[mbravenboer]

Inspired by chiwakum's Snowgrass report (and apparently not the only one!) we decided to do a two night backpacking trip with friends and both our toddlers. For our friends this was the first backpacking trip with a toddler, and for us it was the first time we're out for two nights with Jake. It was fun to learn a bit from each other how to manage things! The idea was to hike about 4-5 mile into the Wildhorse trail, and then for the middle day leave the gear at the campsite and day hike to Frosty Pass and do something fun there depending on the conditions and state of the kids (Lake Mary, Pt 7161 or Frosty Mountain). Chiwakum was very helpful with advice on established campsites (also thanks to Distel32 and Sir-hikes-a-lot for advice on other trips we were considering! Really nice to see everybody so helpful). On our end, we probably maxed out on space and weight we can carry with a toddler. It would be hard to imagine carrying stuff for an additional day. Fortunately, you can reach a lot of great places with 2 nights out! We arrived Saturday at the trailhead, and to my surprise there were actually 8 cars. I expected to at most see one or two people, but it looks like this trailhead is getting more traffic than I expected. The road is a bit rough, but should be doable for all cars if you drive carefully. There was also a stock trailer at the trailhead, which we later learned was for a group with lamas that was camping at Frosty Pass. The White Pine trail is mostly in good conditions, with one blowdown that is only tricky for tall people carrying a kid on their back (like me). There are a couple of sections that are very brushy (as in you're entirely surrounded by plants), but unless you have a phobia about plants touching you, you'll be fine. The brushiness continues after the split of the Wildhorse trail. The kids thought it wa great fun and Jake helped me finding the trail (which was obvious, but it was fun to panic about where the trail is and let him help). We noticed a first small campsite (see map) below 5000ft, but we decided to continue to the next bigger campsite. The 2nd campsite didn't have much of a view, which was a bit disappointing after all our efforts. We made the risky decision to continue, because we knew that the views are great later (at the wide drainage exactly west of Big Chiwaukum, between Pt 5482 and 5761). We didn't know for sure that there was a campsite there though, and with heavy packs and toddlers every mile is tricky. Fortunately we were very lucky and found established campsites just south of that creek (a bit hard to see from the trail, but obvious if you look around after the creek). This made for a perfect camp (despite some interesting garbage, like a partially decomposed ladies panties, a battery, and horse poop on the campsite).

Green Tralls does not indicate established campsites for this trail. The three markers are the campsites that we noticed. The first one is a small spot and is the last place where campfires are permitted.

Bugs weren't horrendous, but definitely annoying. We empirically determined that generously spraying yourself with Lemon Eucalyptus helps. It also makes you smell better. We brought bug nets but didn't use them. The next morning we hiked to Frosty Pass and also met a few more parties. One party said they almost made it to Ladies Pass, and the other party went to Mary's Pass, and warned us for some steeper snow that they went around. We also met a friendly trailrunner with two dogs who went to Lake Grace and then traversed to Frosty Pass. I'm always amazed what great adventures we learn about on the trail (it illustrates how the trip reports are a poor indicator of usage and points reached early in summer). The approach to Frosty Pass was gorgeous, with great views, some snowfields, beautiful flowers and creeks. The trail is a bit muddy, and sometimes it's a creek, but everything was easy to navigate without doing too much damage. At the pass there are still some nice Glacier Lilies, but at this elevation they are past prime now. We continued on the Icicle Ridge trail towards Lake Mary and decided to split up. Managing 1 toddler is already tricky (when to let them walk, when to sleep, when to play somewhere), and managing 2 makes it harder. Our friends went to Lake Mary to hang out there for a while, and we headed up to Pt 7161. We let Jake walk almost the entire basin south-east of Pt 7161, which was a lot of fun for him (snow, creeks etc). We were running a bit low on time, so unfortunately we decided about 400ft below the point to go back and meet up with our friends. Terrain was all pretty easy here if you carefully study the topo map. The second night the kids slept a lot better, so the way out went pretty smooth. Overall, it was a great trip although I wished we had a bit more time to explore the high alpine area around the Frosty/Mary Pass. Without kids it would have been easy to hike all the way to the pass on the first day, but it's just pretty tough with the heavy load of carrying a toddler and gear. We'll have to wait a few years for making longer trips! Flowers: Tiger Lilies and Red Columbine are in bloom at low elevation, and still some Bunchberry and Queen's Cup. Plenty of Shooting Stars and at lower elevation Lupine is in bloom. For higher elevation it's a bit too early, and for impressive Glacier Lilies fields you need to go above the pass level. Let us know if you have any questions or suggestions about how to backpack with the kids! All photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bravenboer/albums/72157683752952230

