Forum Index > Trail Talk > South of Glacier Peak due to flood damage
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shifty
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shifty
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PostFri Aug 11, 2006 7:35 pm 
Has anyone done any scrambling on Indian Head Peak or hiked out to Mt Saul?....south of Glacier Peak?....we are looking at a weeklong backcountry trip this sept...but were foiled with all of the flood damage. So we are looking to go south of glacier peak. Does anyone have any advice?Blue Lakes..??Reflection Pond..??Going up to Red Pass..??

"Bring it....Dont sing it"
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Damian
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PostFri Aug 11, 2006 8:43 pm 
All of those are good choices Shifty. Wait a few weeks into Sept and you will be in the land of scarlet hillsides and berries up the wazzu. Kick around this site a bit and you will find trip reports covering virtually every route S of Glacier Pk. Be more specific about what you are thinking and I can provide ya with more details and even some secret spots. Its wonderful country indeed.

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Quark
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PostFri Aug 11, 2006 9:05 pm 
Indian Head; go up when you hit the pumic debris on the PCT. (there's an ancient cinder cone on Indian Head). I wanted to do that one again so badly a few weeks ago, but that's when it was hot as Hades out, and I wasn't about to go up there. When you get there, you'll have the "is this one the summit, or that one over there?" syndrome. You can bag 'em both, just to be sure, but it's easier to just bring a map (we were with Gary, who practically invented Indian Head Peak, so we didn't have a map). In a week you can cover everything you mentioned, and all are worthy. Portal Peak at Red Pass is nice. Red Pass itself is worth a visit!

"...Other than that, the post was more or less accurate." Bernardo, NW Hikers' Bureau Chief of Reporting
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shifty
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PostSat Aug 12, 2006 6:40 am 
We are heading out mid sept for a 6-niter....we are starting at Bald Eagle Trailhead. Heading up to the ridge, through Dishpan Gap,N on the PCT....and back down to the N Fork Sauk Trailhead. Since we had 6 nites...we were planning to do a couple of Backcountry Excursions....one being toward Indian Head Peak and Mt Saul, and the other being toward Portal Peak through Red Pass. What do you guys think. What kind of Bear Precautions do you guys take in these areas?? Appreciate it!

"Bring it....Dont sing it"
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Quark
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PostSat Aug 12, 2006 9:11 am 
There are bears there for sure, but that time o' year are likely finding plenty of huckleberries to eat. I worry about smaller varmints myself, and hang my bag on the tip of a bending small hemlock instead. That's just me though, it never hurts to bear-hang food. Bald Eagle trail is beautiful! You won't see Glacier Peak til you get onto the PCT heading north. It's my favorite entry to the area. You'll be walking and tripping over stuff because you can't keep your eyes on the trail, then the trail bends 'round and o my god! Suddenly there's glacier peak. Jimmymac has an excellent pic of that particular view that he posted this past winter. Putz-in-Boots & I were on a WTA workparty on Bald Eagle trail back in 1999, the year we didn't have a summer up there (god it was cold). On our off-day, the crew climbed Indian Head (my pics are film, I odn't have a scanner, but Glacier Peak is in your face when you're on the summit). Here are a couple o' photos of the Bald Eagle trail from the PCT I took a few weeks ago. It's hard to see the trail in the first photo - I like the way the trail bends around the green mountain and a sea of snow-capped peaks slap you in the face (I'll label the trail. Open the photo and run your mouse over the area to see the text).
Bald Eagle Trail as it winds around the point
1 label
Bald Eagle Trail as it winds around the point
This second photo is just another one that shows how the trail clings to the side of the mountain (Trail traverses between the 2 snowfields on the left).
Bald Eagle trail from PCT S
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Bald Eagle trail from PCT S

"...Other than that, the post was more or less accurate." Bernardo, NW Hikers' Bureau Chief of Reporting
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jenjen
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PostSat Aug 12, 2006 9:24 am 
The berries around Dishpan Gap are so thick and luscious you'll think you died and went to berry heaven. Handfuls and handfuls of sweet blue goodness up.gif If you drop down from the Gap just a bit, you'll find some of the comfiest campsites ever. Water up before you get to the Gap, though. The tarns there are really horsey looking. There is supposed to be a spring behind one of the campsites, but I haven't been able to find it. Just take the same bear precautions you would anywhere else. Cook and eat away from your tent. Stow your food in a different spot from where you cooked and ate - and away from your tent. And don't eat in the tent. You'll probably see them around there, but they're way more interested in the berries than they are in you.

If life gives you melons - you might be dyslexic
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WTM
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PostSun Aug 13, 2006 1:09 pm 
I would include Blue Lake in this trip. Take the cut off to Blue Lake about 3 miles (approx) short of Dishpan Gap. You can camp at either lower Blue Lakes of the upper (biggest) lake (at least 3 good spots at upper lake). In the morning, take a quick trip to the summit of Johnson Mt (easy trail) for a great view of Glacier Pk and the White Chuck Glacier. Then take the Blue Lake High Route back to the Bald Eagle and Dishpan.

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shifty
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shifty
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PostTue Aug 15, 2006 6:51 am 
Thanks guys for all of the info...our group assembles from all over the U.S. (Oregon,Maryland,Virginia,South Carolina) every 2 years for a killer weeklong trip and this is bound to live up to all of our expectations. It definitely helps having some locals inform us on some of the particulars....some additional ?'s.....what kind of temps should we expect (obviously you never know!)?....and we are thinking it should be 6-7hrs from Portland to Bald Eagle Trailhead....does this sound accurate? Art Not....How about some of the secret spots...or are they too secret to discuss on the boards? Hope to hear from you guys soon....

"Bring it....Dont sing it"
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Man-inna-hillz
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PostTue Aug 15, 2006 8:26 am 
Whenever I end a hike at our cabin up by Index, I always make an entry into the cabin logbog consisting of a brief narrative description of the trip with a little Tolkien-esque map of the route ("here be mosquitoes"). Last years's songline, from Holden across the south side of GP, over Buck Creek and High Passses down to the Napeequa and then up Indian Creek to West Cady Ridge, has a little purple annotation that strecthes all the way from Dishpan Gap to Cady Pass that reads HUCKLEBERRY MOTHERLODE.

The God of language forgives all crimes. -W.H. Auden
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Forum Index > Trail Talk > South of Glacier Peak due to flood damage
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