Forum Index > Trip Reports > Spider Gap to Buck Creek Pass with a Little Giant bug out
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texasbb
Misplaced Texan



Joined: 30 Mar 2009
Posts: 1153 | TRs | Pics
Location: Tri-Cities, WA
texasbb
Misplaced Texan
PostTue Aug 24, 2010 12:15 am 
This was supposed to be a Spider Gap to Little Giant trip, but I hurt my knee watching the sunset and had to bug out a day early. (Yes, watching the sunset--I'll explain that later.) Actually, it was supposed to be a Little Giant to Spider Gap trip but I couldn't find any reports proving High Pass was doable without ice axe and crampons, so I went counter-clockwise to give myself the Buck Creek exit if I couldn't get to High Pass. Synopsis: Day 1 -- Phelps Creek TH to Spider Meadow to Spider Gap to Lyman Lakes to Cloudy Pass Day 2 -- Cloudy Pass to Suiattle Pass to Image Lake to Middle Ridge Day 3 -- Middle Ridge to Buck Creek Pass, day hikes to (almost) High Pass, Flower Dome Day 4 -- Bug out...long boring hike out Buck Creek trail Full pictures here DAY ONE I started out at the Phelps Creek trailhead, where cars were already lined up for a couple hundred yards down the road. There was even a school bus there. How come *I* never got a field trip like this?
Phelps Creek trailhead
Phelps Creek trailhead
After an hour or two of forest, the trail breaks suddenly out into Spider Meadow, which is just as nice as all the reports say.
Spider Meadow
Spider Meadow
But it looks better from above. The trail up to Larch Knob is almost 1000 feet in barely a half mile. Exhilarating!
Trail up to Larch Knob
Trail up to Larch Knob
Spider Meadow from trail to Larch Knob
Spider Meadow from trail to Larch Knob
Campsite on Larch Knob
Campsite on Larch Knob
Then comes the trip up Spider Glacier. Former glacier, I guess. It's maybe 2/3 or 3/4 mile and not quite 1000 feet gain to Spider Gap.
Spider Glacier
Spider Glacier
Hiker headed up Spider Glacier
Hiker headed up Spider Glacier
Spider Gap
Spider Gap
Then comes the glorious view into the Lyman Lakes.
Upper Lyman from Spider Gap
Upper Lyman from Spider Gap
Lyman Lakes from Spider Gap
Lyman Lakes from Spider Gap
Looks like Lyman Glacier is still a glacier.
Lyman Glacier
Lyman Glacier
I made may way over the little hill and down to Lower Lyman Lake.
Lower Lyman Lake, Cloudy Peak, Bonanza Peak
Lower Lyman Lake, Cloudy Peak, Bonanza Peak
Colors and patterns in Lower Lyman Lake
Colors and patterns in Lower Lyman Lake
Still feeling my oats, I cruised on up toward Cloudy Pass and found an open spot near the stream, maybe 150 vertical feet below the pass. The wildflowers, views, and everything else were perfect.
Flowers and views from Cloudy Pass
Flowers and views from Cloudy Pass
After supper I hiked up to the pass and stared back toward Lyman Lakes and Spider Gap as the sun went down...
View from Cloudy Pass
View from Cloudy Pass
Falls between Upper and Lower Lyman Lakes
Falls between Upper and Lower Lyman Lakes
In 15 minutes of sitting on a rock with one leg crossed over the other, I somehow managed to injure my right knee. I stood up to head back to camp and it suddenly hurt so bad I almost fell over. I limped and hobbled back to camp, hoping it would get better on the way down. Then I hoped it would get better overnight. Then I hoped it would get better the day after that. And so on until I decided it wouldn't get better and skipped the planned trip into the Napeequa and out over Little Giant. I was really bummed. DAY TWO But with a little care I was able to continue on to stuff that wasn't terribly steep or rough. I headed toward Suiattle Pass, gaining the first good views of Glacier Peak.
