Snowy Lakes, Winthrop

Until very recently, I was unaware that the “North Cascades” was an actual National Park. I was under the impression that the “North Cascades” were just what people called the peaks north of the Central Cascades (which are north of Mount Rainier, and so on and so forth). But nope — it’s an established area of beautifulness that I recently got to explore!

In late July 2023, my husband and I set off north towards Pacific Coast Trail #2000, towards Cutthroat Pass with views of Golden Horn and Tower Mountain. We drove through lots of cute little towns and saw many, many peaks, until we hit Diablo Lake. We stopped at the lookout deck, but couldn’t find a parking spot so the view out the car window would have to suffice, then continued east on Highway 20 to Rainy Pass trailhead (another 45 minutes). This trailhead was packed with day hikers and backpackers. We put all our forest passes on the dashboard in hopes of not getting a ticket, laced up our hiking boots, and began our ascent to Cutthroat Pass.

This is just a suggestion, but if you’re planning on hiking 10 miles in one day with 3000 feet of elevation (mostly all in the first 5 miles), you should start before 3pm. Because if you start that late, chances are, you’ll have to move at quite a fast pace to beat the sun, and it’ll be exhausting. Take it from the humans who did exactly that and regretted it immediately…

Let me rephrase: we did NOT regret doing the hike, just that we started so late and couldn’t enjoy the ascent up. Because let me tell you, the view was like nothing I’ve ever seen in real life before. I follow countless Instagram outdoor influencers and photographers, and always marvel at their peak-filled content because it is so dang mesmerizing. But I’ve never experienced it myself, and unknowingly, I chose a trail that offered sights just like that.

But let’s start at the beginning, at 4,000 feet above sea level. The first 3 miles are a typical PNW hike: through the dense forest, with a slight incline, meandering over creeks and rocks and trees. The trees start to clear to reveal steep switchbacks, but with a stunning view of the valley below as you climb higher toward the peaks. To the south lie more tall peaks, some of their craters filled with glaciers. At 6,900 feet is Cutthroat Pass, providing views in all directions. We hit the pass at about 5PM when the peaks around us were a burnt orange color.

The next 4 miles include a lot of downhill scree with views towards the east toward the Pasayten Wilderness — and if you don’t know what scree is (because I didn’t until this trip) it’s the type of trail covered in tiny little rocks caused by rockslides. It can make walking more difficult because the ground can shift beneath you, leading to trips and slips more easily. Scree is typically associated with steep cliffs off to the side, due to the landslides, with the trail etched onto the side of the mountain. And if that sounds scary, that’s because it is!! On this trail, the path was pretty wide, but there were steep parts that lead to a few anxiety attacks on my part. (Good thing my husband was there to remind me that the best way to make it through those slippery, rocky parts is to take confident steps.)

So, a quick summary: you hike up 3,000 feet of elevation in 5 miles to Cutthroat Pass; you then lose about 1,000 feet of elevation in 4 miles while hiking on a thin, scree trail. You’ve just now, finally, reached a creek that is fed by Snowy Lakes (not yet Snowy Lakes, but you’re a lot closer than before). In the late summer months, this creek has dried up.

Now you must make the decision to camp at 6,300 feet next to a big boulder OR hike up the remaining 600 feet to reach Lower Snowy Lake. We decided to keep hiking the extra mile to Lower Snowy Lake because we wanted the better view, and because there was water up on the ridge (since the creek had dried up and didn’t provide any water for the area down below).

That last mile was painful and slow, but we finally made it to the basin where Lower Snowy Lake sits. We found a ledge to camp on for the night, overlooking the lake and with great views to the north. My husband set up camp so I could jump in the lake and then we boiled water, ate re-hydrated backpacking meals, and watched the light slowly disappear over the mountains. After marvelling at the moon and the peaks and saying, “THIS IS EVERYTHING I’VE EVER WANTED IN A BACKPACKING TRIP” over and over and over again, we stored our food far away from us (bear safety is a priority, folks) and crawled into our sleeping bags.

For some reason, the last few camping trips I’ve been on have resulted in very little sleep because I’ve been paranoid about bears. (Actually, I do know the reason: I recently called my grandpa after a camping trip, and he asked me why I camp since that’s how people get attacked by bears, and then proceeded to tell me about a random bear attack in Prescott, AZ. Then, fast forward to my next camping trip, I had a dream I was being chased by a bear while I was ACTIVELY sleeping in the forest. Now anytime I hear the tent rustling, or a bug buzzing around the tent, or my husband snoring, I think it’s a bear trying to get me.) I consciously know that if we store our food and toiletries as recommended, it is unlikely that a bear would rip through our tent to eat us; however, I just lay there all night, trying to convince myself it’s better to be asleep if a bear were to actually stumble upon us.

Long story short, we got very little sleep (me because of the paranoia, my husband because anytime he made a noise, I’d wake him up asking if he made that noise) and by the time the sun started to rise, we were exhausted. But that didn’t stop me from hobbling out of bed to watch the rosy pink hue on the peaks for 20 minutes, then hobbling back to bed to sleep for a few more hours (thankfully, I did fall asleep at this point).

We decided to hike out the next day so we boiled buckets and buckets of water to prepare for the journey, slathered on sunscreen, and hit the trail. (To be fair, my husband boiled all the water while I hiked to Upper Snowy Lake to see the view, which was an even better view than from Lower Snowy Lake.) The hike out was better mostly because we could stop to enjoy the view, and we weren’t delirious from all the elevation gain. We stopped to eat a snack in Granite Pass, and then ate lunch at Cutthroat Pass where we saw a mountain goat. We then booked it down the mountain towards the trailhead.

On our way back toward Seattle, we stopped at Diablo Lake so I could swim (turns out the water is FREEZING) and was witness to a huge plume of smoke coming from the opposite mountainside. Unfortunately, we were seeing the beginning of the Sourdough Mountain fire, which had grown to 5 acres (update as of 8/10/23: the fire has grown to 1700 acres and Highway 20 is closed); it was caused by lightning, dry weather conditions, and wind the previous week.

This trip was one to remember for a long time — I checked off so many bucket list items. I can’t wait to explore the North Cascades National Park again!

The cover photo for this post is of sunset at our campsite at Lower Snowy Lakes looking north.