Hiking in the Pacific Northwest

Hike: Sahale glacier camp

Date: 08/19/2015

Distance/Gain: 12.0 miles, 4000 ft. of gain

Highest Point: 7570 ft

Rating: 10/10

Pros: Views, wildlife, everything is a 10+

Cons: Crowds (but they are just day hikers mostly)

It all started with this article; Americas best campsites, highlighted in Backpacker Magazine in May of 2012. Once I saw the beauty of Sahale in the pictures, I immediately added to my life’s bucket list. Fast-forward 3 years later and I am hitting my alarm clock at 4 am, in order to meet our groups 5:15 am meet up time.

Waterfall on the way to the trail head.

I spent a good portion of the last year dropping my pack weight from 31 lbs loaded out to 18.5 lbs the day of the trip, which was to be of help to my new found knee injury that I acquired during the first of my three "prep hikes," up Green Mountain.

At 5:05 Mike, the first of my 3 co-hikers and longtime friend arrived. At around 5:35 Eric and Nick arrived, and after some small talk we got on the road. The trip to the trail head takes roughly 2 hours from our meet up point. Sahale Glacier Camp only has 6 available permits that are on a first come first served basis. Luckily for us Nick went up the day before and secured one (you can only get the permits 24 hrs in advance.) In Marblemount we stopped at the ranger station to pick up our bear canisters. There were about 10 other hikers at the station, and sadly for some the permits to Sahale were already taken.

We then started the 20 mile drive to the trail head. The road is in one of the better conditions that I have seen, my vehicle did just fine even with 4 hikers + gear. In the parking lot you can just about fill your camera with pictures of Johannesburg, and the wild life. It was a pure blue sky day, we couldn’t have asked for anything better.

At around 9:06 am we began our hike. The hike starts out with very long gentle switch backs, around 30 in all. The first section up cascade pass is an easy climb, I heard one hiker comment to a friend on the way down "Just kick back, relax, and let the switch backs do the work for you." You quickly gain elevation, but it doesn’t feel like you have to earn it like on other hikes.

Once you break free of the switch backs you will head straight on a low incline path, that offer some amazing views of the valley and the ridge lines. As we took pictures, a passerby joked "It’s really an eyesore isn’t it?" The Cascade pass is an easy 3.5 mile 1800 ft gain hike, and no matter your physical condition I recommend that you at least make the time to do that portion of the hike. Because as it states on the WTA.org page "Perhaps no other trail in the state delivers as much reward for the effort."

We arrived at the junction to Stehekin and Sahale Arm and decided to take a short break. The sun was beating down unobstructed with no clouds in sight. We all looked down the Valley and were tempted to take a swim in the creek that sparkled under the afternoon sun. Instead we loaded our packs back up and continued up the arm.

This is where the trail really turns into a hike. The worn paths from Cascade pass were just a memory now. Right away you climb upward on a talus field. The trail steeply climbs until you reach the Sahale arm at 6000 feet. From the arm you get your first view of Sahale Peak,
if you know what you are looking for the large rock mounds that sit below it are some of the glacier campsites. If you look down doubtful lake sits below, looking as inviting as anything on a hot summer day. We resisted the temptation to drop to the lake to refill water, and instead continued up the arm, towards the glacier.

As flat as the trail appears in contrast to the climb that you just made from cascade pass, it is surprisingly tiring. I believe the thinner air mixed with the relentless upward push plays a large part in it. On the arm as well as the rest of the hike, every direction you look is a perfect photo opportunity, I joked that I could easily fill my 16 GB memory with the pictures taken.

Nick and I stopped about halfway up to fill our water at a stream, Eric and Mike pushed on for a bit further to do the same. The glacial runoff was ice cold and just what I was looking for to get me to the top.

Final push to the top.

After the "leisurely" hike up the arm we were met with our biggest and final challenge, the rock scramble to the top. We were told "there’s not much of a trail, just look for the cairns." The final push could only be described as climbing up a mix of cocoa powder and loose rocks. Traction was surprisingly slippery during this point of the hike. However while it was steep, I never felt any sense of danger on this hike. With a few good bursts of energy we reached the top, Sahale glacier Camp. Three years of waiting had finally become a reality.

When we got to the top, it was almost hard to spot the camp sites, it is just rocks, mixed in with more rocks. As Nick described it "It feels like we are on Mars." Indeed it was a harsh unforgiving landscape, but none the less beautiful. We approached the first wind wall on one of the 3 large mounds and it was already taken. I quickly bee lined for the second, and it was open! I threw my things down to claim the spot. The guys looked around before following me up to the spot. It was defiantly big enough for 2 tents, but 3 was going to be a stretch. I set mine up, and then relaxed for a bit, hiding from the gusty wind behind the wind wall. Mike and Eric then set up their 2 man tent, and we realized there wasn’t going to be room for a third. Nick opted to sleep under the stars with no tent, and trusted that the weather would not turn on him.

Our Camp site

Once camp was set, we all sat back and admired the ocean of mountain peaks that sat before us. To the east we saw large plumes of smoke from the Chelan complex fire, standing well above the tallest mountains.

Throughout the night, you would see people standing up from there shelters and wind walls, it reminded me of prairie dogs standing guard out of their holes, but in reality just taking in the views.

We enjoyed the sunset, and afterwards being able to see the Milky Way for the first time in years. It seemed every minute that passed a whole other layer of stars appeared, taking up more and more of the night sky. While looking at the stars someone looked over at the smoke plumes from earlier. With the darkness the orange flames back lit the mountains that they were behind, it was an amazing sight. While looking at the fire, we had an unexpected visitor; a Mountain goat (the first one I have ever seen on a hike) walked his way into our camp.

The wind continued to howl throughout the night, but to me it made sleep even more comfortable and it shook my tent, it was almost loud enough to block out the snoring from my hiking partners.

Just a local checking in on us.

I woke up at first light, and was lucky enough to catch the sunrise over the Mountain’s. The clouds had moved in but there was still plenty of blue sky. I made myself a cup of coffee, and watched as the goat made his way over the crest of the Mountain, and directly into our camp. He provided me with some great photo opportunities.

We sat around and ate breakfast, before breaking camp. The way down was not eventful due to the clouds being on top of us, but it brought out the wildlife such as pikas, grouse, and marmots.

All in all it was a trip to remember, and I will. A bucket list item has been accomplished.