Pasayten Wilderness

Aug-Sep 2003

This backpack was taken this Labor Day weekend in the high country of the east Pasayten Wilderness in north central Washington State. The Pasayten Wilderness is rugged, isolated country east of North Cascades National Park.

This hike is a 6-7 hour drive from our homes in Seattle and was entered near Loomis Washington. The final seven miles of road to the trail head is not maintained for cars by the Forest Service and is very rough --- so beware.

It was a great hike, relatively easy as backpacks go, along a wide trail to Sunny Pass. The region was extremely dry this year, so water was scarce. The bubbling streams in the basin were largely reduced to interconnected puddles. But we found water and that was good enough.

Louden Lake in Horseshoe Basin was dry. Smoky hotspots from this summer's huge Farewell Creek fire were hazily visible, just a few ridges away. Despite the haze and smoke in the distance, the basin was well above it with very clear and sunny weather all weekend. This was real Ponderosa country --- much different than the rest of the Cascades --- where we expected Hoss and Ben Cartwright to ride up at any moment.