Forum Index > Trip Reports > North Fork Bridge Creek Meadows and Cascade Pass - 6/30-7/3
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drsoc
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Joined: 22 Jun 2003
Posts: 4 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
drsoc
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PostSat Jul 05, 2003 12:11 pm 
We hiked the Bridge Creek Trail from Rainy Pass to the North Fork Camp on Monday, 6/30 (about 10 miles). Lots and lots of bear scat on the trail. We think we heard a bear somewhere in the woods, snorting and breaking through the brush. Pretty easy trail, mostly flat or downhill with no difficult creek crossings. The suspension bridge across Maple Creek was a little exciting for me, though. Nice views, too. It took us a while to figure out that the North Fork Camp was not where the trail splits to go into the North Fork Basin, but < 1/2 mile down by the river. Nice campsite with a bear wire. We camped there for 2 nights and didn't see a single soul. up.gif On 7/1, we day-hiked into the North Fork basin (14 miles round trip) with awesome views of the mountains. The first part of the trail is in forest and overgrown brushy areas, but then opens up to stunning views and alpine meadows. It was pretty hot out in the open. Saw several marmots. Nice wildflowers and lots of butterflies, too. A tiny bit of snow only at the end of the trail. Abolutely beautiful and we had it all to ourselves. Here also, lots of bear scat on the trail. And finally, almost fell over a bear in one of the brushy sections of the trail. We backed off immediately and talked quietly. The bear went off into the brush and didn't seem too disturbed. On 7/2, we hiked back out to Rainy Pass, now much of the trail was uphill and tired us more than expected. Stopped to look at Liberty Bell, which got my climber friend very, very excited. Drove to the Cascade Pass trailhead and camped at Johannesburg camp that night. We ran into a nice British couple at the parking lot who told us about the stunning views from the pass and shared their water with us. Thank you! Johannesburg camp is along the side of the hill and takes a little bit of hiking along muddy trails to get to. But the view from the pit toilet down the valley is first-class! Heard ice and rock falls off Johannesburg mountain all night. Impressive! Hiked up to Cascade Pass on 7/3. Why so many switchbacks? It makes hiking up easier, but was rather annoying coming back down. It didn't seem to end. I'd rather have it a little steeper and more direct. But in any case, the views from the upper part of the trail and the pass are absolutely stunning! What an awesome alpine scenery! In the morning, we were there by ourselves, but later found lots of people on top of the pass in shorts and sneakers and nothing else. There is still snow on the upper parts of the trail, but relatively easy to go across. We went down into Peltin basin towards Horseshow Basin. The snow at the upper part of the basin, just below the pass, made trail finding somewhat difficult, but after some scrambling across rocks, bushes, and snow and some glissading (Got to use my ice axe for the first time! up.gif ) we found it again and hiked toward Horseshow Basin, but turned around pretty soon (after lunch on the trail) since it went down pretty steeply and we didn't want to have to come up all the way again. We turned around (maybe after 2 miles?) and went back to the pass where we ran into more people, a marmot, and a wooping bird. We then decided to go up to Sahale Arm since we were so exhilarated by the views that we just couldn't turn back quite yet. That trail is much steeper and has patchy snow and also mud on it. Nothing too difficult, though. We didn't go all the way up the Sahale Arm since we were already pretty tired, but the views were worth all the effort. An awesome day! I can't forget about the view from up there!

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