I had spent precious little time in the Pasayten Wilderness, and it was time to change that. The Pasayten is in the northeast corner of the Cascades and is drier and less glaciated than the rest of the North Cascades that are located further west. This doesn’t mean it is less interesting, necessarily, because the area is still home to many of the tallest mountains in Washington that are unique and rugged in their own right. It is filled with big ridgelines and larch filled basins and has a very remote feel to it.
This particular trip provided a chance to see some of the heart of the wilderness area, while also ticking off some Bulgers and seeing beautiful lakes along the way. Our journey would start at Slate Pass, which meant driving up to Harts Pass – the highest road in Washington state. The road is beautiful and enjoyable except for a few narrow sections that are blasted out of the cliffside. I wouldn’t want to meet another car coming head-on in that spot! Thankfully we didn’t and parked at Slate Pass without incident. You know it’ll be a good adventure when the views from the trailhead are magnificent.
The only problem with starting at a high-elevation pass is that our journey started with a long descent. My dad, Tom, and I almost immediately hit the wilderness boundary after a short jaunt up to the pass and then proceeded to drop into the Middle Fork Pasayten River below. We descended at first through beautiful open meadows before entering the forest in the valley, reaching the Robinson Creek Trail after about 4 miles.
From this point on, we walked north on a relatively flat, forested trail through the valley. It was uneventful except when we came across a few border patrol guards on horseback. They had guns and skeptical looks on their faces as we explained that we were just out to camp a few days. Nevertheless, they let us carry on and they preceded southward. It was interesting to run into guards and a sign that we were close to Canada, but I can’t imagine there is much excitement for them out there – it's probably all peakbaggers and backpackers like us throughout the summer if I had to guess.
Following 5 miles on the Robinson Creek trail, we finally hit the cutoff east up to Fred’s Lake. After 9 miles of gentle downhill plodding, it felt good to change gears and start up the switchbacks. About 2 miles and 1500 feet of gain brought us up to the lake, which was a beautiful blue and in a spectacular larch basin. I’m sure this area would be incredible to visit in the fall when the colors change.
We took a quick, refreshing swim and then proceeded up past the lake, aiming for the saddle above us. Here we gained another 400 feet and views started opening up looking back down and west towards Fred’s Lake. At the pass, we got a big up-close view of Monument Peak, which dominated the horizon to the east. From this point, we headed gently down to our camp for the night at Lake Doris.
Lake Doris is a nice, circular lake situated in high larch country, and would make the perfect spot to spend a night. It had been a long trek in, and we were all fairly wiped out. If we were to stay on track with my anticipated schedule at all, though, we would need to climb Osceola that evening. Tom decided he was ok taking it easy at camp, so after setting up our tents at the northeast corner of the lake, my dad and I set off for Osceola, a giant pile of rock about 1500 feet above us.
We first picked our way through sparse forest at first which quickly receded to all rock and boulders once we hit a small plateau. From there, it was just a matter of rock hopping up the ridge. The rocks were semi-stable, and the terrain was steep, but nothing exceeded class 2 in my eyes, just typical Cascades choss. Epic views were to be found along the ridge and at the summit, especially in the late evening sunlight. The sun had started to get low in the horizon, bathing Carru, Monument, and Lago in golden light. It was a spectacular sight after a long, tough day.
We knew we couldn’t stay at the summit for long because we would quickly start losing light and because we wanted to get back to Tom at camp, so we started down the chossy ridge. The ridge went quickly, and we descended into the sparse forest just as things were getting dark enough for headlamps. I made a minor navigation error here, going too far left and getting into an area that was cliffier than we saw on the way up. This problem was quickly corrected, though, and before long we were back on route and cruised into camp. Celebratory whiskey was shared with Tom after a successful day.
The next day we packed up camp and began our trek deeper east into the Pasayten. Our goal for the day was to climb Carru (and maybe Lago) and end up camped in the basin beneath Shellrock Pass. We got a leisurely start and began our way down the Eureka Creek Trail, which drops down from Lake Doris into the Eureka Creek valley. Nice views were had until we found ourselves in thicker woods, where we joined up with the Shellrock Trail. Here we regrouped for our ascent up Carru.
