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Bath Lakes High Route
(USGS Downey Mtn, Lime
Mtn, Gamma Peak, Suiattle Pass, Agnes Mtn;
GT Glacier Peak,
Holden, McGregor, Cascade Pass)
July 15-20, 2005
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Upper Bath Lake
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Party:
Matt Burton, Mike Torok
Introduction:
The Bath Lakes High Route follows a ridge of 7000-foot
peaks in the heart of the Cascades, but the ridge is unnamed, little-traveled,
and little-known, so here are some ways to describe it:
- The high traverse stretches from Sulphur Mountain on
the west to Bannock Mountain on the east. For a further continuation, the
crest curves south from Bannock to Sitting Bull and Plummer Peaks, and then
back east to Miner’s Ridge, all of which we summitted.
- The ridge forms a high divide between Sulphur Creek to
the north and the Suiattle River and Canyon Creek to the south.
- The views are dominated by Dome Peak to the north and
Glacier Peak to the south, plus Bonanza Peak to the east.
- The ridge cradles Sulphur Mountain Lake low on its
west end, beautiful Bath Lakes high in the center, and Canyon Lake at its
east end. There’s also Image Lake, just over the crest of Miner’s Ridge to
the south.
- Its south face is all verdant bright green steep
sloping meadows, and its north face is all cliffy rocks, snow, and glaciers.
- The high route doesn’t technically require any
climbing, but it was the most continuously steep demanding difficult
traverse that Mike and I have made. Crowder justly described one of the
meadows as “awesomely steep.”
- Around every corner there’s another steep meadow or
boulder field, but then around every other corner there’s another bright
meadow, sweeping ridge crest, streams tumbling down polished slabs,
sparkling tarns, or panoramic summit view.
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Bath Lakes High Route |
We wanted to make a loop trip, so we came in on the low
trail east along the Suiattle River, turned north on trails to Image Lake and
Canyon Lake, then took the high route back west to Sulphur Mountain, where we
followed the trail back down to the Suiattle River.
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Complete Loop Trip |
Day One
Suiattle River Trail
(1800) to Miner’s Ridge Trail (2800) to Miner’s Junction Camp (4800)
We started with the low end of the route due to fear of rain. The fear was
well-founded. The day went from humid to drizzling to raining to just plain wet.
We had originally planned to begin with the high part of
the route, but decided to reverse our loop and begin low due to rain and
clouds. It rained the first day, and the clouds didn’t clear till the end of
the second day, so we were glad not to be trying to navigate the high
country.
To reach the trailhead (1800 feet), we had to hike the
last 2¼ miles of the Suiattle River Road, because it’s closed where the Downey
Creek bridge washed out in the October 2003 floods. To cross Downey Creek, we
climbed the makeshift ladder from the shore up onto the concrete bridge, which
is standing in the middle of the creek with no approach ramp on its west end.
Then we hiked Suiattle River Trail #784 along the river for 10.8 miles to
Miner’s RidgeTrail #785 (2800 feet). During the first few miles along the
river, we had to go around four washouts. Below we could see the river
running gray with the huge amount of silt that washes down from Glacier Peak.
About
1pm it began to drizzle, and by 2pm it was raining steadily. About 6pm
we reached the 4800-foot junction with Miner’s Cabin Trail #795, feeling
totally tired from hiking in the rain. We made camp and had dinner while
the rain slacked off. Further flurries of rain and drips off the trees
continued throughout the night.
Matt wet and tired at camp, but at least I have tea.
9:30 hours, 15.5 miles,
3380 gain.
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Washed-out Downey Creek Bridge
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Wet Mike
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Camp the next morning.
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Day Two
Miner’s Junction Camp (4800) to Lady Camp
(6200) to Plummer (7870).
We slept late due to rain. At Lady Camp, we
emerged from dark confines of the forest to the wide-open verdantly-meadowed
hillsides of Miner’s Ridge. Plummer’s slopes were fields of bright flowers
amid the glowing mist. Plummer’s summit emerged from wreaths of cloud to
reveal glimpses of the wide wild terrain around us.
Miner's Ridge near Lady Camp |
All morning long, the rain continued to drum on the tent,
so we just stayed in bed till 11:30. Well, at least the 14-hour nap helped me
catch up on my sleep deficit. It was still misty and damp as we headed up the
trail to the junction with the Suiattle Pass trail, and then up to Lady Camp
at 6200 feet.
Here the terrain makes a breath-taking change of foliage from
enclosed forest to open meadows. We had walked through a few flowery meadows
earlier, but here the slope of Miner’s Ridge stood up above us like a terraced
green wall practically glowing in the damp overcast. While we pumped
water, a marmot even came out to greet us.
We set up camp and headed up the eastern ridge toward
Plummer. The lower slopes of Plummer were wonderful fields of flower, with
their colors accented in the soft misty light.
Higher up the peak was rocky
but easy scrambling, with the crest hidden in the clouds.
We were actually
lucky to reach the summit late in the day (6:30pm) because the clouds
began to break up just after we arrived.
Over the next hour, more and more
views opened up: the jagged crest east of us, parts of the wall of Fortress,
segments of the ridge to Cloudy, the summit of Glacier, green valleys along
tomorrow’s route, the shadow of our own summit on the clouds below.
