Ptarmigan Traverse

This is a high mountaineering/backpacking line I have been keeping an eye on since moving to Washington. It starts in the North Cascades National Park, traverses and bounces on either side of the Cascade Crest before finishing 30+ miles to the south in the Glacier Peak Wilderness covering some of the more remote sections of the Cascades. Because of the significant amount of glacier travel and steep snow I didn't want to do an initial trip solo, fortunately I found an enthusiastic partner in my buddy Kurt. We first looked to make it happen last year, but due to weather concerns we opted for the North Ridge of Mount Stuart instead (that's probably worthy of its own blog trip report). This year we both had more flexibility in our schedules to be able to find a nice weather window. While it has been done as fast a single day push (which i would be lying if I said I hadn't thought about, maybe next time), being our first time we wanted to get a feel for the route, enjoy the dramatic scenery, and just enjoy being out in the Cascades. So we planned for the more traditional 4 night trip stopping to camp at the beautiful alpine lakes along the way. No single day covers a huge amount of mileage, but the terrain is usually more technical in nature (although rarely difficult) with often no clear trail, and lots of elevation change. So route finding, crampons on crampons off, and glacier travel can quickly fill a day with a heavy 5 day pack.

Five days is a relatively longer trip when considering the additional weight of glacier gear, crampons, rope and harness. So I spent a lot of time working through gear and trying to make it all fit into a 55L backpack.

Really the first day of this trip is travel and logistics. Since it's a point-to-point hike we had to set up a vehicle shuttle, station a vehicle at the end as well as the beginning, in addition to driving to northern WA. I met Kurt in Darrington and we drove around to the southern trail head to drop his vehicle and camp for the night. The following morning we took my vehicle north to the Cascade Pass trailhead in North Cascades National Park and got a mid morning start hiking towards the pass.

Cascade Pass is a popular trail head with a relatively full parking lot even during the Pandemic. I'd never been up here but have been nearby for Forbidden Peak and Boston Basin. The views definitely do not disappoint and it's popular for a good reason. Although this was the worst weather day we had all trip, with off and on drizzle, fog, and limited visibility. Occasionally we had windows to see the alpine playground to come.

There's always going to be that national park deer.

Washington has several species of nonnative thistle species that are causing problems. It was nice to see this native species blooming on the trail.

Climbing towards Cascade Pass

We reached Cascade Pass without too much fuss. The trail was nicely graded which was appreciated with the heaviest packs we'd carry the whole trip. We were giddy over our fleeting views to the east, almost funny considering we would almost take the views for granted in a few days.

After reaching the pass we started off the maintained trails and traversed south and east towards Cache Col. The Ptarmigan Traverse has gained some popularity in the last few years and here as in other places we were able to follow faint foot paths which helped with route finding.

Kurt with Cascade Pass behind him.

We lost our boot path on the snow and had to break our own trail in places. Much of the traverse and climb from Cascade Pass to Cache Col looked like this as we follow our maps on steep snow trying to navigate out of the inside of a ping pong ball.

The top of Cache Col was guarded by a pretty gnarly serac we scooted around against the rocks.

From the top of Cache Col we would descend to Kool-aid Lake for the night, picking up a reasonable trail along the way. We knew our weather was going to be improving over the next several hours and could already seen the clouds lifting as we looked for the lake ahead. It didn't take us long to realize that despite it being late July, snowpack levels were more in line with what you would expect in early July thanks to a cool and wet spring in WA. Kool-aid "Lake" was still almost entirely iced over. Lots of snow would be a reoccurring theme for us and offer its own navigation challenges for the trip.

You can see Kool-aid Lake as the white patch in the middle where the trail ends.

We arrived at Kool-aid Lake by mid afternoon and debated pushing further that day, but since we were in no real hurry and wanted to let the weather clear up to enjoy the dramatic views we went ahead and set up camp here. The leisurely afternoon also allowed us to brush up on glacier travel tidbits and review the map and route ahead.

The next morning we woke to one of those perfect WA summer mountain mornings of blue bird skies and inversion blanket of clouds.

With the clouds lifting we also got our first clear looks at the Middle Cascade Glacier. We would end up skirting the edge and crossing way up high near its origin. The sharp steep slopes of Mount Formidable supporting the glacier create some impressive, massive, and daunting crevasses and ice falls I was happy to be avoiding.

The next major objective we faced leaving Kool-aid Lakes was the "red step" which is a dirt ledge you need to ascend in order to get on top of Arts Knoll and regain the ridge line. This has often been considered the crux of the whole trip. As we approached, it didn't seem like much of an issue. There was a lingering, albeit thin snow bridge we could climb right up to the step.

You can spot the ramp which is the red step running right and up from the left snowbridge climbing up the rock face.

Kurt ascending the snow slopes to the red step

Sketchy thin snow bridge to gain the red step

Once we were on top of Arts Knoll it was just a steady climb along the edge of the glacier until we were able to safely cross towards the top. The views didn't disappoint, happy to have been able to wait until we had a good weather window like this.

We stopped for lunch at the pass and took a look at the stunning Flat Creek Basin and Le Conte Mountain with the Le Conte Glacier we'd ascend tomorrow hanging over it.

Our destination for the night was Yang-yang Lakes. Descending down from the pass was moderately steep and took some careful kick stepping in snow, but then a nice traverse around the basin to the lakes. As we got closer we got better and better views of the fantastic spot where we'd spend the night.

Looking back at the traverse from the last pass and the surprisingly pointy Mount Formidable from this angle.

Lots of gushing and oggling as we finally approached the stunning lakes and looked for a spot to crash for the night. The was probably the most scenic camp of the trip. Big views, cool clear lakes, marmot and pika all around, no complaints. 