We left the trail at around 6000’ and climbed straight up through a mixture of open and wooded terrain. Off trail travel is always nice on the east side of the crest because there is way less brush, so we were able to move pretty well, despite the steep terrain. After about 1000’ of gain we broke out of the woods and into more rocky open terrain. Some caution was needed as some of the rocks would shift underfoot, but this was still mostly class 2 walking. Eventually we hit a bench on the ridge at around 8100’ and banked west to conquer the final class 2 to 3 scramble to the summit.
The views from the top were spectacular and cloud-free. I loved looking back towards Osceola and the rest of the distant glacier-clad North Cascades. I also appreciated the new to me views of the nearby Pasayten peaks and valleys. After a nice summit stay on some exploration on the long summit ridge, it was time to retrace our steps. The way down was a bit of a grind, and we made sure to not kick any rocks down on each other. I had originally hoped to summit Lago as well on this trip, but it was already getting late enough in the day and as a group we weren’t feeling up to it. Oh well, just another excuse to come back!
After rejoining the trail, we carried on for another mile before finding an awesome camp site in the valley below Shellrock Pass. It was a spacious site, with a creek that was so wide and slow flowing that it appeared to be a small, perfectly clear pond. It was the perfect place to rest our tired bodies.
The fun didn’t stop the next morning as we rose with the goal of summiting Blackcap Mountain (#80 on the Bulger List). We took the switchbacks up to near Shellrock Pass before departing the trail and rock-hopping on giant boulders to the ridgeline at 7700’. From here it was a matter of traversing the rocky and undulating ridgeline to the base of the peak. It was relatively easy class 2-3 terrain but there was some exposure in places on the narrow ridge.
Before long, we were in the notch below the peak. From there the climbing is decidedly class 3 on fun grippy rock with good handholds and footholds. I would go so far as to say that the ridge of Blackcap is some of the best scrambling I have ever done in the state of Washington! The mountain is aptly named, with a decidedly black colored band of rock making up the final few hundred feet. This part looks a bit improbable from a distance but is quite enjoyable terrain.
We topped out on Blackcap about 3 hours after leaving camp and checked out the views, which were spectacular in all directions. Monument looked huge and so close you could almost touch it to the south, and it was fun to look back on Osceola and Carru (with only a slight twinge of regret seeing Lago). It was actually a bit windy and cold for the first time on the trip, so we were forced to head down after a short summit stay. The scrambling was still fun on the way down, and before long we were across the ridge and back down to the pass, cruising into camp at 1:30 pm.
Here we relaxed and reveled in our accomplishments, three Bulgers down, and many miles of beautiful terrain covered. I ate some Pringles, and we did some cooking before sadly packing up and beginning the journey back. We reversed course, heading back up the Shellrock and Eureka Creek trails to Lake Doris, picking a slightly different tent site from our previous stay two nights earlier. The picked up a bit and it got pretty chilly as we were setting up the tent, so we didn’t linger outside much longer than to appreciate another great Pasayten sunset.
The next morning was sunny, calm, and warm. “All” we had to do was hike back to the trailhead for the day, so we took some time to enjoy the pristine waters of Lake Doris. Tom tried his hand at fishing, sadly not catching anything due to a tree branch snagging his lure on a cast. We did see someone across the lake have great fishing success, though. Overall, it was just nice to spend time at the lake with no real pressure to get out and accomplish something for the day. Sometimes it's nice to have a slow day to really immerse yourself in a place.
We ended up packing up and leaving at around 1:00, working our way back through the notch and down to Freds Lake. Another swim was unavoidable when we saw the crystal-clear water, so worth it before our long hike out!
We then plunged back into the woods, ready for the ~11 miles or so back to the trailhead. The way out was uneventful, except for when we were nearing Slate Pass and the trailhead. Suddenly, a switch flipped, and the beautiful sunny day was replaced by ominous gray clouds and some light precipitation, which fell in the form of snow (in August!). It was a cold and stormy finish to our otherwise beautiful weather trip, but it just added to the adventure, and before long we were back to our car.
Overall, I have nothing but great things to say about the Pasayten after my first foray into its boundaries. Beautiful lakes, rugged terrain, and a remote feeling that is different from most other places I’ve been to in Washington is a great combo. This won’t be the last time I head out this way.
Final Stats: 38.5 miles / 12,237 feet of gain
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