19 August 2019 Cascade Pass

With advice from Rangers and Authors, we decided to hike the Cascades Pass trail up to the top of the pass. Reviews had said the views were incredible on a clear day. The map said it was a 3.3 mile one way hike with 1700 feet of elevation climb. We drove down highway 20 to the Cascades River Road and followed that to the trail head parking area. The road is paved for the first 17 miles and a narrow maintained (with a fair number of pot holes) dirt and gravel road the next 14 miles. When we left there were low 

Cascade River Road Entrance Sign

Panoramic From the top of the pass toward Cascade Peak

View toward Boston Peak

The bear at the top of Cascade Pass

View of Boston Peak over the Alpine Meadows

View through the top of Cascade Pass

clouds and fog, not a promising start for the desired views. When we arrived at the parking area for the trailhead, it was mostly full but we were able to find a spot for the Behemoth. The clouds were starting to breakup and we could see the glaciers and snowfields on Cascade Peak peaking between the clouds. As we started up the trail the switchbacks were moderately steep, definitely not as bad as other hikes. What we did not plan on was the large number of switchbacks (David counted on the way back and there are 36 switchbacks!), which made this trail seem never ending. The first part of the trail is in old growth forest with several hundred year old Western Red Cedar and Douglas Fir. And it was humid!! Even though the temperatures were not that warm, we were soaking wet from sweat by the time we reached the top. It does not look like this area had ever been cut for lumber. At about 3.5 miles (Yes the map is wrong) we finally broke out of the trees and into the high alpine meadows. By then the clouds had cleared out and we had stunning views of the high Cascade Mountains with their glistening glaciers. As we made out way the final half mile to the top of the pass, the views were incredible. Pushing through the pass, the vista beyond opened up with mountain peaks and glistening glaciers as far as the eye could see. The climb was definitely more than we had done before and it took its toll. The mileage up was 4.2 miles, not the 3.3 claimed by the map and the elevation gain was over 1800 feet, not the 1700 feet claimed by the map. Other than being tired and a bit dehydrated, we felt pretty good. 

This pass has been used by humans for thousands of years to move between the Stehekin River Valley and Cascade River Valley. Archeologists excavated a location at the top of the pass where they found the remains of campfires in between layers ash from volcanic eruptions and layers of soil from thousands of years of plant decay. They found the remains of camp fires and stone tools dating back to 8,000 years ago, 7500 years ago, 4000 years ago, and 2500 years ago. Just the fact that humans had picked the same spot to build a campfire separated by hundreds or thousands of years apart is amazing.

At the top of the pass, we sat down to drink some water and munch on our trail mix. Surprisingly, the chipmunks did not harass us this time. A little farther up the hillside we could see a large brown bear (could not tell if it was a grizzly or not) forging for food. David tried to get a picture but could not hold the camera steady enough with the 300mm lens to get a good picture.

Recharged from the water and trail snack, we headed back to the Behemoth. The hike back was almost all down hill, which hurts the knees, hips and feet, but is not as stressful on the muscles. The trail was very rocky at the top (including a long stretch crossing a talisman field) and lots of tree roots (Root Snakes as David like to call them), so we had to watch our footing. Good thing we had our walking sticks, as they saved several falls for both of us from tripping Root Snakes. We were very happy to reach the trail head (After 8.2 miles, 1850 elevation gain and 2,385 calories burned) and our awaiting lunch (but more like a dinner given the late time). We were exhausted but thrilled to have completed such a beautiful hike.