[chiwakum]

Summary: A challenging and rewarding ridge hike to a (newly) pristine lake with staggering scenery and closeup views of Glacier Peak. Approximately 6000ft elv gain to Lake Byrne and 2000 ft on the return, 24 miles RT. TH: 1800ft, Lake Byrne 5500ft, High pt 5900ft, lots of ups and downs as the trails makes it's way around cliff bands on either side of the ridge. The highlights of this trip for me included (in no particular order): 1) Incredibly beautiful scenery 2) Rewarding (but possibly too easy) fishing 3) Ample solitude 4) New friendship with an avid experienced hiker 5) High alpine lake plunging 6) Prodigious blueberries Harvey Manning (and/or Ira Spring) long lamented how Lake Byrne was abused by overuse because it was "famous" and easy to get to. The old curmudgeon(s) directed hikers to stay at Camp Lake instead of Byrne. My how the storms of October 2003 have changed the situation. It now appears that Camp Lake is the abused sibling and Lake Byrne is the pristine child in the family. I found a fire ring at Camp Lake (I dismatled on the way out) that was 5 feet from shore along with other signs of abuse while Byrne looked almost untouched. My interactions with the resident cutthroat also indicate that Byrne is once again becoming a wild lake (yes I know that the Cutthroat were originally planted). Verbose, mostly irrelevant portion of the the trip report: Lake Byrne has been on my todo list for awhile and I had even considered doing it as a dayhike but ultimately decided that it would be more rewarding (and less painful) as an overnighter. The forecast called for unseasonably warm clear weather mid-week so I decided that this was my best shot at squeezing Lake Byrne in this year. I had undergone a failed attempt at Lake Byrne at the end of July (folied by: 1) 3 hr search for dropped camera, 2) bugs, 3) heat, 4) haze, 5) bad attitude and 6) guilt over missing GoodAgs B-day). Knowing that I had roughly 6000ft of elevation to gain and not wanting to feel rushed to catch the sunset I got an early 7AM start. The early start allowed me to fully enjoy the views that open up once I gained the ridge and left the trees (near the Round Lake jct and after climbing 3600ft). After gaining the ridge the trail meanders up and down and up and down remaing above treeline with peekaboo views of Glacier Peak and ever changing views of Sloan and other Monte Cristo area peaks as well as glimpses of the N Cascades. After what seemed an uncountable number of up and downs I eventually reached beautiful Camp Lake. I spent a some time relaxing and refueling at Camp Lake before making the final 1 or 2 mile push to Lake Byrne. I reached Byrne just after 3PM with plnety of time to relax before taking a million redundant sunset shots of Glacier Peak lording over Lake Byrne. My hike to Byrne included an hour long lunch break and several other extended stops to catch my breath and soak in the views. 15 minutes after arriving at the Lake I was sitting on the shore filtering water and out of nowhere pops up a solo hiker. I quickly recoginized her as BarbE because I had bumped into her earlier in the summer on the summit of Rock Mountain. It turns out that she left the trialhead at least an hour after me and was hot on my heels the entire day. From my vantage point it didn't appear she had even broken a sweat and looked as if she had just gone for a short walk around the block. I am generally regarded as a relatively antisocial hiker but I have to admit it was fun and entertaining to hang out with BarbE while I fished for my dinner and we both waited to capture the Sunset. After a very pleasant evening fishing, BarbE chatting, Glacier Peak gawking and picture taking I decided that with no rain in the forecast and what seemed like little chance for signicant dew (and no apparent bugs) that my tent would make a good ground cover while I slept under the stars. This turned out to be a great choice leading to one of the most pleasant night outdoors since my childhood. The moonless night led to stunning views of the Milky Way and the occasional but spectacular meteor. After a great and unusually warm night spent out in the open under an amazing sky I spent the morning snapping photos and fishing for breakfast. I breifly toyed with idea of taking a side trip down to the obliteratd Kennedy HS but decided that I should save my energy and time for the hike out. As I made my way back around the lake to the trail from my campsite I bumped into BarbE who was also heading out. We decided to hike out together. I suspect she thought she might hold me up on the on the way out but it turns out I was the one holding her up. She politely pretended to rest while I sucked wind and fought back nausea while trying to keep up with her on the long trudge out. I had made a strategic error in the morning with some of my medication that later caused my kidneys to flush my electrolytes (this was a good lesson re-learned, think twice before taking a diruretic while hiking on a hot day). BarbE was kind enough to give me her powdered Cliff Shots Electrolytes (she has never needed them) which helped me quickly recover. When we reached the portion of the trail below Sunup Lake I sent BarbE on a scramble to find Sunup (I've been there on several other outings) and I completed the final slog to the trailhead. Please follow the thread down to BarbE's report.

