Glacier Peak is one of the less famous volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest and the biggest reason is probably inaccessibility. It is the most isolated and the most active of them all. There isn’t a neatly paved road that reaches the foot of the mountain like Mount Rainier or Mount St.Helens. There also isn’t a visitor center with friendly rangers to guide you or a nice restaurant that serves burgers and pizza. The mountain is hardly ever visible from nearby cities or highways – it is covert, tucked deep behind several layers of mountains of the Central Cascades. We first saw the peak after 11 miles of hiking and a gruesome 5000 feet of ascent, and what we saw left us picking up our jaws from the ground. This trip was my first taste of the beauty Glacier Peak Wilderness had to offer. I was sure - if heaven were real, it would look like this.
The trail started through a dense forest with gently rolling terrain, gaining about a thousand feet over 6 miles. Our legs were fresh, and we completed this section before we knew it. The next part of the trail would be the steepest - gaining 3000ft in 3 miles, and most of it was without any tree cover. Partly cloudy days are a blessing when you have a long slog ahead of you and a 32 pound pack on your back. You miss out on some views, but hey, clouds make the heat tolerable (coming from a true Seattle-ite). Only towards the end of this section did the beauty of the place start revealing itself - these were the lushest meadows I had ever seen! If you zoom into this picture, each pixel on the mountain side would be a wildflower!
For more than two miles, we walked through what felt like a 'wildflower bouquet' (phrase and title of this blogpost courtesy my friend Dipti - thanks for coming along and tolerating the 27 mile slog). This section was along the Pacific Crest Trail and was the most beautiful part of our hike.
Something about this reminded me of Switzerland. Lush green mountain sides with snowcapped peaks in the background - that is the most Swiss landscape possible. I even found a Matterhorn look-alike: Sloan Peak. Don't believe me? Here's proof - Sloan Peak on the left and the Matterhorn on the right.
The afternoon sun scorched us and drained our water supply. We started to get pretty concerned because we knew that there wouldn't be any water sources in this section of the hike.
To our surprise, we found a little stream flowing through the meadow. The ice-cold water was just what we needed to recharge for the last 4 miles until we reached camp.
Finally, several hours after leaving our cars, we arrived at Red Pass - the high point of our trip. A mountain pass is a saddle between two higher areas and is commonly used to navigate a mountain range. What we saw on the other side of Red pass was a whole another universe. The difference in the landscape on both sides of the pass was unexpected. The snow hadn't completely melted, making the scene look like a moonscape.
Two miles of downhill meandering through these heather meadows from would get us to camp. The weather was growing increasingly cloudy, which made us increasingly impatient. After what seemed like an endless downhill, we found some tent spots and agreed to pick one nearest to a stream - it is nice to have a nearby water source when you know you're going to be cooking at least a few meals over three days. I was too tired to make any warm food, so I settled with my cold falafel wrap and some Ferrero Rocher for the night.
It was predicted to rain through the night, so I slept in until almost 8 am. When I woke up, I could hear the raindrops on my tent wall, so I continued to cocoon inside my toasty sleeping bag listening to John Krakauer's essay about a horrifying avalanche on Mount Everest. His writings are an absolute delight to read - his vividly descriptive stories transport you to the scene he's describing.
The clouds was supposed to clear later in the morning, but we were completely socked in and could hardly see more than 20 feet away. As we waited for better weather, my friends were kind enough to share their luxurious bread and omelet lunch with me. I took a stroll around camp, appreciating the wildflowers. I had planned to attempt a 10 mile loop exploring the White Chuck basin, but that no longer seemed possible.
Finally, at about 4 pm, visibility improved, and we started to see patches of blue sky! We got very excited and set out to explore the meadows and a distant waterfall we could hear from camp. We bushwhacked, crossed streams, questioned our choice of route several times, and suddenly found ourselves in what seemed like an explosion of wildflowers. We couldn't believe our eyes!
After getting our boots and feet drenched in a river crossing, we found a faint boot path. We followed it and climbed over a small hill. Suddenly, a gushing waterfall popped out of nowhere!
We were the only people there and enjoyed the well-deserved solitude.
The water was coming from the White Chuck glacier in a basin above. I refilled my bottle and enjoyed the 'glacial melt' water directly from the source - little joys of life :)
This trip was far from what I was planning, but I felt incredibly grateful to have spent time in this heavenly place.
After enjoying our little discovery, we started to head back to camp. I was dismayed that the clouds moved in again. I also hadn't gotten to see a single sunrise or sunset throughout the trip. Well, I barely ever got to see the sun! The wet, cold weather had also started to get to me and I was questioning my life choices.
Only at about 8 am on the third day of our trip would we be treated with spotless blue skies. I was thankful for finally feeling the warmth of the sun. We packed up, had some coffee and breakfast, and began our long journey back to the car.
We enjoyed the views we had missed on our way in - the endless layers of mountains in all directions. By the end of the trip, we had clocked in 27 miles and 6500 feet of elevation. The gloomy weather dampened my spirits through most of the trip but when I got home, my heart was full from experiencing the paradise that Glacier Peak Wilderness is.
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