2011 Trips
1
Upper Big Quilcene Trail to Marmot Pass
10 miles of hiking • 3500' elevation gain • 3 nights
We drove up from Portland on Aug. 31st with the intent to camp at the Ten Mile Shelter at the trail head of the Upper Big Quilcene Trail. Getting out of Portland was a nightmare, there was a car accident on I-5 and no traffic was moving so we ended up heading east to I-205 and got on our way, about an hour late!
We arrived at the trail head around 7p, then searched around for a bit before finding the trail to the shelter. We set up camp, cooked dinner, had a campfire and got to bed at a decent time.
The next morning, we tore down camp and hit the trail around 9:15a. It was a Thursday and with the exception of a few day hikers, it looked like there weren't many backpackers yet.
We arrived at Camp Mystery, not our intended spot, in the early afternoon. After some discussion, we decided I couldn't make it to Boulder Camp, another 2 miles up (and down) the trail. The 3500 elevation gain over just 4.5 miles was killing my legs and we had been told the bug situation was not good at Boulder Camp. That settled it for me!
We set up camp, rested our legs for a while, set up my first bear bag (it worked!) then headed up to Marmot Pass, just 1/2 mile up the trail. Our plan was to scout out the area for day hikes for the next day. It was beautiful. The amount of wildflowers was just astounding!
Day 2 had us getting up, making some breakfast and slowly meandering back up the trail, stopping and admiring the wildflowers and taking lots of pictures! We encountered our "neighbors" who had camped the night before and were told the Tubal Cain Trail was not passable due to a snow/ice field. This was the trail we were planning to take to Buckhorn Lake, so we could get a nice 7 mile hike in for the day. We thought we would go ahead and check it out. Sure enough, neither one of us felt comfortable crossing it. It was about 100 feet or more across and just wasn't soft enough to pass.
We went back down the hill to Marmot Pass, met and chatted with some day hikers, killed a bit of time, then went down the Upper Big Quilcene Trail towards Boulder Camp, only to find another large and steep snow/ice field (glad we didn't try that the day before!), which was also impassable.
Our plans for the day kinda got scrapped, so we walked slowly back up the trail, taking pictures, identifying wildflowers and enjoying being outdoors. We decided we would walk up a mountain goat trail to this small mountain to the south of Marmot Pass. First, we had lunch about 1/3 of the way up the small mountain. We continued hiking to the top, where it turned into a flat, alpine meadow with views all around!
Eventually, we made our way back to Camp Mystery where we met new backpackers in for the night. We chatted, hung out, then all headed back to our respective campsites to make dinner. After dinner, we hung out some more, ending the night on a good note with chocolate and wine!
Day 3 had us packing up and heading out to the trail head. It was now Saturday and there were day hikers and backpackers galore! I am not sure how everyone fit up at Camp Mystery! On our way down, you could see the North Cascades through the haze of Seattle. Pretty awesome!
August 31 – September 3, 2011
