25.5 miles of hiking • 6500' elevation gain •
This turned out to be kind of a monster. Left Portland around 6:15am and drove 2.5 hrs to the Norway Pass trailhead. Hiked up towards Mt. Margaret, then turned onto the Whittier trail (which is apparently open for business now, complete with new signage). We crossed the Whittier ridge and met up with the Lakes trail, then descended towards Coldwater Lake, losing all our elevation. At the lake we turned onto the Coldwater trail and climbed back up towards the peak, then traversed past Coldwater, the Dome, and Mt. Margaret, completing the loop and heading back down to the car.
Weather was mostly cloudy (probably a good thing to keep us from melting). Huckleberries are very ripe right now. There's still some snow up there, and you sometimes have to walk across patches of it, but it's no biggie.
I'd used the WH mapping tool to check this route out and it spat out 15 miles. Turns out it's more like 25-26 miles. D'oh. We started at 9am and went for 11 hrs and finished by headlamp in the dark. Then the 2.5 hr drive home...
Comments
Roman
September 24, 2011
I love this area, will hit it in a week or two when fall colors start in earnest. Will NOT do all 25 miles tho;)
Chris
September 24, 2011
The fall colors are already well on their way.
And I've never seen so many bees in my life!
Chris
September 24, 2011
Also, berries.
Roman
September 24, 2011
I'm waiting for this:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-zzRUEllIG7c/Tn7JbzSzZPI/AAAAAAAABtI/r1os0iKJW-o/s800/DSC8753267.JPG
Chris
September 24, 2011
Fair enough.
:)
Bosterson
September 25, 2011
My hiking speed was seriously hindered by frequent huckleberry stops.
Chris
September 24, 2011
Nice! I almost did this same this same loop Friday (except from Bear Pass instead of Whittier), but ended up just going to Mt. Margaret because I was worried about daylight.
Good thing I did—I was planning 9.5 hours for the 25 miles, starting at 9:30. Based on your 11 hours, I'm glad I changed my plans!