North Cascades National Park

August 2001

Thorton Lakes is normally a dayhike, although some backpack to and camp at the lakes. The hike begins from a spur road off of Highway 20 about 15 miles east of Marblemount WA, follows an abandoned logging road for a short while, then becomes a staircasing forest walk. before it breaks clear above timberline.. .

A little scrambling and route finding is required near the top to reach to a view point above the lakes, which rest in a basin below Thorton Peak...

From this higher ridge, one looks south towards Teebone Ridge, northeast towards Mount Terror and the Southern Picket Range, and down towards the town of Newhalem resting beside the Skagit River about 3500 feet below...

These photos are from a 2001 dayhike with a friend, though I've been on this trip several times before...