Glacier Peak in Eastern Washington was the location for our western backpacking trip in 2011. We flew into Seattle and headed to Wenatchee and a hotel for our first night. Here is more information on the wilderness
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/okawen/recarea/?recid=79427
We did a day hike to Peshastin Pinnacles State Park. At one point we realized we were hiking in poison ivy and Leann is very prone to getting it. She got a really bad case and was uncomfortable for most of the trip, she’s tough.
No shuttle needed for this trip, we looped back to the car
Day 1: easy hike to Spider Meadows
Spider Gap is the low point in the middle of the mountain, we would be going over this on day 2.
First part of the hike was on an old forest road, easy walking
Nice campsite in the trees, easy day today
Day2: long climb to Spider Gap and long descent to camp
There was a late snow melt and the wildflowers were still in full bloom
This section of trail was pretty steep
The last section to the pass was through a snow field
Almost there
Great view on the other side it was worth the effort
Snow field on the other side was really steep
First time we did a section of trail like this and I would not want to do it all the time
Lyman Lake
The late snowfall also meant the bugs were still very active. Since we usually hike early fall bugs are gone but not on this trip. I have never seen so many different types of flies.
Day 3: miner creek trail to Image Lake
Whytes on the PCT
This looks like the start of a commercial
This picture requires an explanation. This guy was going the opposite direction so I asked him where he had camped the night before. He really liked me and believe it or not he is showing me a map and saying we need to see sheep camp. He was holding his map in an unusual location and had on a pair of skimpy tight shorts. I nicknamed him “NUTSACK”. He was nice but a little eccentric, we did check out sheep camp.
Miner Creek trail was awesome, wide open views all around
More flies at camp
Backtrack on Miner Creek trail then turn right to camp at Miner Creek
We got up early so we could see sunrise on Image Lake, this is sunrise on Glacier Peak
Image Lake on a very calm morning
I liked Miner Creek trail the second time we did it as much as the first
Not sure what they are talking about
Barred Owl
Camp on Miner Creek, a PCT through hiker stopped by at dusk and talked to us for a few minutes. He was completing his third day in a row of 26 miles and was going to celebrate with a few M&M’s.
Our destination was Triad Creek for the night but we took a detour to see Sheep Camp for my buddy Nut Sack
Flowers blooming everywhere
I happened to glance at my GPS at just the right time, almost 10,000 feet of climbing for the trip
heep Camp, all kinds of flies here, big and little one’s all over us
We all liked this little creek near camp
We did a short day hike to see what was around the corner then packed up and headed to our next camp. We could not find a good place to camp so we kept on going back to our cars
Once again the flowers were incredible
Glacier Lilly
End of the trail, another great trip out west
HAPPY TRAILS, STEVE