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Cascade Pass and Sahale Arm

July 16, 2006. Since most grad students are adverse to getting up at 7 AM on Sunday mornings, I soloed this trip in the North Cascades. The hike to the Cascade Pass is somewhat disappointing (though easy), but the additional 2000 ft up the Sahale Arm to the Glacier Camp are absolutely beautiful. Wild flowers were almost in full bloom now and the views of the "U.S. Alps" are supurb; you can see Glacier Peak, Mount Baker, Mount Rainier, all amid a sea of other peaks. (11 miles round trip, 4000 ft. gain)

Cascade Pass

[A Decent Hike]
[A Decent Hike (1)][A Decent Hike (2)]
A Decent Hike: The view from the pass east toward Stehekin. (1) View back toward the west at Hidden Lake Peaks (left) and The Triad (right). (2) One of several small water falls along the trail.

Sahale Arm

[An Awesome Hike]
[An Awesome Hike (1)][An Awesome Hike (2)]
An Awesome Hike: Hiker examining Doubtful Lake below Sahale Peak. (1) A 360 panorama from near the top of the Arm. Clearly visible are Mount Torment, Forbidden Peak, Sahale Peak, Booker Mountain, Magic Mountain, Mix-up Peak, The Triplets, Cascade Peak, Johannesburg Mountain, Hidden Lake Peaks, The Triad, and El Dorado. (2) One more panorama from higher up the Arm including Mount Baker.
[Wildflower Magic]
[Wildflower Magic (1)][Wildflower Magic (2)][Wildflower Magic (3)]
Wildflower Magic: An enormous field of wild flowers on the Arm. This washed out panorama does not begin to do it justice. (1) Wildflowers and The Triplets, hiking up the Arm. (2) These white flowers blanketed entire swaths of the Arm. (3) And there were some along the hike to the Cascade Pass too (El Dorado in the background).
[Sahale Glacier Camp]
[Sahale Glacier Camp (1)][Sahale Glacier Camp (2)][Sahale Glacier Camp (3)]
Sahale Glacier Camp: The view from the climber's camp at base of the Sahale Glacier: from Magic Mountain to Johannesburg and beyond, with Doubtful Lake below encircled by the Sahale Arm. If you zoom in, you can see Galcier Peak and Mount Rainier peaking above the sea of peaks. (1) A wider panorama of the peaks visible. (2) Me, attempting to read the paper I brought along. :) (3) Sahale Peak and Glacier. Two climbers were camped out for an ascent.
[Ptarmigan?]
[Ptarmigan? (1)][Ptarmigan? (2)][Ptarmigan? (3)]
Ptarmigan?: Or groose? Can't tell. (1) Oops, I pissed it off now. (2) More on the Arm. (3) Leading their chicks.

Last modified: Sat Aug 12 02:33:32 CDT 2006