Glacier Peak from near Cloudy Pass
Glacier Peak from near Cloudy Pass
Glacier Peak from Suiattle Pass
Glacier Peak from Suiattle Pass
Then I headed down Miners Ridge to see Image Lake, which is gorgeous, but may be upstaged by the views from the flowered slopes of Miners.
Glacier Peak from Miners Ridge
Glacier Peak from Miners Ridge
Glacier Peak from Miners Ridge
Glacier Peak from Miners Ridge
Cloudy Peak and Fortress Mountain from Miners Ridge
Cloudy Peak and Fortress Mountain from Miners Ridge
Suiattle River (I think) from Miners Ridge
Suiattle River (I think) from Miners Ridge
First view of Image Lake from trail
First view of Image Lake from trail
Image Lake from lake level
Image Lake from lake level
Glacier Peak from Image Lake
Glacier Peak from Image Lake
Glacier Peak and Image Lake
Glacier Peak and Image Lake
I wanted to camp on Middle Ridge (Sheep Camp they call it?), but my knee bothered me so bad I stopped partway up Middle Ridge and spent the night next to a stream (about 5100 feet). DAY THREE My knee felt better in the morning and I made it up Middle Ridge, down to Small Creek, and up to Buck Creek Pass by 11:30 or so, just in time for my knee to be hurting again.
Glacier Peak from Buck Creek Pass (between Liberty Cap and Flower Dome)
Glacier Peak from Buck Creek Pass (between Liberty Cap and Flower Dome)
Close-up of Glacier Peak
Close-up of Glacier Peak
I set up camp by noon and made the command decision not to try the High Pass to Napeequa to Little Giant to six miles of uphill road walking back to the car trip. I would hike out Buck Creek trail the next morning. But I decided to day hike up toward High Pass to see what I could see. Boy am I glad I did.
Glacier Peak from trail around Liberty Cap
Glacier Peak from trail around Liberty Cap
Flowers on the slopes of Liberty Cap
Flowers on the slopes of Liberty Cap
Buck Creek Pass from trail to High Pass
Buck Creek Pass from trail to High Pass
Buck Creek
Buck Creek
Triad Lake and Glacier Peak
Triad Lake and Glacier Peak
Looking over at High Pass
Looking over at High Pass
Mt Baker in the distance
Mt Baker in the distance
Glacier Peak and flowers on the trail to High Pass
Glacier Peak and flowers on the trail to High Pass
Flowers on trail to High Pass
Flowers on trail to High Pass
My knee was killing me by the time I got back to camp, but macho thing that I am, I decided to go up to Flower Dome later that evening. Boy am I glad I did.
Looking east from Flower Dome
Looking east from Flower Dome
Looking south-southeast from Flower Dome
Looking south-southeast from Flower Dome
Looking south from Flower Dome
Looking south from Flower Dome
Glacier Peak at dusk, on the way back from Flower Dome
Glacier Peak at dusk, on the way back from Flower Dome
DAY FOUR Next morning I headed out Buck Creek trail on a knee that felt pretty good. The trail is 9.5 miles of dullsville. My knee felt pretty good the whole way. In fact, I'm pretty sure I could have finished through the Napeequa, but the way it felt the night before I made the smart decision. At least now I've got an excuse to go back.

