Seven Days in Glacier Peak Wilderness
Day One: Phelps Creek Basin TH to Larch Knob above Spider Meadows. Great campsites here, some with views of Dumbell. A bit windy, but bugs were not bad here! I think this is only about 9-10 miles?
Day Two: Went up Spider Gap, & side trail at Gap to look for mining stuff (didn't find much), then went down to Lyman lakes and up Cloudy Pass to camp. Nice camps below Cloudy Pass with water. At the pass, there are a few campsites, water 1/4 mile down the trail the other side. Gorgeous views here!! Spider Gap was totally fine. Good to wait until the snow gets warm though. I did use an ice axe, but trekking poles would be fine.
Day Three: Side trip to Cloudy Peak, great views of Glacier and more of Lyman, then back to Cloudy Pass to pack up camp, hike to Image Lake and set up camp, hike to Miner's Ridge Lookout after dinner. Fred was manning the lookout.
Day Four: Keep camp and dayhike Miner's Ridge exploring, towards Plummer Peak. Gorgeous ridge walk. I would like to hike out to Canyon Lake sometime and visit Totem Pass and Bannock Mtn, but this is 14 miles RT from Image. I ran up a hill viewpoint after trying to go up Plummer for some views. In afternoon, we swam in Image Lake! Great lake, clear, cold but not icy cold. After dinner hike to viewpoint of Dome Peak and Sinister, Canyon lake etc.
Day Five: Hiking day to Buck Creek Pass. Some of trail leads through the woods, some up high with views of Plummer and Miner's Ridge where we were the day before. Thought about camping at beautiful Middle Ridge, but didn't see water. I've since seen photos of a creek there, so maybe it is possible! But we found a nice campsite with a waterfall below Buck Creek Pass for the next two nights.
Day Six: Leisurely morning at camp. Slept in, had two cups of coffee. Then we dayhiked the High Pass trail to Triad Lake. Amazing!! I really loved this lonely high ridge trail. We didn't see anyone here. If there is snow on the approach trail or if you are going farther than Triad to High Pass and further, you could need an ice axe. Today it wasn't hard. We also hiked up Liberty Cap for great views of Triad and Clark Mtn, and I hiked up Flower Dome also from Buck Creek Pass (just a short hike up). Looks like there is camping at Triad Lake, and you can head down from High Pass to Napeequa River (can be hard river crossing), and then out Little Giant Pass (or you can go up to Boulder Pass..where is that TH again? I've been there). Or you can scramble up Napeequa peak from High Pass.
Read MoreDay Two: Went up Spider Gap, & side trail at Gap to look for mining stuff (didn't find much), then went down to Lyman lakes and up Cloudy Pass to camp. Nice camps below Cloudy Pass with water. At the pass, there are a few campsites, water 1/4 mile down the trail the other side. Gorgeous views here!! Spider Gap was totally fine. Good to wait until the snow gets warm though. I did use an ice axe, but trekking poles would be fine.
Day Three: Side trip to Cloudy Peak, great views of Glacier and more of Lyman, then back to Cloudy Pass to pack up camp, hike to Image Lake and set up camp, hike to Miner's Ridge Lookout after dinner. Fred was manning the lookout.
Day Four: Keep camp and dayhike Miner's Ridge exploring, towards Plummer Peak. Gorgeous ridge walk. I would like to hike out to Canyon Lake sometime and visit Totem Pass and Bannock Mtn, but this is 14 miles RT from Image. I ran up a hill viewpoint after trying to go up Plummer for some views. In afternoon, we swam in Image Lake! Great lake, clear, cold but not icy cold. After dinner hike to viewpoint of Dome Peak and Sinister, Canyon lake etc.
Day Five: Hiking day to Buck Creek Pass. Some of trail leads through the woods, some up high with views of Plummer and Miner's Ridge where we were the day before. Thought about camping at beautiful Middle Ridge, but didn't see water. I've since seen photos of a creek there, so maybe it is possible! But we found a nice campsite with a waterfall below Buck Creek Pass for the next two nights.
Day Six: Leisurely morning at camp. Slept in, had two cups of coffee. Then we dayhiked the High Pass trail to Triad Lake. Amazing!! I really loved this lonely high ridge trail. We didn't see anyone here. If there is snow on the approach trail or if you are going farther than Triad to High Pass and further, you could need an ice axe. Today it wasn't hard. We also hiked up Liberty Cap for great views of Triad and Clark Mtn, and I hiked up Flower Dome also from Buck Creek Pass (just a short hike up). Looks like there is camping at Triad Lake, and you can head down from High Pass to Napeequa River (can be hard river crossing), and then out Little Giant Pass (or you can go up to Boulder Pass..where is that TH again? I've been there). Or you can scramble up Napeequa peak from High Pass.
