Katie and I spent 4 days exploring Lost Creek Ridge over Labor Day weekend. This was an area that had always interested me, and I’d wanted to see Lake Byrne for years.
Wildfire smoke had started to plague Western Washington and it was pretty thick on our drive out to the Mountain Loop Highway. I had been tracking the smoke forecast thoroughly and was semi-confident that it would clear out over the course of our trip. Nevertheless, it was a little daunting starting up a steep ridgeline in the heat and smoke. Worst case scenario we decided we would just turn around and hike out the next day if it was too bad.
The hike up to Bingley Gap was hot and smoky and not too pleasant despite the beautiful forest we were walking through. We made it up the 2.5 miles to the Gap and took a break. The smoke was still thick, and it cast an eerie orange glow all around us. Since we were still hopeful that it would clear we pressed on, passing the turnoff for Round Lake at 3.8 miles. Here, we started to break out of the woods into beautiful meadows. The smoke even seemed a bit less thick in the direction we were traveling so that was cause for optimism!
Our goal for the night was Sunup Lake, a small lake a bit above the main Lost Creek Ridge Trail. I had done precious little research and just assumed there would be an easy way up to the lake. We were getting tired and were eager to set up camp, so I just picked what looked like the best way up. This involved lots of boulder hopping up the steep slope and a bit of light bushwacking. I thought this lake was more frequently visited (and it turns out there was a nice use path just a bit further down the main trail...oh well) but my route got us there relatively unscathed. We reached Sunup Lake at around 8 pm, about 4 and a half hours after we started. The sun was about to go down, so we got to work setting up our tent at the spacious main campsite by the lake. After a bird bath in the shallow lake, we went to bed with fingers crossed for clearing in the morning.
The next morning dawned only slightly hazy. The smell of smoke was now almost gone from the air, and I was optimistic that the forecast might hold. It still wasn’t perfect but was a far cry from the choking smoke the day before. I wanted to climb Breccia Peak that morning, so I took off cross country aiming for the ridge above Sunup Lake. I shot straight through a narrow gap created by a creek and into an open bowl above. Any route works here, I think, so I just kept going straight up, trying my best to avoid stepping on any meadow vegetation. I eventually reached the ridge-top (about 500 feet above Sunup Lake) and I could see the easy ridge romp to Breccia before me. It wasn’t long before I reached the gentle summit, only about 20 minutes after I had left the lake. The views were good, although the view along the ridge toward Glacier Peak was still a bit obscured.
Heading down was quick and painless, and I took the time to admire the view of Sloan Peak rising above the lake. I was back at camp by 9:30 am to find Katie harvesting plentiful huckleberries. We then packed up our gear and chose to continue on, bolstered by the improving weather. We traveled less than a mile before it was time for me to break off and tag another peak.
This time for the obscure Zi-iob Peak. Zi-iob was even quicker than Breccia, I took off cross country up towards a gap in the ridge and then angled east up the ridge to the summit, arriving there less than 15 minutes from when I left the main trail. The terrain was all easy, although there were some impressive cliffs to the north side. At this point the weather had turned to more of a cloudy mist interspersed with blue sky. There still weren’t many views but the smoke seemed to be essentially fully cleared out!
I angled back down to the trail and rejoined Katie with all my peakbagging goals for the trip accomplished. Now all that was left was to see Lake Byrne. The rest of the journey was fun, but much longer than either of us expected. We enjoyed the cool, misty weather and the meadows covered in pink flowers.
We met a group of backpackers who were bailing after a rough night in the smoke. Couldn’t blame them too much, but it was unfortunate for them that they had made it so far out into the wilderness only to be turned away as the weather was dramatically improving. Eventually we made it to Camp Lake in dense fog, 4 miles from where I rejoined the trail below Zi-iob. I was sure this lake was beautiful, but there was no way of knowing because all we saw was a gray void.
The only thing left standing in our way was a 0.9 mile climb up and over a ridge to get to Lake Byrne. This went slow and steadily and before we knew it we were cruising down into Lake Byrne at around 3:45 pm. Even though it was foggy, we could see the brilliant blue of the water and the impressive lake basin that looked like it was situated on a shelf far above the White Chuck River valley below. It looked like the amazing place I had thought it would be.
We set up camp on the northeast part of the lake at a spacious site. It seemed like we would be sharing the lake with just one other party, not bad for Labor Day weekend! After cooking and resting our tired bodies we poked our heads out of the tent and couldn't believe our eyes when we saw some clearing in the clouds. We could see the top of Glacier Peak, which looked even closer than I had imagined. Some sun was even appearing, and we seized the moment by jumping in the lake before it went behind the ridge.
The next morning was brilliantly blue, and we took our time enjoying the sunrise and navigating around the north side of the lake. We found a great spot to jump off a rock into the crystal-clear water and watched some fish swimming around. The view of Glacier Peak behind this gorgeous lake was a sight to behold. Lake Byrne rocketed up in my rankings of favorite alpine lakes after this trip. It is a place that I certainly want to return to.
It was sad to leave such a beautiful place, but we were a long way from the car, and had to make it back to Sunup Lake that day, so our hands were tied. As we started to pack up and head out, clouds started to build up, turning the day gray after such a beautiful blue start. We headed back out on Lost Creek Ridge just before noon.
The ridge was just as beautiful as the way in, and we started to see some more people coming into the lake area. Camp Lake was indeed beautiful now that we could actually see it and the whole area was filled with brilliant green meadows and sweeping views.
It wasn’t until we were about 2 miles from Sunup Lake that the weather took a turn for the worse. We could see rain coming down in sheets across the valley and it wasn’t long before the drizzle found us. What a change from the cloud-free morning! We put on raincoats and thankfully the rain never got to be too heavy, allowing us to get to Sunup Lake and set up our tent while relatively dry. We even found the very obvious path up to the lake that we had missed on our hike in.
About 5 minutes after getting the tent set up, the rain became significantly heavier, and we were forced to dive into the tent and stay there for the rest of the night. Riding out a rainstorm in a tent can be fun, and we made the most of it. The Cascades had received barely any rain over the summer, so this could only help with the dry conditions and fire situation.
Thankfully, only a few clouds were around in the morning, and I sauntered up in the same general direction as I had climbed Breccia for sunrise. I loved seeing the glacier on Sloan light up across the valley with Sunup Lake in the foreground.
With the sun coming up, we took the time to let everything dry out and had a slow morning. It was sad to let our Lost Creek Ridge experience come to an end, but our hike out was still glorious. The meadows felt lusher and more vibrant after the rainfall, and we took our time taking in the views and eating plentiful bluebs before we plunged back into the woods.
It was nice to experience the last 2.5 miles down from Bingley Gap with no smoke. Before long we were back to our car, very content with our Labor Day adventure and very happy we pushed on despite the tough start.
Final Stats: 27.93 miles / 8,757 feet of elevation gain
Comments