The Tapto Lakes Tour, 7.31.15 - 8.6.15, Part 2 of 5

I awoke on day three full of excited anticipation and a bit of nervous trepidation as well. I knew we were very close to the place I had dreamed of seeing for so many years but from my research I also knew that the path to the land of glory was not going to be easy. Under beautiful clear skies we had our coffee and ate breakfast, packed up our camp and hit the trail at the late hour of 9:45AM. The late start was no big deal since Tapto Lakes were only 1.2 miles away which would leave us ample time to get there, set up camp and enjoy our first day at the lakes.

We sauntered up the trail from Whatcom Camp and fifteen minutes later we arrived at Whatcom Pass. I had told the others about the peaks we would see so when we got to the pass Mike saw a large glacier on the side of Eiley Wiley Ridge and asked if that was the Challenger Glacier. I chuckled and said, “Nah, that’s a wimpy glacier! Follow me”. We all dropped our packs and started hiking up a way trail south of the pass towards a small promontory above the pass on Whatcom Arm. As we topped out on the hill a gigantic glacier lay before us spread out over an area 2.5 miles wide and ranging from 4,800’ to 8,000’ blanketing the amazing multiple summits of 8,207’ Mount Challenger. It was a jaw dropping sight to behold. The Challenger Glacier didn’t see much snow last winter so there were tons of gaping crevasses and huge moats where the ice had melted away from the hotter rock walls. Just an incredible thing to see up close.

We also had great views down the other side of Whatcom Pass to Little Beaver Valley and the cutoff to Beaver Pass and the Big Beaver Valley, both of which lead to Ross Lake. If we had stayed with Plan A this is where we would have gone after Tapto Lakes but we changed the plan when we decided the trail maintenance on the far side of the pass was sketchy and that we would be in the trees the better part of the last three days. We made a wise choice to go with the plan we did.

We descended back down to the pass to put our packs back on and this is where I began to get nervous. I had some issues with leg cramps in my early training hikes and this was the section that would challenge those muscles more than any other. I had read that the way to Tapto Lakes from the pass was to climb 1,000’ in one mile to a ridge above the lakes. They said the trail was so steep that you had to hang on to roots and tree branches as it climbed through cliff bands to attain the ridge. With a heavy pack that would severely test my leg muscles so I shouldered my pack, took a deep breath and slowly began the ascent. Sure enough, in short order the trail became quite steep. In places we had to climb up through a rock cliff band but it was actually kind’ve fun compared to ordinary trail hiking. It also turned out that the really steep stuff was truly only a short stretch of the entire route, maybe about 250’ of the 1,000’.

Once we climbed up through the cliff band, the trail opened up into an absolutely lovely rock filled basin and from there on each step gave us ever expanding views of Mount Challenger and Whatcom Peak.

**Greg coming up through the basin above the cliff band**

The rest of the way to the ridge line was glorious. We passed a cutoff trail that led around a rocky ridge to Middle Lakes and continued up with Harry wowing all the way as he sprinted ahead of the rest of us. Soon he was topped out on the ridge and shouted down, “You may as well turn around. There’s nothing cool to see from here”! Yeah, right. When we caught up to Harry we were perched on a grassy hillside gazing down to the basin of my dreams - Tapto Lakes at last! The basin was quite large and had four good sized lakes and one small tarn. Way off in the distance we could see Mount Shuksan which is near where we started our adventure.

We found a rough trail that descended about 500’ through a very rocky hillside until we got to the first and largest lake. We wandered around through the basin seeing many possible camping options and finally settled on a spot near the front edge of the basin with killer views right across to Whatcom and Challenger. We had the entire basin completely to ourselves so we spread our tents out and set up camp (You might think that we spread out to be environmentally responsible but the real reason is that everyone wanted to stay as far away from my snoring as possible).

