Glacier Peak Wilderness

July 1992

These two Ice Lakes rest below Mt Maude in the Glacier Peak Wilderness and were approached via the Entiat River / Ice Creeks valleys on this hike in 1992.

This is an incredibly beautiful hike, but is difficult to get to for a weekender from Seattle in several respects.

First, the drive to the trailhead is quite a distance from Seattle. One has to drive from Seattle up and over Stevens or Blewitt Pass to the Eastern Washington city of Wenatchee. From Wenatchee, you follow along the Columbia River north to the small town of Entiat, then head northwest from there to the trailhead. It's been some time since we took this hike, but, all told, it's about a four hour drive from Seattle just to the trailhead.

We car camped the first night at Cottonwood Campground at the end of the Entiat River Road.

The hike to the Ice Lakes follows the Entiat River for eight miles before crossing the river. From here it is almost six more miles to the lake. In addition to the long drive and the already lengthy hike in to the river crossing, we encountered deadfall, after deadfall, after deadfall, after deadfall for the next three miles before we finally set up a base camp at about 11 miles in. The copius deadfall was due to the fact that we took this trip in early July, and the Forest Service had been unable to clear the previous winter's storm damage this early in the season. Climbing over all of the fallen trees was very arduous with a full pack.

One of the benefits to all of this trouble was that we had the upper reaches nearly to ourselves. The second day in was a simple dayhike up to the upper lake to eat lunch and scout around. From here we witnessed an eagle or two (or some type of raptor) skimming the lake for food, and several climbers on a corniced ridgeline aiming for Mt Maude. No one else was around. Or at least so we thought.

That night while sleeping outdoors on the ground, I heard my friend talking to someone in the middle of the night. At first I thought he was talking in his sleep and I rolled back over to sleep. As it turns out he was talking shop with a friendly young French climber who preferred hiking solo at night and happened upon our camp while heading down.

We talked for a short bit. He said he was from the a small town in the French Alps, was use to and preferred hiking at night, and was enjoying his first trip to the States. After a while he had to move along. We warned him about the deadfall he was going to encounter soon and gave him tips on a turn-off to Larch Lakes which would allow him to bypass much of the limby mess. He thanked us and we said our goodbyes.

It's odd to encounter anyone in the middle of the night in such remote regions. Rare encounters like this though help to reinforce what a small wonderful world we really do live in.