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contour5 Member
Joined: 16 Jul 2003 Posts: 2963 | TRs | Pics
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contour5
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Mon Sep 15, 2014 11:42 pm
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Middle Lake is Magic! Intrigued by TRs from cascadetraverser, Matt and a recent report from OTIUTB, I made a trip out to Middle Lakes. I camped 2 nights at the Middles, had a look at Sublime Ridge and returned via Copper Ridge. It was a fantastic trip despite the long foresty appproach, and some ridiculously wet and cold weather.
HanniganTrail
It was late and hot when I started up the Hannigan Trail with 10 days worth of food and gear. I abandoned my plan to camp on Hannigan Peak and opted to camp just above the south side of the pass. Sunset lit up Ruth as I polished off the last of the cheese fuel.
Blueberries were ripe and abundant along the trail on both sides of the pass and all the way down to the mushroom transition zone lower on the Chilliwack.
WildSign4 Huck5 red1 BrainOnDrugs5 shroom24 shroom22 shroom2 shroom4 shroom7
Crossed the Chilliwack on the fabulous cablecar and camped the second night at Graybeal with a ripping, tree lichen cowboy fire utilising the CCC bar-b-que apparatus.
cablecar1 car5 Bar-b-que1 Fire! Bar-b-que2 green5 Thistle1 DangerousMagic pink2
The views open up nicely once you climb above Whatcom Pass. After a brief section of steep trail the forest finally thins out into a meadowy parkland with superb views of Whatcom, Challenger, Eiley-Wiley Ridge and numerous other high points near and far.
Whatcom1 ch7 TalusCrossing1
A short talus crossing and a narrow treeline give way to further meadows sloping down to Lower Middle Lake.
Yellow5 Purple7 Lower-Middle-1 Lower-Middle3 upper2 Lower-Middle4 Lower-Middle7 Lower-Middle6 meadow3 ch6b ChallengerDetail5 LML91 Lower-Middle11 Lower-Middle12 meadow6 meadow4 meadow7 meadow9 m12 Lower-Middle15 Lower-Middle16 BigMoon4 MeadowDetail4 LML91 Camp3 MeadowDetail77
I set up camp on a big rock in the meadow above the lower lake inlet. The next day I climbed up past Tiny Lake to Pt. 7087 and got a pretty good look at the ridge to Bear Lake/Mtn.
tinylake route2 LEL4 Luna1 EL6 LEL7 UEL8 Reveile1 ChallengerPool1 Luna2 Luna3 peak1 EL9 Luna5 MiddleLakes18 Mid19 Reveile2 Luna7 Bear2 paint6 LEL93 ReveileLake(s)94 LowerChallengerPool9 LML95 OpposableThumbSelfie
Clouds rolled through all day and it was hard to get clear shots of a lot of the peaks. Challenger stayed in the clouds most of the day.
When I came down the hill at the end of the day, there was a bear browsing the creek right next to my camp. I shouted at him and he ran around the lake, from the inlet to the outlet, and disappeared. I wish I had snuck up on him before scaring him away; might have got some better pictures...
After the bear left, I was blessed with an almost unbelievable, seemingly endless 12 hour light show. First; an amazing sunset- followed by the rising full moon, which I shot for hours and hours before falling asleep exhausted and no longer able to aim the camera- then I woke up to a fantastic sunrise that reflected on the lake and ponds.
LML21 Camp-Pano1 tent3 tent4 ss3 ss4 ss14 ss15 moon5 moon11 moon14 m28 m32 SR17z Whatcom5 Challenger44 CT3 ML46 camp22 meadow25 Ch57 Ch58 Ch61 meadow33 meadow34 meadow38
I had planned to make a whirlwind tour of the Taptos on my way out, but I got caught in a rain squall, took a wrong turn onto a shortcut and ended up bailing back to Whatcom Pass where the rain finally stopped.
IndianCreekBridge
It poured rain all night at Indian Creek camp. I woke up with water dripping on my face- went to sleep without putting up the rainfly on my tent... set out a big yardsale on the trail the next day to dry my gear before continuing to Copper Lake. Spent two nights at Copper and climbed up onto the ridge but didn't go much past the meadows. Hung out with Ranger Antone at the lookout and then spent a final night at Silesia camp.
Slesse4 Bear3 meadow42 m44 C15 C18 C27 CLO4 C32 C33 Baker4 Luna56 Hozomeen6 CLO7 Luna57 pond4 Hozomeen7 ss51 C45 pond5 EggLake2 ss52 ss54 ss56 ss57 ss58 Baker-ss59 ss62 sr73 sr75
Great trip; highly recommended!
AnotherDamnSelfie
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cascadetraverser Member
Joined: 16 Sep 2007 Posts: 1407 | TRs | Pics
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Great photos and great trip! I`m glad you got to go to that special place; Middle lakes that is. Probably the coolest campsite of the year for me with the great views of Challenger, Eiley- Wiley in that knolled area. Sublime ridge is pretty great too.
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olderthanIusedtobe Member
Joined: 05 Sep 2011 Posts: 7708 | TRs | Pics Location: Shoreline |
Wow, looks like a great trip! You really got some nice images. I think you got the same camp site at Graybeal as I did. I also had a wet night at Indian Creek. I thought 5 days worth of food was heavy, I can't imagine 10 days. I don't think it would fit in my Osprey pack, I'd have to go back to my old, heavier pack. Glad you got to enjoy that area.
