Suiattle Circle

July 19-24, 2025

Background

As I entered my 2024 summer in Washington, I had already developed a pretty deep understanding of what possibilities for high mountain traverses lay in the mountains here. Daniel had become my only consistent partner for off-trail travel above treeline and after our shakedown on the Alpine Lakes Crest Traverse we were eager for a second chance. To summarize, that trip had poor seasonal timing, a terrible weather window, and lacked a shuttle plan. This year, I was hoping to improve all of those things.

I had read many stories of the magic of this place from Kyle McCrohan, the capstone of which seemed to be his Glacier Peak High Route. I didn't feel that I was yet deserving of the full route, especially because we lacked confidence in our ability to safely navigate the more complex glaciers in the northern half. I also wanted to simplify the logistics by making a closed loop. Luckily, the mountains form a fabulous arc as they bend westward around the Suiattle River towards Glacier Peak itself. So the idea I decided on was to enter from the Suiattle River trail and trace the southern half of the GPHR to the summit of the volcano, then descend the Sitkum Glacier on the backside to meet the PCT and exit via the Lime Ridge High Route. This latter terrain seemed quite nice, but hadn't seen much traffic since some destructive floods 20 years ago. We were stoked to check it out!

Day 1

I picked up Daniel at SeaTac at 10am, and after some traffic we got groceries in Arlington. We were excited to be together and head into the mountains. It had been a cloudy morning, but as we drove into Darrington enough sky opened to show us glimpses of White Horse peak. We headed out the long Suiattle River road and took our time packing.

We hit the trail at 3:50pm and immediately got rolling into stories and debrief from his recent trip packrafting the full Grand Canyon. We're both obsessed with the Grand, and I have a permit for next year, so the conversation easily lasted until dark! The Suiattle trail is mostly just nice forest walking, so it was nice to have limitless entertainment!

That's not to say we found the trail boring, we were definitely excited by the lush rainforest and Daniel stopped us frequently to take in the size of the trees. The trail was in amazing condition, featuring a massive new bridge over Canyon Creek. 

At the junction with the PCT, I mistakenly turned south which quickly led us to a bridge over the river. It was a welcome detour and we enjoyed being able to see the water. I wanted to use this day as an opportunity to scout the river for packrafting. It's very continuous, but in the ¼ mile we could see it was only class II+ and had little wood.

As we rounded the corner into our intended camp we were greeted by a barking poodle and Aussie who quickly turned friendly. We didn't want to start climbing up tonight, so we opted to head down to the river. Walking through a small clearing gave us the first view of Glacier Peak via Vista Creek! It was awesome to gaze up at the north face of a mountain so unfathomably high above. It reminded me of many similar views crossing glacial rivers on the Wonderland Trail. The volcanos of the PNW are not quite my favorite attraction, but they are undeniably captivating. 

We found a nice spot right before the trail entered the floodplain and set up the tent. Walking out to the river at sunset was epic, and we sat for a while on a huge log that spanned the channel.

Day 2

We woke up and ate breakfast out on the floodplain, excited to see that the river flow had dropped substantially. We would have to ford it on day 7, hopefully in the morning. We had agreed to not rush the morning so we got moving at 9 up the switchbacks. We chose to take the longer route and visit Miner's lookout and Image Lake, rather than the shorter and flatter cutoff. On our way up we passed a Forest Service volunteer who said he would be opening the lookout for the summer when he arrived. Unfortunately, we would be arriving ahead of him.

The lookout ridge was super cool and definitely worth the extra effort. We were stoked to see that the stairs and trapdoor were open to the balcony, we just couldn't see inside the cabin. By 1pm we were having lunch at Image Lake with no one else around, and the weather was perfect. 

We left Image Lake on the main trail, but Daniel shortly brought up the idea of going up and over Plummer Mountain instead of taking the trail which contours below. The ascent ridge looked really nice, and I figured we had plenty of time so I was eager to commit!

The whole way up to the summit was very nice indeed. The walking was good, the flowers were vibrant, the weather was perfect, and the view was unreal. From the summit we visually mapped our descent, and didn't linger long. 

