The Tapto Lakes Tour, 7.31.15 - 8.6.15, Part 1 of 5
This is a tale of epic proportions and as a result this narrative may be longer than the typical trip report. If you find it to be too wordy, just take a gander at the photos. However, if you are up for a great story about friendships, hardships, perseverance and ultimate bliss, then grab a cup of coffee, sit back and read on as I tell you about the trip to end all trips.
When I first moved to Washington State back in 1991 and began to study and explore the North Cascades, I read about a place called Tapto Lakes. Further research convinced me that this must be the most wonderful spot in the entire Cascade range and I knew I had to go there. The problem was that to reach this spot required more stamina, strength and endurance than I felt I was capable of so the trip sat on the shelf for many, many years waiting for me to get in the proper shape to handle such a task.
Last winter I made the decision that I would commit to whatever it took to make it happen this summer. Once committed, I began to formulate the plan. It went without saying that Neighbor Greg would join me. He and I have covered hundreds of trail miles together and have become dearest of friends over the years since we met. I also called one of my oldest and closest friends, Mike Kent in Steamboat Springs, Colorado to see if he and his wife Sandy wanted to join us. And then the oddest thing happened. One night as I was talking to my great friend Harry Baumgardner who I grew up with and was my best man, he stated he really wanted to come along. This was a bit of a surprise as he had never gone backpacking in his entire life. I wasn’t sure he really understood the magnitude of what he was getting into but I knew he had the strength and certainly the energy to handle the rigors this trip would present so I eagerly added him to the team.
Bridgit is my best hiking partner ever, but she realized that this was more than she felt she could handle and decided to bow out. She’s a tough hiker and has done numerous week long 50 mile trips but this had some very long days and much elevation gain and loss. Sandy also opted out and I think she may have seen this as kind’ve a guy bonding trip which it certainly turned out to be.
So with the team set, Greg and I spent the Winter and Spring studying maps, researching old trip reports and plotting our routes. If there is one thing I have learned about extended backpacking trips it is to be flexible. We had a totally different trip as a backup in the event of fire in the area of Tapto Lakes. This was a serious concern as dry as it has been this year. Plan A morphed into Plan B as we narrowed down our research. This involved changing most of the route from a through trip to a loop trip. Plans progressed and in the months leading up to the trip I hiked over 80 miles and gained almost 19,000’ of vertical to get in shape.
We set a date of Saturday, August 1st to leave. Greg and I kept a very close eye on the weather forecasts for the area we would be heading into. Another big concern was the fact that because this trip would be inside the boundaries of North Cascades National Park, back country permits were required for camping. We were worried that leaving on a Friday could mean that we might not get a permit for the spots we wanted to camp in. I called the ranger station in the town of Glacier and found out that the earliest you can get a permit is 24 hours before your departure so I planned to drive up there at 4 in the morning the day before and stake out a spot by the front door to be first in line to get a permit for our sites. Some of you know that I was an expert at getting good concert tickets and this was no different.
Mike planned to leave Colorado by car on Wednesday to arrive at my house on Friday afternoon. So far the forecast had been nothing but sunny days and clear skies but Wednesday before we left it changed. Now it called for clear, perfect weather up until Tuesday night when a low front from Alaska would start pushing in. This would cause the temps to drop, clouds to form and possible rain by Wednesday. Suddenly our entire plan was in jeopardy so I called Mike on his cell Wednesday afternoon. “Mike, where are you”? He was in Vernal, Utah and still about 19 hours away. “Can you get here by Thursday night so we can leave a day early”? Anyway, to make this part of the story a little shorter, Mike pulled into my driveway about 7:30PM on Thursday evening. Harry was already here from his home in Sacramento.
Once I knew Mike would make it here Thursday night, we switched to Plan D. Harry and I took off to get permits. We were very fortunate and got every site we asked for. Once I had the permit in hand it really hit me that we were really going and my adrenaline started pumping big time.
A very happy trip leader with permit in hand
We spent Thursday night checking and re-checking gear, calculating food rations and packing our packs. The next morning we all piled into Greg’s RAV4 and hit the road at 5AM for the Hannegan Pass Trailhead. This is north of Mount Baker not too far from the Canadian border. Arriving at the trailhead we donned our packs and hit the trail at 8:15AM for seven days in some of the most rugged scenery in the lower 48.
