Thornton Lakes, North Cascades Nat'l Park

13 miles of hiking • 3000' elevation gain • 1 night

Absolute butt-kicker of an intro to North Cascades. The trail starts out gently enough on a smooth grade for 2 miles before jolting vertically upward, ala Gorge trails like Nesmith or Wyeth. Continuous climbing through the trees with sparse and blocked views of jagged peaks (Picket Range) across the valley. It eventuallly crests at the base of Trapper Peak, which we didn't have the time or energy to do. Instead, we headed for camp, almost 500' below, over 3/4 mile in the lake basin. Steeper still! Not to mention the terribly eroded trail, thick brush, and class 3/4 scramble over massive boulders and a log jam to reach the designated camps in a buggy hole in the brush with no views at all. Absolutely terrible camps if you don't snag the best one before someone else. The upper lakes are absolutely beautiful if you can do the scrambling and navigate the thick brush and do some routefinding, as there are lots of user trails that go nowhere. Back out the way you came, and you better save some energy for the climb out of the lake basin, because it's a killer in the sun. Trapper peak will have to be some other trip!