Walking down the south ridge was nice at first, and then we turned off of it onto steep snow. The top 30 feet were very steep and we didn't dare commit to a glissade. It was slow, but we were able to kick effective steps in our running shoes. The axes were pretty clutch in self-belay, providing a good handhold. Soon we were able to slide short sections at a time. It was still probably 40 degrees and difficult to get a good axe bite - most of the stopping power came from our feet. This all ended up being pretty fun, but we were glad we didn't slide from the top.

Below the snow was 500ft of slow ~40 degree slope, starting with wet plants and mud and fading to small talus. It felt precarious the whole way down. We both disliked it pretty strongly, definitely the worst part of the day.

Flat snow brought us to the beautiful lakeshore, we went around to the left and descended steep heather to a decent talus gully. From here we just had to bushbash a mile along a ridgetop. All the way from the summit we had seen a nice patch of purple, forgot about it, and stumbled upon the densest lupine grove we had ever seen! It was amazing. Joelle and I just bought an old (silver) Prius that she named Lupine.

We made it through the mosquitoes to Suiattle Pass, and continued on to Cloudy Pass. The weather had continued to be beautiful the whole time, but was increasingly cloudy and looked stormy in distant places. 

As we dropped towards Lyman Lake, we heard our first thunder and it became clear we were going to get rain soon. We set up our tent and went down to the lake for water as the rain began, and went for a dip anyway. Lyman Lake is gorgeous, and the water temp was surprisingly nice, but the rain was increasing fast.

We were set up in a good, sheltered spot which felt nice as the lightning strikes passed overhead. The rain got intense for at least an hour and we cooked dinner inside the tent. 

I felt lucky that we had gotten such incredible weather so far, but now the future was uncertain. I knew going into the trip that tomorrow would be a problem day, because it had the high and slow travel over Chiwawa and Fortress, but also had the worst weather forecast. We agreed that we weren't eager to stick to the high route if the weather was bad.

I used the inReach to check weather, and it said beginning at 11am there was an 80% chance of thunderstorms. That was enough to make us choose the low route around the west side of the peaks.

Day 3

We slept well, waking up at 7:30 to eat breakfast in the tent, only because there were copious mosquitos. We packed up a lot of wet stuff, but the weather was nice. Retracing our steps back to Suiattle Pass didn't feel too sad because everything was so pretty.

We dropped the 2k to to Miner's Creek and then trudged up the other side, not feeling particularly fast. As the views opened up we could see that many directions were hazy with moisture, and it began to rain. We were nearly at the ridge at 2:20 when it began to rain heavily. Watching from under a tree, we saw hail fill the valley as our trail turned into a small river. We hesitated about cresting the ridge because of repeated thunder booms, but I knew it would be very brief. We were on the windy side, getting cold.

After about 20 minutes we sent it over the ridge and dropped into the sheltered forest, warming up as the rain lessened. Down to Small Creek, and up the other side. We entered the meadowed slopes of Helmet in variable weather. The rain still fell lightly and the wind was blowing fog around every peak. It was beautiful, and indecisive.

I wanted to push to High Pass, especially after reading in Kyle's TR that there were likely campsites there. Daniel seemed concerned about camping higher because of lightning, and said he had felt kind of bad all day. “How so?” Like he might be getting sick. I really felt like the threat of thunderstorms would continue to decrease overnight, but within 5 more minutes of discussion it became clear to me that he was, in fact, sick. 

We were wet, and some wind was blowing, but he began to shiver increasingly, while I was fine. I had definitely experienced this before and seen it in others: sick + cold, wet, exertion = heavy shivering. With the future of the trip now feeling precarious, and wanting Daniel to feel comfortable and safe, I eagerly agreed to camp at Buck Creek Pass. 

We grabbed water, put up the tent, got out of our wet clothes, and began making dinner inside, with Daniel shivering heavily the whole time. It was only 6:30 by the time we finished eating, but seemed like he needed to get in bed and warm up. I wasn't very cold or tired, but everything was moist and felt tremendously uncomfortable to my desert skin. I can't imagine how bad it must've felt for Daniel.

