Day 1 - Trail from Stevens Pass parking lot to Josephine Lake, about 4.5 miles.
Gain about 750 feet in 1.5 miles to the Cascade Crest on a steady grade. You can see the Bulls Tooth from this vantage point.
Decend about 400 feet with views of the valley and power lines, then regain about 300 feet to Lake Susan Jane at about 3.5 miles.
Lake Susan Jane is a small C-shaped lake that sits in a cirque of talus falling from the surrounding peaks. I noticed at least two decent campsites, one of which was out on a little peninsula in the lake. The trail gets a little steeper after Lake Susan Jane as it approaches the junction with the Icicle Creek trail. There's a reedy pond with a small campsite just after the switchbacks up from Lake Susan Jane.
When you reach the Icicle Creek junction, hang a left. There are a few small ponds surrounding the north end of the lake, and there's a great viewpoint looking down a sheer cliff to Josephine Lake. There were no campsites that I noticed, but I wasn't looking for one there. The trail gains a little altitude before falling to the far lake shore at the south end of the lake. There are two campsites on the south shore before reaching the outlet. If you follow the trail to the toilet, go straight up instead of turning left to the toilet. There's a large site that could easily accomodate two tents. Further down, directly up from the day-use area of the lake is a second smaller campsite that has only one level area for a tent. After crossing the outlet (the source of Icicle Creek) you can find at least three campsites along the southwest shore of the lake, at about 4.5 miles.
Josephine Lake is a very pretty, nearly round lake surrounded by very steep shores. There weren't many people there when I was there, but it was mid-week in late August, which generally has very unpredictable and unpleasant weather. It was in the mid-70s in the daytime and upper 40s at night while I was there, so I was very lucky.
I took the first campsite that I found, the one behind the toilet. Unfortunately, someone before me didn't have much respect for the site. There was a large amount of garbage piled in an illegal fire ring - campfires are not allowed within 1/2 mile of the lake. I camped there anyway because I liked the location, I liked the log with two seats carved into it, and I liked the breeze passing through the site that kept the bugs down. There were some raccoons sifting though the garbage in the fire ring while I was trying to sleep, but otherwise it was a quiet night.
Day 2 - Josephine Lake to Chain Lakes
I left Josephine Lake fairly early. I reached the junction with Whitepine Creek junction very shortly, about .4 miles down from Josephine. Two more miles of easy downhill hiking and I reached the junction with the Chain Lakes trail. There are two campsites near the Icicle Creek/Whitepine Creek junction and one about 100 yards north of the Icicle Creek/Chain Lakes junction, so I could have camped at any one of these if the sites at Josephine Lake had all been occupied.
The trail from Icicle Creek to Chain Lakes starts out very steep, gaining 1,000 feet in 1 mile. Luckily, the tread is good. It isn't rocky or muddy, just a bit of loose dirt and duff. At about the 4,800 foot contour, the trail levels off for a while. You gain another 800 feet in about 1.5 miles, but most of the gain is at the end, so you get a bit of a break. You enter the lake basin after about 11 miles from the car, about 5,600 feet.
As I entered the lake basin, I saw the first of the Chain Lakes. Then I saw the Bulls Tooth. Then a Red-Tailed Hawk flew past me, then I saw a fish jump. It was a nice beginning. I walked along the shore of the first lake, looking for a campsite, but I saw none. The first site I saw was occupied, but I never saw anyone in it - just their tent. I took the second site I saw, about half-way down the second lake, just below the face of the Bulls Tooth.
After I set up camp, I took all of my water bottles and my water filter, and Duncan and I went exploring. We went a little way up the trail to Doelle Lakes and then came back and went down to the third lake. Then we went back to the second lake to filter enough water for the evening and the trip back on the next day. We had dinner and retired for the night.
Day 3 - Chain Lakes to Josephine Lake
The intent upon waking was to hike all the way out to the car, but my left knee decided it didn't want to play anymore after the steep hike down from Chain Lakes, so I stopped at Josephine Lake for another night. I wanted the same site that I'd had two nights before, but someone had taken a huge shit in the middle of the site and left several wads of toilet paper behind, so I took the site down from it, near the outlet.
There were only four other people at the lake, a group of fishermen camped in one of the sites on the southwest shore. I ate lunch and played with Duncan for a while. The fishermen left at about 4:00 pm, so I had the lake to myself. I decided to finally explore the rest of the lakeshore, since I wouldn't be disturbing anyone. Duncan wanted to take his tennis ball, but I made him put it down before we left. When we got to the fishermen's camp, I found their illegal campfire still burning. I put it out with several bottles of water from the lake, dismantled the fire ring, and threw fresh dirt over the burned area to hide it, and so that it wouldn't be so easy for the next people to build a fire.
After looking around that shore, I headed back to the site above mine and cleaned it up. I used Duncan's poop bags to clean up some douchebag's pile of shit and toilet paper. Then I removed that fire ring and tried to make it look like there'd never been a campfire there. I bagged up all of the garbage, but I couldn't pack it out - I didn't have room in my pack - so I hung it like a bear bag near the toilet in hopes that a ranger would see it and remove it.
When we got back to camp, Duncan couldn't find his tennis ball. We looked everywhere but couldn't come up with it.
I spent the night at Josephine Lake totally alone. It was fantastic.
Day 4 - Josephine Lake to Stevens Pass
There were a few clouds when I woke up, but it was essentially nice weather. While I was packing, Duncan suddenly lifted his head. He looked around, then bolted off into the underbrush. I thought he was going after a chipmunk. A few seconds later, he came back with his tennis ball. He apparently finally remembered where he left it. He's a very smart boy.
We did the 4.5 mile hike out in about 3 hours.
Half an hour down from Stevens Pass, it started to rain.
Pictures of this hike can be seen here.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
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