Back to Whatcom Pass

A few years ago, my dad and I had made a trip up Ross Lake and were dropped off at Little Beaver for a multiple day backpack. The highlight of the trip was a trek over to Whatcom Pass. When it came time for the day to make the hike up to Whatcom Pass, he decided instead to use the day as a rest day. He still wanted to return to Whatcom Pass, though, so when our first option of hiking to Desolation Peak fell through, there was a natural second choice of coming over from Hannegan Pass. The plan was to start immediately after the Mt. Rainier climb so that Brian and Angela could give me a ride up to the North Cascades while they continued on to have a successful climb up Forbidden Peak. 

The drive was long as we had to wind our way through traffic to get to Marblemount where I met my dad. He picked up our permit and I thanked Brian and Angela for hanging out with me for a few days. Then we had another couple hour drive around before we finally got to the Hannegan Pass Trailhead. It was going to be about a five mile hike with significant elevation gain to get to Boundary Camp just inside North Cascades National Park. To add to the late start, it was raining fairly hard and it was going to be impossible to stay dry on this day. The first few miles showed us this as the trail was grown over and each step brought a fresh stream of water to rush down the pant legs and right into our shoes. 

We met quite a few people coming down the trail who looked more than happy to be leaving the area while we were going in. Some of those were trail workers, so after the first mile we had a couple of miles of good trail to hike on. Yet, the rain did not stop and we had no choice but to be soaking wet on this day. We made it about 4 miles in and the trail became much steeper with many switchbacks. We could tell that this was the approach to Hannegan Pass. After a while, my dad told me to go ahead and get to camp. He was going to be a bit slower, so I went ahead. It wasn't much longer until I reached Hannegan Pass and the trail began descending. Lots more switchbacks brought me to boundary camp where we would pass the night. 

I picked the campsite that had the least amount of wet brush to get over to. It was nothing more than a flat place with some wet dirt. When Dad showed up, we quickly put up the tent in the rain and had a wet meal before filtering some water. After that, there was nothing left to do but climb in my moist sleeping bag and sleep through the night hoping that the rain would stop. Given that it was already 9:00 pm by this point it was time. I read a few minutes from my book about a doctor who in the early 1900s near Seattle went on trial for starving people to death. That added to the ominous feeling of the cool, dark, wet night. I had an okay, but somewhat uncomfortable night's sleep. When I awoke in the morning, the rain had not abated. It is often that you climb into a tent in the Northwest and it starts raining or that you get in raining and come out to the dry. It is less often that I have been on a trip where it started out raining and continued through the night into the next day. 

 So we took our soggy selves and began the trek again. This time we were slowly descending through the forest high above the Chilliwack River. It was a mostly forested path with breaks along the way that gave us views of the peaks above and also places like Hell's Gorge and Easy Creek. As the day went on the rain began to dissipate as expected and there were also places where the trail was in much better shape given that there was a trail crew working on brushing the trail between the campsites of Copper Creek and U.S. Cabin. I wondered why it was called U.S. Cabin given that there was no cabin in sight. 

Within a mile of U.S. Cabin there was supposed to be a cable car that helped us cross the river. Instead, we found just a river. Figuring that we had missed the sign for the cable car, we were stuck with the choice of going back or crossing the river. We chose to cross the river. My dad chose a place upstream that looked a bit too sporty for me. He struggled with footing as the water was above his knees. I chose a place downstream that was a little bit better, but still took a significant amount of focus to keep my footing. It was a bit sportier than I was hoping for and now everything that had the time to dry out was now soaked again. 

We continued for one more mile until we ran into the junction of the Chilliwack Trail and Brush Creek. We saw the only other backpacker that day on the bridge and then the rest of his group after that. They were on the Copper Ridge loop and the info was that there was still a lot of snow up there. We continued on and our plan was to make it up to Whatcom Pass on this night which was another 5.4 miles up the Brush Creek trail with a large elevation gain. Dad said that we should split up because he was going to be slower on the uphill. I was glad to go for a while on my own so that I could move a bit quicker. 