The sky continued to lighten and I longed to be up at High Pass, where the flashes of sunshine would actually hit us and wind might dry us out. But here we were at Buck Creek Pass, far from the car and unsure of what tomorrow would hold.

Day 4

It hadn't rained since we arrived here, but I woke up at 7am to rain on the tent. Not a great sign! The rain was brief, and by 8 I was fully awake, watching the sky lighten and turn blue, but patiently lying still until Daniel woke up at 9:15.

“How are you doing?” At this point, everything felt wrong to me. How could we waste so many hours of good weather last night and this morning, and still hope to continue? How could make it to the base of Glacier Peak today, leaving camp at 10:30 with more rain in the forecast, and Daniel’s health compromised?

“I think I feel good enough to keep going.” Daniel is really good at sleeping, and he had been horizontal for about 15 hours. He said he finally got warm at 11pm, way too warm actually. Clearly the episode of fever had done him… well?

We started hiking up towards High Pass. The trail was overgrown, but cruisable with only a few blowdowns. The entire alpine section was amazing, especially looking down at Triad Lake and into the Napeequa. We saw our first pumice slopes, noticing them because clouds of steam were floating by as the sun began to bake yesterday's rain out of the porous rock. I had been wondering what would feel so special about the Napeequa, and now, looking at it, I felt like I could see.

After a cruiser descent, we left the trail and began climbing steep plants on the route that would take us around Hoof Peak. Daniel and I both felt like the terrain was good and fun, but were definitely feeling the uphill. We passed a couple of beautiful bucks and enjoyed following their trails when we could. The weather was holding out for us and seemed to already be trending clearer by 2pm. It felt perfect.

Around 3 Daniel felt like he was fading a bit so we paused for a long lunch break. I was impressed with how well he was pulling along and was happy to give him time to eat, rest, and let some ibuprofen kick in. 

We sidehilled some good pumice slopes to the saddle and then climbed up to the final ridge at 7300ft. The view was amazing, and Kyle’s “Camp Glacier Surprise” became obvious, although Butterfly Lake seemed like a better camp to me. 

We still had plenty of daylight, so we agreed that neither of these camps would be ours. We needed to get closer if we hoped to finish our intended route. Dropping to the lake was good and beautiful. We committed to the traverse around Tenpeak, hopeful that we could find a camp before the Honeycomb.

The first half of the traverse features a barely passable section of 4th class to get across a cascading stream. This part of the route felt really amazing to me because it's not obvious and the line is so thin. There is no other good way to link High Pass to Glacier Peak, and so I was grateful that Kyle had pioneered it and we had the confidence to follow. This was definitely cruxier terrain than anything on the Wind River High Route, for example.

The rest of the Tenpeak traverse alternated between soft low-angle snowfields and large granite talus that was pretty stable. This reminded me of traversing beneath the Lemah’s last year, but way way way better. Due to our poor seasonal timing, those snowfields had been rare and firm, and the rocks were volatile.

We arrived at the little lake beneath Tenpeak in better time and spirits than I thought we might, and found plentiful options for campsites! I went for a dip and we walked down to overlook the epic outflow gorge of the Honeycomb Glacier. The bugs were out, so we ate in the tent again, but with the clouds almost completely gone, it was a much more pleasant night.

Daniel was feeling increasingly congested but okay, and I was super grateful for the effort he put in to power through. I would've understood if he wanted to bail, but this had turned into one of the best days of hiking of my year.

Day 5

I woke up at 6 when it got light and was pretty eager to go, but we had agreed to wake up at 7:30. At 7:26 the sun hit like a laser and we packed up, dancing with mosquitos.

I really wanted the snow to be crusty for our 5 mile low-angle walk to Glacier Gap. The intense heat on our initial climb was not promising, but after some more sidehilling we made it to the glacier and it was cold in the hard morning shade. The snow wasn't crunchy, but it was plenty supportive. 

We made our way slowly across the Honeycomb to the rocky transition to the Suiattle. The walking was easy, but Daniel was feeling really sluggish. I felt bad for him and didn't mind waiting periodically. We hit a nice steep glissade down towards a brilliantly blue lake, then sidehilled some more across the Suiattle. Everything was really beautiful and a light breeze kept it from feeling too hot. We were just stoked to be in such a massive, foreign landscape.

