Glacier Peak

[jj221]

Has anyone been up on the Schmitar Glacier on Glacier Peak? I'm looking into venturing out to the area this October and am interested in knowing if this is worth considering. My first question would be how far has the Glacier receded, if at all? Does anyone have any experience with being up there in the autumn season? What are the conditions of the scrund? I'm not opposed to having navigate a scrund or two to get to worthwhile steep, hard-ice glacier climbing I just want to make certain the ratio of inconvenience to fun is high enough to warrant the vacation days from work. By the pictures and descriptions in the CAG this route looks like it has some real autumn potential but the photo is probably 30+ years old and what I'm dreaming of may no longer be there. Any advice or autumn ascents within the last 5 years would be appreciated.

[Beck]

How do you plan to get there, schwimm?

[IceIceBaby]

Hi Eastcoster

I moved here a year ago from NYC the one thing I learn pretty quickly is to take a look at 5 very important sites when I plan a trip anywhere in the cascades

Conditions site

Road clousure site

Trail conditions

Forrest fires site

Weather Site

Good luck and I hope that this helped you

[BlackHawk]

You can get into the area, but it takes a little longer this year. Here's some beta from a recent trail report (posted on WTA):

 

Aug 11, 2004 by Jim Miller

Lake Byrne #744,North Fork Sauk River #649,Lost Creek Ridge #646,Pacific Crest (Glacier Peak) #2000,White Chuck River #643.1 - The Glacier Peak Area

We left Seattle on Friday August 6 and drove thru the rain and arrived at the Lost Creek trailhead ahead of the rain. We moved one car to the Sloan Creek trailhead and before we could get back the rain caught us and lasted almost steady for 18 hours or so.

The we on this trip were Dona Snow-Miller, Rose Alfred, Sarah Fansler, Ray Delger and myself.

 

We threw things together and headed up to the top of Lost Creek Ridge. We inspected the WTA work up near Bingley gap and report it looks good.

 

At some point in here I had a conversation with a guy and his two sons who were headed to Lake Byrne. He asked us where we were headed and I told him we were doing the loop and he asked me if I had seen the sign about the bridges out and washouts and such. I told him we had not seen it but I knew Kennedy Hot Springs was washed out and several bridges on the Suiattle but it shouldn't be a problem. He kind of shook his head and went away.

 

That night we camped about 1/3 mile beyond the Round Lake cut off at a nice spot just off the trail on the low side. There was ground water running through the site but enough high spots for tents. We did luck out with 30 dry minutes to throw up our tents and get dinner heated up.

 

In the morning we had about one inch of water in our bowls which had been left out the night before.

 

On Saturday we moved on to Camp Lake. Rose suggested that this part of the "trail' was harder than the up part the day before. It certainly is no walk in the park! The weather was better but we had to imagine the views.

 

Saturday night was dry and we awoke to great weather and we spent a lot of time on the ridge you cross to get to Lake Byrne checking out ALL the views.

 

After spending more time at Lake Byrne we headed down to Kennedy. The upper mile or so of this trail is pretty rough with gradual improvement in tread condition as you decend.

 

Kennedy, the former Hotsprings, is as washed out as all the pictures show. There is camping on the Byrne Lake side of the White Chuck in the trees and the toilet is still there. There is some sulfur smelling water flowing next to the river.

 

We found a log to walk just above where Kennedy Creek enters the White Chuck. At the end of the log we had a short wade off a small island.

 

We found the spring that the cabin used to be near (the pipe is gone). The toilet is still up the hill and there is a camping sign in a tree pointed to the gravel piles.

 

We found the trail that goes south to the PCT and headed up. Soon we came to a new trail with no signs. We went with the new. Soon it merged with the old and soon enough it split again. We went with the new. The new trail goes more east than the old and we eventually ended up at the PCT where the new trail was marked as CLOSED!

 

We headed south on the PCT and soon (1/4 mi.) came to a VERY washed out trail at Sitkum Creek. It took awhile to figure out that trail actually crossed here as it was easy to walk downstream along this mess. We found some logs to cross on. There are lots of logs but its a jungle. Boulder hopping might work. Immediately after crossing you are at the start of the Sitkum climbers route to Glacier Peak.

 

Heading south again we ended up at Baekos Creek where the next big washout is. We camped here before crossing.

 

Baekos was easy to cross on logs and once we found the trail on the south side (its more upstream than on the north side).

 

I need to add here that each of these washout areas are badly undercut in places and care should be used in approaching.

 

So off we go along a trail that has on it a fair amount of limbs and winter debris and a few logs here and there and I'm starting to think about the next place that could be washed out.

 

Its not long and bingo the bridge over the White Chuck appears and its a wreck and the trail crosses over an area of water falls. I looked upstream and Dona and Sarah looked downstream. There is nothing easy up.

 

The place Dona found is below the falls and its fairly easy to climb down the rock slide to the river. There are traces of an older trail near the river. We crossed on a couple of logs, walked up through the trees and gained the trail. The switch backs up the hill are in need of help both in logging and getting a creek to go back under a bridge.

 

The lower Glacier meadows were great and we hiked on up to a place Dona and I had camped about 20 years ago near the cinder cone. And you know what, someone was there! They were the first folks since Camp Lake.

 

We moved away a bit and had a geat evening.

 

On Tuesday we hiked up over Red Pass to the junction with the North Fork of the Sauk trail. The PCT from Red Pass south could use some help as it is loosing its tread. At this junction we finally read an information sign about the area we had just passed through! Just think we may have missed all the fun if it hadn't been raining at the start (like we might have read the sign).

 

On the hill down to the valley floor there is some water, two places in fact way up in the meadows. It was hot. Ray suggested the only thing missing was the devil himself!

 

We camped Tuesday night at Red Creek. A great place to clean up and cool down.

 

Hiking out the last bit we met the first person we had crossed paths with on the trail since Bingley Gap. And you know what, it was George Winters, the ranger out of Darrington whom some of us know.

 

We saw 7 people, hiked about 30 miles and it something like 10 or 11000 feet of elevation change or whatever. Pretty much there was plenty of water. Bugs were low to non-existant and we had a great time.

 

 

Warning flags: Bridge out, Clogged drainage, Trail wash-out, Trail over-grown