Priorities: we love our chips after a long sweaty day

Party size limit sign: I love the drawings they use at the trailheads in this area.

Some section of the White Pine trail and the lower Wildhorse trail are a bit brushy. As long as there is no morning dew, it's not much of an issue though.

Devil's Club

Red Columbine

The moms at one of several creek crossings that weren't entirely trivial

It's a trap!

It's a trap!

Tiger Lily

Tiger Lily

Tiger Lily

View of Big Chiwaukum at our campsite

Preparing dinner

Jake enjoying Jasper's mac and cheese

Jake & Shan Shan enjoying dinner

Big Chiwaukum

One of the beautiful ridges of Big Chiwaukum

Campsite

Jake in the early morning. It was a bit chilly!

We were eagerly waiting for the sun, but this beautiful big mountain was hiding it for quite a while!

Jake & Jasper playing

Approaching Frosty Pass on our 2nd day

The wildhorse trail gets very scenic after the Lake Grace intersection

Group hiking below Snowgrass

Gorgeous meadows with Lupine just starting

Snowgrass

Meadows close to Frosty Pass

Views of Glacier Peak from Frosty Pass

Glacier Lilies

Glacier Lilies

Jake hiking up the Icicle Ridge trail towards Lake Mary

Field of Shooting Stars

On the traverse to Lake Mary the views now really open up with Mt Rainier and Mt Daniel

View on Mary's Pass. This is slightly above the trail heading towards Pt 7161

Beautiful views of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. I was surprised to see the big burn slope (notice the sharp edge at the ridge!). Not sure what year that fire was.

Bigger panoramic views while climbing towards the basin below Pt 7161. Monte Cristos here in the far distance

Snow, glacier lilies, mountain lakes, and amazing views!

Shan Shan climbing up with in the background Bulls Tooth (left) and the Monte Cristo group in the dinstance

Mary's Pass

Mt Rainier

Jake enjoying the snowfields

Interesting rock formation in the basin

Basin south-east of Pt 7161

Jake navigating a snowfield

Jake & Shan Shan crossing a snowfield

Tarn

Mt Rainier

Frosty Mountain

Glacier Peak with Big Chiwaukum to the right

Dinner

Jake enjoying his milk in the early morning

Stick in your face!

Bulls Tooth

Shooting Star

Shooting Star

Arrowhead (left), Howard (middle), Mastiff (right)

Tiger Lily

[goat]

We were thrilled that Jasper got to backpack while he is still 1. He's done lots of front country camping, but we were still a bit nervous beforehand. While coordinating toddler schedules was a bit of a challenge as Martin said, it went smoother than I expected. Thanks to the great community here for the advice on trail conditions. Martin covered most of the trip, but a few other points: -Lake Mary has two campsites that have melted out, but look like they get a fair amount of use. There are restoration areas from overuse, too. -Sorry to the trail runner with two dogs who thought I was a bear at the creek by our campsite near Big Chiwaukum! -We were able to get overnight gear for the three of us in a ULA Circuit and an Osprey Poco Premium. But two nights was tight and three would probably mean compromises on food. It would be great to see ULA or Zpacks make a lighter weight child carrier with more carrying capacity to do longer trips. But that may just be wishful thinking... -Be sure to marry a great partner who is willing to carry out a bag full of dirty diapers!

Glacier Peak just visible

Point 7161 from Lake Mary

I love eating dirt!

"Hey mom, pick up the pace!"

[Hiker Mama]

Beautiful! Looks like a great trip!

[Distel32]

[wildernessed]

[iron]

thanks for inspiration!

[FiveNines]

Groovy to see such small kids so far out man.