[jaysway]

A few weeks ago I found out that my company was giving everybody the day off on 7/8. I had a reception for a friend's wedding in the evening on 7/8, so this left me a little bit of time to squeeze some backpacking in if I could get off of work early on 7/7 and return to Portland by early afternoon on 7/8. Given some strict criteria around driving time from Portland and needing a shorter hike along with our above normal snowpack my options were limited, but due to some good fortune I was able to get a permit for Bear Camp on 7/7. The Mount Margaret Backcountry gets many fewer visitors and occupies less of the imagination than plenty of other areas in Washington, but backcountry permits are so limited that finding a spot can be challenging. Last year I hiked from the observatory to Margaret Camp but never made it all the way to Mount Margaret, so this time I figured I would start from the Norway Pass trailhead, camp at Bear Camp, and hike to Mount Margaret for sunrise. 7/7 There was only one car parked at the Norway Pass trailhead when I arrived in the late afternoon, and I didn't see another person until I was partway down the next day.

Facebook Lake

Norway Pass

Perhaps my favorite part about hiking in the Mount Margaret Backcountry is that views are present for almost the entire hike. The blast zone here is basically accidental subalpine. It's such interesting terrain. Getting to Bear Camp took longer than I hoped because I kept stopping to take pictures. I knew from Sentinel Weekly imagery that there was a good deal of snow between Bear Camp and Margaret, and sure enough the snow started in earnest not long before arriving at Bear Camp. I was pleasantly surprised that while there was a lot of snow in the basin containing Bear Camp, the campsites were melted out.

Bear Camp

I had considered heading towards Teragram or Margaret for sunset, but they were semi-socked in, so instead I followed a trail of some sort out onto a ridge for sunset.

Goats

After sunset as I was eating a candy bar a short walk from my tent I heard a bit of snow coming down a large snow patch on a ridge near my tent. I didn't see anything so I wasn't sure what caused it, and then a few minutes later I heard more snow shifting and looked up to see a coyote sprinting across the snow on a steep traverse. I know coyotes don't want anything to do with humans, but I made sure to shout a lot to let it know to avoid me. 7/8 I woke up partially inside a cloud, with misty views to the north and everything to the south including Teragram and Margaret completely socked in. I took a gamble and decided to still head up to Margaret for sunrise. Much of the trail between Bear and Margaret is covered in snow and very few people must be hiking this stretch of trail because there were no recent boot prints in the snow (there were lots of goat prints though). Traversing across the snow took longer than I anticipated and I barely made it to Margaret as the sun crested the ridge.

Socked in

I enjoyed almost three hours up on Margaret by myself, alternating between taking pictures and eating breakfast. I couldn't ask for better photography conditions, the clouds were amazing. I wish I could will these kinds of conditions into existence. I've been to plenty of more beautiful locations than this with much worse or more plain conditions for taking photos .

I saw a bear up here on Bear Pass

Notice how much the logs have drifted since last evening

[Bosterson]

Wow, there is still a lot of snow up there for this time of year!

[jaysway]

[zimmertr]

[jaysway]