A brief steep section brought us to Glacier Gap. I charged quickly up the grade because it was sheltered from the wind and the sun felt broiling. Daniel struggled behind, so far from his usual fitness that it was sad to watch.

It was 1:15 and we sat inside a wind wall for lunch. The weather seemed perfect, and we had even seen some climbers just ahead of us going for the peak. But we were moving slow, and uphill was the hardest thing right now. I wondered what it would be like to camp on the summit. It seemed like it could be bad. It was getting windy here.

Daniel is so tenacious. We reviewed the numbers over food, and by the time we finished eating he said “we may as well try going up and see how it goes.”

I felt the opposite. We were so behind schedule, at this point finishing the route sounded like it would require some big days for me, and even bigger for him. I conveyed how content I was with bailing here, and how it could make sense. We talked about whether or not to go down to White Pass today, then he fell asleep.

It was a quick nap, and we decided to start heading back. I think it was for the best - we got to really slow down and take our time going across the Whitechuck basin. It was incredibly beautiful, and fun, easy walking too. We stopped at every little stream to examine its color, photographed every new plant, and stood in awe of every lake. Uphill was the main problem for Daniel - in this terrain he was able to move well and enjoy every step.

And, as soon as we left Glacier Gap, the clouds started to descend on Dakobed. They only got lower throughout the evening. Even if we had pushed forward, the weather would've turned us around. But down here in the moraine, everything felt perfect. 

Eventually we made it across a nice granite boulder section and climbed up to the grassy ridge. From here we had an amazing view of the iconic peaks of the Alpine Lakes Crest, where we had traversed last year. Technically, that trip was a success and this was not, but I felt almost the opposite. We definitely had room for improvement, but on this route we had better conditions, saw more diverse terrain, and the movement was higher quality.

We didn't go all the way to White Pass, choosing instead to stop at a flat spot along the way with a better view. We ate dinner inside the tent to keep Daniel warm, and then I hiked up to the ridge to watch the sunset alone.

It was a magical evening. Sloan and the Monte Cristo group dominated the foreground, but in the distance I could see everything from Rainier and Mt Daniel in the south to Baker and Shuksan in the north. The dark mass of Glacier Peak loomed large over the basin we had just traversed, now almost completely covered in clouds. All of the other high peaks were perfectly clear, but Dakobed was teaching us a clear lesson of patience.

Day 6

Unfortunately after I crawled in bed the wind began to pick up and we had a horrible night. I hoped we would at least be dry, but it was the opposite. The air was so thick that the breeze plastered the fabric with moisture, which then splattered in our faces with the subsequent flapping. This cycle seemed to repeat endlessly. It was ridiculous.

We skipped breakfast and got moving down to White Pass, then dropped to treeline. The 11 mile exit to the NF Sauk trailhead passed quickly as I told Daniel about my incredible expereince the week prior at the Packraft Roundup.

Once at the trailhead, we went for a cold plunge to get clean and then sat in the shade eating food while we waited for other hikers to show up. After about 90 minutes some older guys named Dave and Mark showed up, and they not only had the coolest car in the parking lot (a little old Ford that Dave had painted blue and purple tie-dye), but they had room for us! Unfortunately, they could only get us to the Mountain Loop highway because they were headed the other direction.

Luckily (for us, not for Noah), right before we hit the Mountain Loop we saw a guy standing by his truck holding jumper cables. Dave stopped and we successfully pushed his truck into the road and jump-started it. His name was Noah, and he was heading out through Darrington and had room for us!

My planning of this Big Beautful Bail had accounted for the fact that I had recently been hanging out with Dan and Liz at their property in Darrington, where they have an assortment of old vehicles I was confident we could borrow to retrieve Hydra. Noah dropped us off and we walked in to find Dan excited to see us and happy to loan us his Highlander. But best of all, he suggested we all go for an evening "hot lap" on the Sauk! I was hoping this would happen. It was very cool to end the trip paddling some of the water we had just visited the source of.