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Davidą
Token Canadian



Joined: 25 Jul 2002
Posts: 3040 | TRs | Pics
Location: The Great White North
Davidą
Token Canadian
PostTue Aug 24, 2010 7:02 am 
Epic! Thanks for posting!

Warning! Posts may contain traces of sarcasm. Hiking Website: http://members.shaw.ca/karenanddavid/Index.htm
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Grizzy
Yellow Cedar Hugger



Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 1936 | TRs | Pics
Location: Switchbacks
Grizzy
Yellow Cedar Hugger
PostTue Aug 24, 2010 9:27 am 
Great report, great pictures! Hope the knee was a temporary ache

All the birds have flown up and gone; A lonely cloud floats leisurely by. We never tire of looking at each other - Only the mountain and I. ~Li Po~
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks



Joined: 13 Feb 2007
Posts: 7216 | TRs | Pics
Location: Stuck in the middle
puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
PostTue Aug 24, 2010 9:42 am 
Great pictures. You took some time assembling all those panos, but they turned out great.

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yukon222
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Joined: 12 Mar 2007
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yukon222
Member
PostTue Aug 24, 2010 9:58 am 
Fantastic looking trip; wonderful selection (and quality!!) of pictures. Glad the weather turned out so well and you were able to deal with the gimpy knee. smile.gif

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Outdoor Cat
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Joined: 29 Nov 2009
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Outdoor Cat
Member
PostTue Aug 24, 2010 10:20 am 
Towing Trailhead School Bus!
My wife and I were doing the Spider/Buck Loop, and met the school excursion group. When they got back to the Buck Creek Trailhead at Trinity and sent one of the adults up to retrieve the bus, he found that it wouldn't start (not the battery). Luckily, they had a Satellite phone, and called out for a tow truck and volunteers from Seattle to retrieve the kids. The (large) tow truck promised to be there by 8:00pm. Later, after dark, my wife and I were snug in our tent at the campground near Trinity when we heard the roar of the tow truck coming up the Chiwawa River Road, and heading up to the Phelps Creek Trailhead where the shorty bus was parked. It was then that we began to speculate on the feasibility of manoevering the big truck to retrieve the parked bus. It is a very narrow dirt road, and on Saturday there are cars parked alongside the road for several hundred yards. It seems it would be impossible for a large tow truck to turn around or to pull the parallel parked bus out from between the other cars. I wonder how this was finally solved!

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texasbb
Misplaced Texan



Joined: 30 Mar 2009
Posts: 1153 | TRs | Pics
Location: Tri-Cities, WA
texasbb
Misplaced Texan
PostTue Aug 24, 2010 6:05 pm 
Grizzy wrote:
Great report, great pictures! Hope the knee was a temporary ache
Thanks! I think the knee was an inflamed tendon or something. I had something like that many years ago that the doc called overuse syndrome. He treated it with big doses of Ibubrofen. I'm about 95% better now. Headed to Goat Rocks this weekend, with plenty of Advil.

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Bedivere
Why Do Witches Burn?



Joined: 25 Jul 2008
Posts: 7464 | TRs | Pics
Location: The Hermitage
Bedivere
Why Do Witches Burn?
PostTue Aug 24, 2010 7:53 pm 
Beautiful! I really love that area. Did the Phelps - Chiwawa loop via Spider Gap/BC Pass 2 summers ago. Last year did the High Pass - Little Giant Pass loop. Lots more snow still up at High Pass this year than when we went at about the same time of year last year, but looks like less snow in Spider Gap. Weird.

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Matt Lemke
High on the Outdoors



Joined: 15 Jul 2010
Posts: 2052 | TRs | Pics
Location: Grand Junction
Matt Lemke
High on the Outdoors
PostTue Aug 24, 2010 8:59 pm 
Great TR I spent a week there the second week of August and went through all the areas you did except for Spider Meadow. Cloudy Pass and Cloudy Peak was truly amazing as was Upper Lyman Lakes and Spider Gap. Image lake took my breath away with the Glacier Peak Views. You have great pics here. A tip I would recommend is cropping the panos to take away the "stitched" look.

The Pacific coast to the Great Plains = my playground!!! SummitPost Profile See my website at: http://www.lemkeclimbs.com
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ajax
stronger than dirt



Joined: 24 Jul 2008
Posts: 275 | TRs | Pics
ajax
stronger than dirt
PostTue Aug 24, 2010 9:33 pm 
Chainsaw_Willie wrote:
Beautiful! I really love that area. Did the Phelps - Chiwawa loop via Spider Gap/BC Pass 2 summers ago. Last year did the High Pass - Little Giant Pass loop. Lots more snow still up at High Pass this year than when we went at about the same time of year last year, but looks like less snow in Spider Gap. Weird.
Yes, looked like considerably less snow at spider gap confused.gif

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MysteryMachine
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Joined: 07 Aug 2009
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MysteryMachine
Member
PostThu Aug 26, 2010 1:19 pm 
Great pics!

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