Team “I scoff at Ibuprofen” ready to hit the trail
The weather was glorious. A bit hot at 80 degrees but clear skies is what we wanted. It took us three hours to climb 2,000’ of vertical in four miles to Hannegan Pass. Along the way we passed the rugged ridges of Mount Sefrit. Soon the sno-cone summit of Ruth Mountain came into view.
Ruth Creek Valley with Ruth Mountain. Hannegan Pass can’t be seen but is left of the shaded bump on the ridge.
Greg and I had both been to Hannegan Pass before on day hikes and had gazed to the peaks beyond the pass so it felt really exciting to finally start down the far side of the pass. One mile beyond the pass we arrived at Boundary Camp which is where we officially entered North Cascades National Park. This is also where the trail splits. The left hand trail winds up to the top of Copper Ridge which was Plan B but due to the forecast, we had scrapped that idea to make a beeline to Tapto Lakes instead. We all agreed we were glad we did for several reasons, one of which was it would have been a really hard, long hot climb to Copper Ridge. Instead, we dropped down 2,600’ along the headwaters of the Chilliwack River to US Cabin Camp which is where we set up camp for the night. So our first day was 10.2 miles and a net loss of 600’. We would gain that back and plenty more the next day.
At Boundary Camp and the entrance to North Cascades National Park
US Cabin Camp was a decent camp in the woods but nothing special. Still, it was near the river so we could filter water and it had a pit toilet which is better than nothing at all.
No matter how early you get up there is a lot to do before you can start hiking again. We boiled water for coffee and oatmeal, filtered more water to top off all the water bottles, packed up our gear and hit the trail at 8:15AM. Shortly thereafter we became acquainted with several brushy sections of the trail. I’ve seen worse, but we did hit some spots where the brush was over your head and it was hard to even see your feet on the trail. This would not be a great place to meet up with a bear so we talked loudly and clicked our hiking poles together in the thickest spots.
Did you brush today?
Roughly a half mile out of US Cabin Camp we came to a spot where we had to cross the Chilliwack River on a cable car. This was something I had never seen before. It was basically two platforms with a sturdy (hopefully) cable stretched across the gorge. One at a time we loaded a person with their pack into the cart and then they had to pull themselves across the span by means of a rope and pulley system. It was actually pretty fun and not too nerve racking and soon we were all across and back on the trail.
Harry climbing with his pack onto the platform for the cable car
Greg crossing the Chilliwack on the cable car
After another mile or so we came to the junction of Brush Creek. Had we stayed on the trail we were on we would have headed further north and after nine more miles we would have crossed into Canada (illegally) and made it to Chilliwack Lake. However, we were heading up Brush Creek so we took a right and worked our way a few more miles to Graybeal Camp where we had lunch and filled our water bottles from Brush Creek (best and coldest water of the trip).
Me at the Brush Creek junction
We left Graybeal Camp at 12:15PM and it was really getting hot by now. I didn’t have a thermometer but I’m pretty sure we were in the low 80’s. To make matters even more interesting, we passed by two sets of bear scat but they were both pretty old from the looks of them. We also hit a section of about fifteen downed trees that blocked the trail. Most were pretty easy to get over but one in particular was huge with many branches that had obliterated the trail. Our only recourse was to take our packs off, have someone climb over the tree, hoist our packs over and then climb over ourselves. Just as I was climbing over the tree, Harry is standing above the tree on the trail with his pack on! He had found a way to get around it without even having to take off his pack so his new nickname became “The Pathfinder”.
Along with the oppressive heat and the irritating downed trees, this was the steepest section of trail so far and we gained a lot of altitude. We were all really hot and every time we crossed any water we would dip our bandanas in the stream and put them around our necks.
As we climbed higher, views began to expand and soon mighty Whatcom Peak was towering above us.
7,574’ Whatcom Peak
I finally dragged myself into Whatcom Camp about 3;45PM. By then I was completely out of gas. Luckily there was a nice stream near our camp and we quenched our thirst and set up our tents. Whatcom Camp is only .2 miles from Whatcom Pass so we knew the next day would be much shorter. We all felt relieved that we had made it through the toughest day and that we were literally on the edge of the promised land.
We also had a really sweet camp site that had a commanding view of the upper end of Easy Ridge and part of Whatcom Peak.
Whatcom Camp
Whatcom Camp
View of Easy Ridge from Whatcom Camp
That night we all went to sleep feeling very accomplished and extremely excited for the next day. Day Two was about 7 miles and 2,700’ of vertical gain.
(To continue, read Part 2)