As we descended, the sun angled low across the crest and cast a rainbow halo
of my own shadow onto the clouds below.
After dinner at camp, we sat in the
meadow with our hot beverages and watched the sunset light up Glacier Peak as the clouds filled the
valley below.
7 hours, 5 miles, 3300 gain
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Meadows ascending Plummer
Rocks ascending Plummer
Plummer Summit
Halo on Plummer
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Day Two Map
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Mike ready to leave camp
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Flowery trail toward Lady Camp
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Creek basin by Lady Camp
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Marmot by creek by Lady Camp
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Make ascending flowery meadows toward Plummer
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Beautiful Plummer flower slopes
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Looking up the Plummer flower meadows
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Mike & Grouse in the flower meadows
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Matt near Plummer summit
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Jagged crest emerging from the fog
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Mike at Plummer Summit
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Maude group from Plummer
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Summit shadow on the clouds below
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Mike watching the sunset
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Day Three
From Lady Camp (6200), up
to 6400 and down to Image Lake (6056), up to Miner’s Ridge (6768),
down to 5350 and up to Sitting Bull (7759), back down to 5350 and up to Canyon
Trail Camp (6300)
Image Lake |
We began with a refreshing morning traverse along the
flank of Miner’s Ridge to Image Lake. This was one of the most enjoyable
early mornings I’ve had in the mountains. We watched the sunrise light up
Glacier Peak and left camp about 6:30am. In the cool morning shadows, the
trail to Image Lake angled up gently around wide green curves of the ridge.
Along the way, we enjoyed the flowers beside the trail and the views of
morning light climbing down the forested ridges and deep stream valleys below
Glacier Peak. As we crossed from shadow to sunlight, a herd of deer ran
down-slope across the trail in front of us. The trail traversed up to a
junction with the un-maintained Canyon Lake trail, and there was Image Lake
below us.
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Image Lake lived up to its reputation as a scenic gem,
beautiful from every angle. As we approached from the west, the lake
glowed deep green reflecting the opposite hillside. From the north shore, the
lake reflected a perfect line of trees framing Glacier’s white cone. When I
went in for a swim, the water was a perfect refreshing warm-cool temperature,
and the scenery reflected in waves rippling out around me. Meanwhile Mike
circumnavigated the lake and backtracked to the Canyon Lake junction, so that
he could hike the whole trail. I hiked up the slopes north of the lake to
meet Mike at the col (6400) where the trail crosses Miner’s ridge. From high
on the northern hillside, the lake was a blue gem surrounded by green meadows
and backed by big peaks.
A brief side trip took us to the summit of Miner’s
Ridge (6768) for a grandstand view of the Bath Lakes Traverse Peaks and a
sweeping panorama of the surrounding area: south to Image Lake, the Suiattle
valley & Glacier Peak; east to Plummer and Bonanza; north to the Canyon Creek
valley, Canyon Lake, the Bath Lakes Peak, and Dome Peak. On the way down, a
marmot came out its hole and posed for me with Image Lake below.
We took the Canyon Lake trail in a broad sweep down and
around the head of the Canyon Creek drainage. The unmaintained trail was in
good condition, with the tread missing in just a few gullies on the side of
the ridge. We continued to the second fork of Canyon Creek (5350) where we
dropped our backs for a side trip to Sitting Bull Mtn.
Sitting Bull gave us our first experience of off-trail
travel on steep meadows. Going up a thousand feet on the meadows, we
learned to carefully watch the colors of the greenery ahead, since some plants
gave better footing than others. A snow finger took us to the notch south of
the summit, where we faced a couple hundred feet steep third class (or more)
scrambling and then easier terrain to the summit (7759).
We went down to the trail, then followed the trail as it
climbed back up to about 6300 feet traversing the head of the valley before
dropping to Canyon Lake, which was already dropping in to shadow. Up high in
the evening sunshine, we decided to make camp where the trail was
traversing a delightful region of small streams splashing down curving rock
slabs. I found a small waterfall that for an evening shower
before dinner, and we watched the moon rise as the sun faded.
12:30 hours, 9 miles, 4500 gain. |
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Glacier Peak Sunrise
Image Lake from Miner's Ridge
Miner's Ridge
(Traverse, Dome, & Bannock behind)
Sitting Bull
Canyon Lake Trail Camp |
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Day Three Map
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Lady Camp
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Glacier Peak Sunrise
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Glacier Peak in morning light
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Mike on trail to Image Lake
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Deer Crossing Trail
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Image Lake from east
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Mike at Image Lake
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Matt in Image Lake
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Matt & Image Lake from Miner's Ridge
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Canyon Lake & Bannock from Miner's Ridge
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Miner's Ridge stretching east to Plummer
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Marmot above Image Lake
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Stream below Sitting Bull
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Mike above rock step and notch of Sitting Bull
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Matt on Sitting Bull with Plummer in background
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Chiwawa & Lyman Lakes from Sitting Bull
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Mike descending Sitting Bull meadows
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Waterfall near Canyon Trail Camp
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Moonrise over Plummer
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