hike plan: Icicle Ridge to Augusta Lake
Hi folks,
There was still a bit too much snow up in the Mt Baker National Forest, so a couple days ago I took the Amtrak over Stevens Pass to Leavenworth WA, where it’s hot and dry. I’m at the Leavenworth Library right now, but right after I post this I’ll be heading west out of town on a 5-day solo hike along Icicle Ridge into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
The hike will be a classic out-and-back up the Icicle Ridge trail to Lake Augusta, starting at the Icicle Ridge trailhead and staying on the same trail (Trail 1570) for the duration. Here’s my itinerary:
Fri, Aug 12. Destination: the top of Steep Creek (5200′ elevation)
This will be the big climbing day. I don’t want to push it too hard the first day out, so I’ll be looking for a place to camp as soon as I reach the top of Icicle Ridge. It looks like the area above Steep Creek is where the trail begins to level out.
Sat, Aug 13. Destination: Cabin Creek (5000′ elev)
It’s about 11 miles NW along the ridge to Cabin Creek. About 3 miles into that is the high-point at 7029′, then the rest of the day will be a gradual downhill.
Sun, Aug 14. Destination: Lake Augusta (6854′) and back again
Lake Augusta is another 3 or 4 miles up the trail, in the shadow of Big Jim Mountain. The latest ranger report says that the trail is clear but there are still banks of melting snow around.
Depending on the conditions I’ll either camp there for a night or hike back down to Cabin Creek in the afternoon.
Mon, Aug 15. Destination: the top of Fourth of July Creek (6800′ elev)
Still on Icicle Ridge, headed back SE towards town.
There appears to be an alpine meadow at the top of Trail 1579 above Fourth of July Creek. That seems like a nice place to spend my last night on the ridge.
Tues, Aug 16. Destination: back to Icicle Ridge trailhead (1200′ elev)
About 8 miles east, all downhill, back to the spot where I started just outside of town.
I haven’t hiked in this area before and I’m unsure if there will be cellular coverage, so I wanted to make sure I posted this all in advance. I’ll have food for 6 days, so if I don’t check in on Twitter until Wednesday Aug 15, don’t worry; I’m just taking my time.
(If you still haven’t heard from me by Thus Aug 16, then please alert the Ranger Station, but I think that will be very unlikely. The 5-day weather forecast is completely clear, with lowland temps in the 80s, cooling down to high-70s next week.)
See ya Tuesday!
