Jeff and I officially survived our trip to the North Cascades National Park! We hiked the Copper Ridge Trail Loop, which was spectacular. I had seen several write-ups about it in Backpacker Magazine, and new that that was the trail I wanted to walk.
Thankfully Jeff was up for the trip, as it would have been a long and lonely trip by myself. As it was, Jeff and I spent six days/five nights in the great outdoors. Our first day was a cloudy/foggy day that spit rain on us as we hiked up and over Hannegan Pass. A mile later we set up our camp at Boundary Camp just in time for the rain to hit us in earnest. Our site, while not optimal for hammock tents, was pretty optimal to block the rain. The rain stopped well before we went to bed, and that was the last of the rain until we were literally feet away from the car on the way out.
The next morning we had a quick breakfast (with some time to enjoy the views of Hannegan Pass and the little valley we were camping in), and broke camp well before our fellow hikers were rousing.
The hike from Boundary Camp to Egg Lake, our next camp site (really for the next two nights) was a short 3.5 mile hike, but it had a good bit of elevation change. We got in around noon, so we set up our tents, enjoyed a light lunch, and promptly took some naps. We woke up and decided to give Egg Lake a swim. At 5200 ft. in elevation, Egg Lake is a sub-alpine jewel. In the sun it was an iridescent green/blue with a bit of rusty red around the edges. It was also (almost) snow-melt cold, which made for a very cold swim. A very short swim too! Technically "swim" is a bit strong, "dip" might be more appropriate. But hey, now I can say I've swum in an alpine lake!
Later that day I walked around the rim surrounding the lake looking for some interesting photos. There were some flowers up there that I thought were pretty, and it looks down on our camp site, almost dead center. Our spot was up on a cliff overlooking a valley headed to Canada, with a snow-melt river on one side and the Egg Lake runoff on the other. I don't think there was a better spot along the entire Copper Ridge Trail goes as far as views and comfortable breezes go.
The skies stayed clear and blue that first evening, with Mt. Shuksan looming (the giant in the middle) in the background. If you look closely, you'll see Mt. Baker in there too.
This final photo (if it zooms in good you'll see what I'm talking about) was from the same spot as the flower photo above, just zoomed in. That camp site was awesome!
I'll share some more photos in my next post, but this should do for now. Thanks to Jeff for giving up some time with your family to come explore the rugged hinterlands of Washington with me. And thanks to Catherine for taking on the kids while we hiked through the wilderness.
Cheers,
Marc
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