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chiwakum not credible
Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 980 | TRs | Pics Location: Ballard |
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chiwakum
not credible
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Tue Sep 16, 2014 11:11 am
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RichardJ Member
Joined: 23 Oct 2012 Posts: 275 | TRs | Pics Location: Maple Valley |
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RichardJ
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Tue Sep 16, 2014 11:35 am
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Man, I love your TRs and photography work.
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Jetlag Member
Joined: 17 Aug 2010 Posts: 1410 | TRs | Pics
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Jetlag
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Tue Sep 16, 2014 3:41 pm
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Superb TR in all aspects! What a great way to end the summer! Thanks.
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mbravenboer Member
Joined: 20 Oct 2013 Posts: 1422 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
Spectacular pictures! Thanks for the great report.
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PorcupinePhobia Murse
Joined: 04 Mar 2012 Posts: 1002 | TRs | Pics Location: Hwy20 |
Great photos! What a perfect Cascades trip, a little bit of everything!
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cartman Member
Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 2800 | TRs | Pics Location: Fremont |
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cartman
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Thu Sep 18, 2014 1:29 pm
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That's a great trip report, thanks for the fantastic pics. Sublime Ridge is one of the best places in the Cascades.
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contour5 Member
Joined: 16 Jul 2003 Posts: 2963 | TRs | Pics
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contour5
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Thu Sep 18, 2014 3:39 pm
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Quote: | Sublime Ridge is one of the best places in the Cascades |
It looks to be a fantastic walk. Hoping to make a trip to Bear Lake next time. Also, thanks for your TR, Cartman, it was extremely useful. Couldn't find it when I posted or I would have added a link.
Couple of additional items while I'm bumping myself... The mice at Indian Creek Camp are horrendous- probably the most dense rodent population I've ever seen. I was popping them off my boots like hackey sacks while I was cooking dinner.
The horse camps along the Chilliwack are rather nicely equipped with huge tarps over some of the fire pit areas...might make a nice place to escape from the rain, if needed.
The GT map for Copper Ridge is indeed laughably inaccurate- there are actually 13 lower switchbacks followed by a sometimes steep, mile-and-a-half, leftward traverse. Total of 31 switchbacks (I'm an obsessive counter of sharp corners)
The Chilliwack ford was surprisingly easy ( note; Sept 10), with ankle deep water over mostly round rocks.
Thanks for all the nice comments. Anybody notice I got reflection shots of a bear? Not the greatest bear pictures, but I was pretty thrilled... usually they disappear before I can get a shot...
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raising3hikers Member
Joined: 21 Sep 2007 Posts: 2344 | TRs | Pics Location: Edmonds, Wa |
absolutely beautiful! it looks a lot different to me without a lot of snow. i'm looking forward to another trip up there. thanks for sharing your great pics
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olderthanIusedtobe Member
Joined: 05 Sep 2011 Posts: 7708 | TRs | Pics Location: Shoreline |
contour5 wrote: | The mice at Indian Creek Camp are horrendous- probably the most dense rodent population I've ever seen. I was popping them off my boots like hackey sacks while I was cooking dinner.
The Chilliwack ford was surprisingly easy ( note; Sept 10), with ankle deep water over mostly round rocks.
Anybody notice I got reflection shots of a bear? Not the greatest bear pictures, but I was pretty thrilled... usually they disappear before I can get a shot... |
I wasn't aware of any mice when I was at Indian Creek. Almost feel like I missed out. Any salmon still spawning in the Chilliwack? I do see the bear reflection shot now that I was looking for it. Cool image.
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D. Inscho Not bored yet...
Joined: 28 Feb 2010 Posts: 973 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellingham,WA |
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D. Inscho
Not bored yet...
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Sun Oct 11, 2015 8:24 pm
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Sorry I missed this one C-5, you're a a photographic and cross-country kindred spirit. Way to work to find the good stuff, like solitude and scenery. Thanks for packing' it home to share.
http://david-inscho.smugmug.com/
The key to a successful trip is to do the planning during work hours. -- John Muir
“My most memorable hikes can be classified as 'Shortcuts that Backfired'.” --Ed Abbey
http://david-inscho.smugmug.com/
The key to a successful trip is to do the planning during work hours. -- John Muir
“My most memorable hikes can be classified as 'Shortcuts that Backfired'.” --Ed Abbey
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Matt Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 4307 | TRs | Pics Location: Shoreline |
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Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
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Sun Oct 11, 2015 9:11 pm
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Very nice, especially the light show by the lakes. Good to see how they look when they're melted out.
“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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Gwen LO Girl-of-the-Month
Joined: 14 Feb 2010 Posts: 1673 | TRs | Pics
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Gwen
LO Girl-of-the-Month
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Sun Oct 11, 2015 10:05 pm
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Well shoot, another one goes on the list. Great stuff!
Tomorrow's not promised to anyone, so be bold, scare yourself, attempt something with no guarantee of success. You'll be amazed at what you can achieve. -Olive McGloin
Tomorrow's not promised to anyone, so be bold, scare yourself, attempt something with no guarantee of success. You'll be amazed at what you can achieve. -Olive McGloin
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