Unfortunately the quick moving did not last for long as the name Brush Creek was applied for a specific reason that did not have to do with the first explorer losing their toothbrush there. The trail had not been cleared for the year. There were trees down, but mostly there was just an overgrowth of brush. At one point I had to stop and take a picture as the small dent in the large ferns was the only path through the immensity of brush. I figured it would be easy to lose the trail and I also figured that I should probably wait for my dad. I sat down, read my book, and waited for an extended period of time. 

As I was sitting there, who should come wandering from the other direction, but a black bear. He took one look at me and slowly turned around and went the other direction. Still, he was going my way, so he walked around me about 15 feet off the trail, took a good whiff, and loped his way around until coming back on to the trail on the other side of me. Of course I was a bit agitated by this series of events, so when Dad showed up a few minutes later, I was happy to see that he was unmolested by our new friend. We continued up the trail together before deciding to call it a day at the Graybeal Camp. We were encouraged to make this decision after the trail was completely washed out just above the massively brushy section. It took us a good amount of time to both fight the downed trees in the washout and to find the trail on the other side. When we made it to Graybeal it seemed like few people had camped here but that many used to camp there. We had a choice site by the creek where we were able to hang our wet clothes out to dry. We spent the rest of the day reading and playing cribbage. It was a nice place and I was happy to take the evening to rest up here. We even had a visit from a ranger who luckily for us was kind enough to change our permit for us. 

The next day we would actually make the trip up to Whatcom Pass. The trail actually got much better after after Graybeal camp with only a few down trees and a bit of brush. It was still going to be a long haul uphill, but we were able to do it without full packs on. There were many small waterfalls and water crossings along the way as the views to the mountains above continued to improve with each step. Dad and I hiked together all the way to the pass. We checked out the campsite that we would have had which would have been a great spot and then up to Whatcom Pass proper with views of Mt. Challenger and Whatcom Peak. 
All the way, I looked at all the mountains that I wanted to climb and contemplated if I could make it up Red Face Mountain. It looked reasonable and considering that this was the end of the line for Dad, I thought that I would give it a try. At the very least, I was going to try to make it to the Tapto Lakes. So we hung out at the pass for a little bit and then hiked back toward the campsite area where small boggy streams flowed around the lush vegetation. I decided to go up from right here. There was a trail going up right from the pass, but it looked like it led a way from the Tapto Lakes. 

So instead, I went straight uphill and eventually it got pretty steep. This looked like the most direct way from the map, but after a while I had to make my way away from the lakes considering the steepness of the terrain. It seemed like there was a steep rocky face and then another and then another before I finally popped out on this plateau. I headed right for the lakes until I realized there was a pretty sporty scramble to get down to them. I decided that there must be an easier way. Meanwhile the views were spectacular being even higher than the pass below. 
Mt. Challenger and Whatcom Peak were quickly becoming some of my favorite mountains as the glacier on Mt. Challenger just looked so fun to climb. I enjoyed the views and actually felt pretty content with my spot. I wandered to the east and eventually dropped off the plateau. On the way down I spotted a trail and made my way over to it. I wondered which way that I should go once I hit it. I decided that it would be worth my time to try to make my way down to the lakes. The trail took me around the plateau before I finally made it to the Tapto Lakes. 

These lakes were by far one of the best highlights of the trip. There was actually a series of 4 lakes with two large lakes and two small lakes. The trail wound down through some leftover snow, but mostly rock placing me right in the middle of two of the lakes. This would be a fantastic place to camp. I continued wandering until I had it to the farthest lake over that had a waterfall pouring down into it. This lake looked the most inviting, so I thought I would take the opportunity to get a nice cool bath. I did not have to worry about seeing anyone else up here as it truly did feel like I was alone out here in the wilderness. 