[polarbear]

Very nice!

[David¹]

[tmatlack]

Chi, Nice shots. I am 2 lazy to get my guide book. How far in? Trailhead? Tom

[chiwakum]

[chiwakum]

Tom, I'll post a full trip report with stats Thur or Fri. I'm in kind of a work crunch right now. But in the meantime: 12 min one-way, 6000ft gain to Byrne (despite what the guidebooks say), 2000ft on the way out. Some people do it as a dayhike; I wouldn't recommend doing that!

[BarbE]

Chiwakum - great shots! It was fun to hang out with you on otherwise lonely Lake Byrne. Everything I had read about the Lost Ridge trail was true. Never ending, butt-kicking ups and downs and never ending spectacular views in all directions. A nice breeze blowing along the ridge on this hot day made for pleasant hiking conditions. And Lake Byrne-what a great place to hang out and watch Chiwakum catch lot's of "dumb" fish and wait for the sunset! A balmy night and best of all - no bugs to speak of! Sometime after 7AM a ball of fire rose behind Glacier Peak. My point and shoot couldn't see the sun at all and totally reversed the colors. Fortunately the true image is burned into my memory. A quick swim at Camp Lake on the way out and later a search for Sunup Lake after I said goodbye to Chiwakum. A few more pictures.

Sloan Peak

Sperry and Vesper

Mount Baker

meandering trail

with killer views

Hardtack Lake

nice camp site @ Camp lake

Ridge above Camp Lake

First view of Lake Byrne

Chiwakum fishing

dinner

great rock formations

reflections

mandatory Lake Byrne..

sunset shot

close-up

last one

Sunrise over Glacier Peak

Last look at Lake Byrne

love those rocks

Sloan Peak

Camp Lake and trail

Chiwakum's firepit cleanup...

...and disposing of rocks

Autumn colors

Sunup Lake or just a tarn

Pretty valley

[chiwakum]

Cool having your shots so I can prioritize mine later. I know you're busy this week so I really appreciate you getting some wonderful pics and a nice report in so quickly. I thought your sunrise pic was spectacular. I am also rethinking my strategy of lugging my Nikon D70 around after seeing your shots. In addition to you having a much better aesthetic sense I think your camera may have more dynamic range than my aging one. Did you find Sunup? I hope I didn't give lousy route info. Edit: I just saw your pic of Sunup. Yep, that's it. And it is just a tarn.

[BarbE]

I'm sure you gave me good directions to Sunup, but I ended up higher than I thought I should have been. After a few too many scrambles and blueberry belays I looked down on what I thought might be Sunup Lake but probably wasn't. I was getting pretty tired and it was 4:30PM and time to leave. The switch backs down from Round Lake took forever and I was one happy hiker when I reached the car.

[pimaCanyon]

great pix from a great area! As I was perusing the first set of pix, I'm thinking what is that big mountain in the background? Then I realize that's Glacier Peak, sans glaciers. Where have all the glaciers gone? It's been a long time since I've viewed that mountain from this perspective late in the season. How was the trail and route getting to the Lake? What kind of hiking times did you have going in and out?

[tmatlack]

Chi,

[chiwakum]

[Foist]

There are a lot of ups and downs on that trail, but 2000 feet? You sure? Anyway, beautiful pics. Good job finding Sunup Lake, where many have failed. You guys had great, clear conditions. When I went there with Kim a few years ago it was so hazy. We did it comfortably in 3 days. 2 days would be difficult but not crazy if you're in good shape. We camped at Hardtack Lake for the first night after hiking pretty slowly the first day, and it's not all that much farther to Byrne from there.

[chiwakum]

[Foist]

You're right, definitely no stroll. It's a real bum-kicker. This report on WTA describes it perfectly (and hilariously).