The next morning we ascended the snow slopes above the lakes and our camp, then negotiated the steep cliff to regain the ridge line. This cliff would end up being one of the more difficult parts of our trip. We couldn't find what I assume was the easy way up, instead we took a steep gully and traversed extremely steep snow to reach the ridgeline above. Would not recommend and it slowed us way down. This would be the biggest day of the trip so far as we still had to cross the Cascade Crest twice and two glaciers including climbing all the way up the Le Conte Glacier. 

The snow ramp and steep cliff to navigate above the Yang-Yang Lakes.

Kurt on some of the steeper no fall zone snow of the trip trying to get up the cliff.

The ridge line above Yang Yang Lakes was fantastic, like the ridge running trail of my dreams right along the base of Le Conte Mountain. 

Pasque flower or anemone. The seed heads are fuzzy little Dr. Seuss puffballs.

We traversed over and began climbing the Le Conte Glacier with views of the superbly blue Le Conte Lake below us. I kept looking for an easy way to get to the lake. I was still looking when we left.

The clear warm weather we had planned for had definitely arrived. And on a glacier, not only is there no where to hide from the sun, but it reflects from all directions and we are just that much closer to it in the alpine.The sun was unrelenting. We applied sunscreen 7+ times a day and still burned.

Quick rest and cool off on the Le Conte Glacier

Subtlety pointing out the dangerous things

We finally reached the top of the Le Conte Glacier and skirted the ridgeline until dropping back west of the crest to get our first views of the absolutely massive South Cascade Glacier.

All smiles

Fortunately the crossing was pretty straight forward, gentle, and quick as we traversed under Lizard Mountain and scooted across the top of the glacier to the next pass and White Rock Lakes. The lakes were our destination for the night but the tricky slopes getting down to them would take some time. It was about a 1/4 of a kilometer and 1,100 feet. More importantly this was our first glance at our last significant alpine objective for the trip. Tomorrow we would ascend to and climb up and across the Dana Glacier to Spire Point, and from this vantage it looked significant. 

The route from the lakes drops down into the basin and then ascends the glacier on the right hand side to the pointed rock in the upper right hand corner. Looks steep, right?

White Rock Lakes is frequently a lay-over spot for a lot of groups whith its gorgeous views and stunning lakes asking for a dip. But as we saw with Kool-aid Lake, this late lingering snowpack meant they were still mostly iced over for us (and super cold). The significant July snow also meant accessing the Dana Glacier tomorrow could be more challenging than anticipated.

Kurt and I spent a lot of time that evening staring at the slope trying to find the path of least resistance. Partly due to fatigue from a long day, we were less than enthusiastic about the extra challenges below the glacier from the lingering snow. Spire point is the super pointy rock right in the middle and our destination for the next day.

About this time of day, while I was staring at the Dana Glacier I turned around and had to sprint across camp to take my hat out of the mouth of a marmot. She was licking it like a popsicle trying to get at the salts from my sweat. I got my hat back and she and I exchanged a few unpleasantries before I stuck the hat in my tent. This was also the only camp where we spotted a mountain goat high on the cliffs above us. 

That evening the sky put on a little show

After a good night's rest Kurt and I were feeling better about our prospects for the day. Maybe the slopes didn't look that much steeper in the morning, or we had to remind ourselves that we could run this in a day if we wanted to, or remembering forward is the only real option anyway. Regardless we packed up and descended into the basin to try and find a way to access the Dana Glacier and Spire Point.

As we traversed around and the angle on the slopes changed, it started to look much more manageable. Lingering snowfields and all. The traverse over was beautiful with all the waterfalls draining the upper slopes. But the steep aspect meant we did a lot of crampon on/off shuffling.

Crossing this stream on the snow bridge might have been one of the more dangerous things we did all trip. It had collapsed above and was just a matter of time before the rest collapsed. I just didn't want to be on and get washed under the snow pack below us when it did. The safest thing to do was just go fast and get off it.

Found this friendly looking gully and starting scrambling up. There was a boulder that was a little challenging to work around with a full pack, but for the most part a straightforward path to the snow.

Once we were back on the glacier it was just a steady uphill drudge to the top and Spire Point. Having found a reasonable way to access and ascend the Dana Glacier we just enjoyed the climb.

Finally at the pass above the Dana Glacier looking at Spire Point behind and north of us

Looking down from the pass towards the Bachelor Creek drainage which would lead us back to the vehicles tomorrow. The flower is Jacob's Ladder a native alpine species. Super pretty, but wicked stinky. The bees and flies seemed to like it though.

We made our way down the steep snow slopes, glissading at times on the sun softened snow. Itswoot ridge and Cub Lake below us are popular places to camp at this point in the traverse. We opted to keep going to make our final hike out shorter the last day.

This is why you go to the mountains with Kurt (sound on)

Below the snowline the water was running down the mountain from all directions. It was even bubbling up from the rocks on the small ridges above the adjacent streams creating these delicious alpine water fountains. 

On top of Itswoot Ridge looking at Glacier Peak in the distance.

Cub lake was well below snowline but still just melting out.

We pushed further down the Bachelor Creek drainage before finding a flat spot to camp for the last night. I'm glad we decided to keep going. Cub Lake and Itswoot Ridge were lovely but shortening the last day when flip flops and non-dehydrated food are waiting is tough to compete with.

I didn't take much if any photos the last day as we bushwhacked through willows and slide alder (I lost a snickers somewhere in that slide alder thicket!) and finished off the last deceivingly long miles to the car on maintained trails. But the traverse did not disappoint. If anything it's calling me back. Not only to go light and faster moving more easily over the terrain, but also calling to explore the peaks more. We didn't stop and climb any of the mountains we passed. Heck I'd almost do it again just to have an opportunity to slide down the snow slopes into a melted out White Rock Lake. Always more to see and experience in the Cascades.