I enjoyed my dip and then thought about my original goal of climbing one of the mountains. By this time, it was already 2 pm. It looked like I could get up on the ridge and follow it to the top of the peak, but given that I had already done quite a bit of hiking to this point and it would be rather late when I made it back to camp, I decided against climbing the peak. I felt that my day had already been sufficiently fun and challenging. I instead followed the trail back which led me once again by the Tapto Lakes. I was sad to leave the lake given just how awesome a spot it was up there, but I had to make it back to Graybeal. Besides the trail itself was truly amazing. I followed it past the lakes, up on to the side of the plateau and back down to where I had caught it. From there, it made its way further to the east until it met up with another trail going to another small pond. I decided to at least follow this trail and when I made it to this pond I thought about trying to find my way over to the Middle Lakes. These lakes would once again be spectacular, I am sure, but the route would take me over a steep scree slope, so I decided to bail. 

I followed what would eventually become a rather steep trail that plopped me right back at the pass. I realized that if I would have just followed this trail from the pass, it would have placed me on the right track to the lakes from the very beginning and then maybe I would have continued to feel inspired to try for the peaks. I was pretty happy with my experience, though, and now it was easy hiking down the Brush Creek trail and back into Graybeal Camp. This was the one day on the whole trip where it really was a nice day and I appreciated that we had that to get to the pass. It even felt like a sunny day making it back to camp where my dad said that he was happy to see me because a rescue would be tough to do. I was proud of just how much he was able to do at 69 years old! He, of course, was not pleased but I think we all could be happy with making it up to Whatcom Pass at his age. That is not an easy trip. We spent the evening at camp reading and playing cribbage. The next morning it was necessary to begin the hike out. Taking the advice of other hikers, I was not going to attempt the Copper Ridge loop. Instead it was back the same way which was improved by the trail crew that had been working and camping near to us. Good job trail crew!

Our one exciting part of this day is that we actually got to take the cable car. With two people, it actually turned out to be a piece of cake as we sent one person across at a time. The one on the other side was able to do most of the work of pulling the other across. The most dangerous part of it actually felt like getting off of the platform and climbing down the ladder. Not too much after that, I broke away from Dad as he continued to hike slowly uphill. Our goal was Boundary Camp and after doing the trip the opposite direction a few days earlier, we knew what was in store. 
It wasn't too late in the afternoon as I was approaching Boundary Camp when I got to see the second bear of the trip. This one was much lighter in color and given the recent conversation about the possibility of a grizzlies in the area, made me a bit nervous. I eventually announced my presence and he continued on with his routine of scavenging the meadow for food. This was right at Boundary Camp, so I choose our favorite campsite and then waited for Dad. He got to see the bear also. We were only a bit over 5 miles away, but he was not about to hike out at this point. It seemed like he was feeling the pressure of having to try to keep up with me, but it really did not bother me. At 38 years old, I was just happy to be able to be out here still having these adventures with my dad. 
The next day was definitely going to be an adventure because during the night, the rain kicked in again. We got to wake up to a soggy mess. We got packed up and made our way up the one mile to Hannegan Pass. From there, Dad let me drop my pack and I was able to hike up Hannegan Peak. As far as mountain views go, I am sure it is spectacular. On this day, it just looked like foggy mists. Still, I was glad I made the trip as it gave me a chance to spread my legs and breath hard going uphill. It was about an hour side trip for me. From here, we continued back to the trailhead. There seemed to be a lot of people out and about including a large group of runners. It did not seem like the best trail to run, but it was better than it would have been a few days ago when we started as the trail workers had brushed this part of the trail also.
It was the last chance to truly enjoy the lushness of the Pacific Northwest as after the trip, it was back down to the 100+ degree heat of the desert to spend the rest of the summer sweating. It felt like a strange thought given the dampness and cool mountain air that we were experiencing. We were able to get back to the trailhead and even gave some lucky couple a ride back to the road. This had been a fantastic trip and there would be many days in the future that I wished I could be back in the Northwest even with all its sogginess.