**Mike’s camp spot with just an ok view. He should’ve paid extra for the upgraded room with a better view.**

We had camp set up before noon and now we had the entire rest of the day and two more full days to get acquainted with the area we now called home. The first order of business as far as I was concerned was to test the waters. We had a small hill next to our camp spot and then a small, very soft grassy meadow which had a slightly higher hill on the other side of the meadow. This hill was about a hundred yards from our tents so we made it our cooking and dining area (recommended distance to keep food away from tents). This was a clause (claws) we had to agree upon when we got our back country camping permits.

Anyway, the dining hill overlooked a very pretty lake which had been nicknamed Lemon Lime Lake due to the color of the water. I was overjoyed that the water temperature was HEAVENLY! In my book, there are three kinds of water for mountain lake swimming. The first kind you stand up to your ankles and if your ankles immediately begin to ache it is too cold to swim in no matter how hot it is outside. The second kind of water is the kind that is tolerable. It’s frigging cold water but is so refreshing that it’s worth diving into just to cool off but your vocal chords shut down, your lungs stop functioning and your body immediately says get out as soon as you get in. The third kind of water is what I call wallowable. It is cool, refreshing and so deliciously comfortable that you can wallow in it all day. This is what Lemon Lime Lake was and I was ecstatically happy about that. Even Greg, who is not a big fan of lake swimming at all swam twice.

We never did see any bears on this trip but we did have a momma ptarmigan and her baby living in the rocks right next to our dining hill. We actually did not see much wildlife at all. Several birds, a few marmots, that was about it.

I think it was the first evening we all were sitting around on our dining hill, relaxing, sipping our drinks (Jamisons, Crown Royal and Ullr) and making dinner. We were being extra careful about the food since we were in an area known for bears. We made sure to change the clothes we cooked and ate in before getting into our tents. We put all of our food, toothpaste, sunscreen and any other scented items in our bear canisters that we packed in. We stored our canisters over a hundred yards from our sleeping area. But Greg made one fatal error that jeopardized the lives of all of us.

HIs first dinner was some fancy freeze dried hamburger from Pack It Gourmet. I’ve had one and they are very tasty. Instead of a hamburger bun, you put the burger, mayo, mustard, relish and cheese on a tortilla so it’s really kind’ve a burgeritto (I coined that). Well the tortillas that Greg brought were too small for the task so his first bite scattered little crumbs of hamburger all over the top of our dining hill. From that moment on we called the dining area Hamburger Hill.

**Harry enjoying a meal on Hamburger Hill. Can you name me any 5 star restaurant with those views?**

Oftentimes when the sun begins to drop the air gets still and the ripples on the lakes settle down. If you are very lucky, the water becomes like glass and you get some incredible reflections of the peaks in the lakes. On our first night after dinner we grabbed cameras and wandered to the lake shore but the breeze never quite died down for mirror shots. It was still a sensational evening with very comfortable temperatures, no bugs (more on this later) and scenery equal or better than any I have ever seen in my life and that’s saying a lot.

Another very special phenomenon in the mountains is something called alpenglow. This occurs after the sun has seemingly set and then light appears on the mountain, reflected off something in the atmosphere like a cloud, often in deep shades of orange, red or purple. On our first night we had a really great alpenglow and the Challenger Glacier lit up in an orange/pink glow. It only lasted a minute or so and then faded away as night made its entrance.

By 9:30PM we were all in our tents and 100% satisfied with our progress so far. I had made it all the way to Tapto Lakes without any muscle cramp issues at all. The weather was perfect. There were no bugs! This was the freakiest thing about the whole trip. None of us used even one drop of bug juice the entire trip. I’ve been in the Cascades when we have been chased into our tents the bugs have been so thick. I’ve had to wear head nets to keep the little buggers at bay. Sometimes they are so thick every photograph is ruined because a damn mosquito is on the lens. So I can not overstate the unbelievably good fortune we had to have an entirely bug free backpack trip. I had to pinch myself. Could it really be going this good? Could it possibly get any better? The answer lies in Part 3.

The Tapto Lakes Tour, 7.31.15 - 8.6.15, Part 2 of 5

The Tapto Lakes Tour, 7.31.15 - 8.6.15, Part 1 of 5

The Tapto Lakes Tour, 7.31.15 - 8.6.15, Part 3 of 5