not large and it was partly surrounded by snow. This is the main route up Breccia Peak. I did not realize until looking at my photos that we could just see the summit of Breccia from the lake. After a short stay we headed down. Hiking on the south side of the ridge was getting quite warm. Fortunately, after a slog through the meadows there was a little forest that provided shade. Four of the previous five weeks I had seen yellow monkey flower. I had not seen a single more usual pink monkey flower all year. Hiking along I spotted a single stalk with two pink Lewis monkey flower blooms. That was it for the entire trip. After the junction with the trail to Round Lake we met a few day hikers. Most all the way along the traverse we had those terrific views to the south.
I was not the least unhappy when we left the meadows and entered forest for good. The route began the switchbacks down the now steeply descending ridge. We stopped at the ridge top viewpoint of Mts. Pugh and Whitechuck and had to look closely to realize it was not yet Bingley Gap. Some of the Sunup Lake campers were there. We did stop at the gap for lunch. More backpackers were there. The bugs were also pretty awful. Bad enough for me to get moving faster than I would have liked. The trail below the pass was now wide and smooth enough to pick up our pace. We soon caught the other backpackers and passed them all. We left the gap at 12:20 pm. We did stop for some more saprophyte photos but did not take that many.
The end of the steady descent meant we were back on the valley floor and not far from the end. At 1:43 pm we reached the trailhead. The last three miles took as 1:23. Not bad considering the photo stops. I had thought about this trip since I picked up my first 101 Hikes in the North Cascades book in about 1980. A long ridge walk with great views and a series of lakes. What's not to like. It turned out to be a bit brushier than most trails but fully delivered on the views and meadows. Hitting the wildflower show right about at the peak was an added bonus. I did not expect large crowds but it was less crowded than expected. I'm glad we made it to at least a good view down on Lake Byrne. I'm especially glad the one snowy slope proved to not be a problem. Last year I only managed one backpacking trip of two nights out. This year I have tripled the trips and doubled the nights before the end of July. Things are picking up. This is not an easy trip but it was well worth the effort.
Our trip through the wildflower fields slowed us down on the way in. It slowed us down on the way out though not to the same extent. Lots of ups and downs at first as we made our way back west. Gary recognized the unsigned path up to Sunup Lake. It is a short steep trail to the lake. We left our packs at the bottom and headed up. There is another unsigned junction on the way up. Stay left. We ran into a group of five coming down. Almost as many people as we had seen in the first two days. Once they went by we continued up. At the top there was another group of four packing up to leave. Nine folks overnight must have filled up most all the campsites.
The lake is not large and it was partly surrounded by snow. This is the main route up Breccia Peak. I did not realize until looking at my photos that we could just see the summit of Breccia from the lake. After a short stay we headed down. Hiking on the south side of the ridge was getting quite warm. Fortunately, after a slog through the meadows there was a little forest that provided shade. Four of the previous five weeks I had seen yellow monkey flower. I had not seen a single more usual pink monkey flower all year. Hiking along I spotted a single stalk with two pink Lewis monkey flower blooms. That was it for the entire trip. After the junction with the trail to Round Lake we met a few day hikers. Most all the way along the traverse we had those terrific views to the south.
I was not the least unhappy when we left the meadows and entered forest for good. The route began the switchbacks down the now steeply descending ridge. We stopped at the ridge top viewpoint of Mts. Pugh and Whitechuck and had to look closely to realize it was not yet Bingley Gap. Some of the Sunup Lake campers were there. We did stop at the gap for lunch. More backpackers were there. The bugs were also pretty awful. Bad enough for me to get moving faster than I would have liked. The trail below the pass was now wide and smooth enough to pick up our pace. We soon caught the other backpackers and passed them all. We left the gap at 12:20 pm. We did stop for some more saprophyte photos but did not take that many.
The end of the steady descent meant we were back on the valley floor and not far from the end. At 1:43 pm we reached the trailhead. The last three miles took as 1:23. Not bad considering the photo stops. I had thought about this trip since I picked up my first 101 Hikes in the North Cascades book in about 1980. A long ridge walk with great views and a series of lakes. What's not to like. It turned out to be a bit brushier than most trails but fully delivered on the views and meadows. Hitting the wildflower show right about at the peak was an added bonus. I did not expect large crowds but it was less crowded than expected. I'm glad we made it to at least a good view down on Lake Byrne. I'm especially glad the one snowy slope proved to not be a problem. Last year I only managed one backpacking trip of two nights out. This year I have tripled the trips and doubled the nights before the end of July. Things are picking up. This is not an easy trip but it was well worth the effort.
 Sloan Peak Summit |
 Time To Head Down |
 Up The Snow |
 Another Meadow |
 Nice Views |
 Trail Ahead |
 Sunup Lake |
 Sunup Outlet |
 Mountains & Meadows |
 Heather |
 Unknown Flower |
 Wildflowers Again |
 Gary Leads |
 Bistort |
 More Wildflowers |
 Multiple Colors |
 Down The Trail |
 Better Colors |
 Even Better |
 Really Good |
 Looking Back |
 Switchbacks |
 Lewis Monkey Flower |
 View Of Sloan |
 Pugh & Whitechuck |
 Bright Red |
 John Ducks Under |
 Fat Candystick |
<< Day
Lost Creek Ridge Report
Trips - 2017
Home