The North Cascades

A weekend in early September had been circled on our calendar since shortly after arriving in Washington. Weekend reservations for established campsites are notoriously a hot commodity in the Washington national park system, with most filling up as soon as they become available 6 months in advance. On a whim one evening, we had decided to check the listings and to our surprise, found the last opening at any of North Cascade National Park campground’s for the remaining weekends of the season. The next few months flew by and before we knew it, we were setting off on a Friday afternoon for Goddell Creek campground!

North Cascades National Park is a relatively little known park in the NPS system. It is the 2nd least visited national park only behind National Park of the American Samoa. This is probably for the best and it is saved by a lack of development and general inaccessibility of many of the major landmarks. Still, it stands as one of the most underrated parks in the country with (per its Wiki), “the most expansive glacial system in the contiguous United States, the headwaters of numerous waterways, and vast forests with the highest degree of biodiversity of any American national park.”

After a scenic 3.5 hour drive and ferry ride across the Puget Sound, we arrived to the campsite on a Friday evening, set up camp, and boiled water for dinner in the remaining light of the day. Head lamps were needed to finish dinner, clean up, and stow away away the scented goods in the supplied bear locker. We played card games in the tent and got some reading in before heading to bed. The overnight lows dipped into the upper 30s but we both stayed comfortable with the right layering and 20 degree sleeping bags.

Driving from our campsite the following morning, I turned off of the pavement and on to a gnarly access road up to the trailhead. This road man….THIS is the stuff of legends! By far the hairiest experience I’ve had driving in Washington thus far. An unrelenting sharp grade over its hour long duration sprinkled with crater sized potholes ready to swallow up any unworthy vehicles. Driving around the obstacles was often not an option due to exposed cliff edges. A small helicopter would be the preferred transportation choice here. We somehow squeaked out the last of the rocky hairpin turns with all tires still inflated and all undercarriage components accounted for.

The hike from the trailhead to our alpine lake destination was a beautiful 5 mile stretch. The ecosystem transitioned from montane forest to subalpine and it was incredibly interesting to observe the diversity of tree, shrub, and mushroom species change with the terrain.

We were drawn to this lake in particular for the views, difficulty, and of course, the ability to break out the fly rod. Prior to the trip, I could find no records of the species contained within the lake but I knew there was a chance that it held the Westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi), given its location within their native range. This is a cutthroat species that has been at the top of my list for some time now, as any long time readers of the blog may remember the Utah Cutthroat Slam days. This particular cutthroat species is not endemic to Utah and was first documented as part of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery expedition. Still, I had low hopes of this lake actually containing them due to the general varying nature of trout species in alpine lakes. If they had been stocked at any point (and most are) with brook trout (non-native to the Western US), then the cutthroat are unable to compete for resources and fade away.

Running into two hikers on the trail with spinning rods strapped to their pack gave me the first insights of what we could expect. To my surprise they reported that they had caught and ate 3 cutthroat trout for dinner the previous night. If their ID was accurate, this could only mean one thing…westslopes!

About two thirds of the way up we ran into a a different group of hikers that warned us of a black bear mom and cub spotted ahead at a fork in the trail near a large berry patch. It had turned them back from summiting a nearby peak. We assessed the situation and decided to continue on, making more noise than usual and always with the can of bear spray at the hip. We saw no sight of bear at the fork in the trail but did enjoy our share of wild berries (what I would later ID as the Cascade Bilberry, Vaccinium deliciosum) They were incredibly sweet and vibrant with its leaves possessing a beautiful shade of red.

Shortly after the trail forked, we were soon at our highest vantage point and at last overlooking the destination in all of its glory. We took in these sights before making the steep traverse down to the water. Eventually we did make it to the bottom and enjoyed a nice lunch of tuna, crackers, and dried mango slices at the water’s edge while trout picked flies off the lake’s surface – a favorite sight of mine.

After finishing lunch, I tied on a golden stonefly imitation and launched casts towards the surface breaks. This took some getting used to as most of the streams I fish don’t require long casts and proved difficult with the steep boulder field behind me. Shortly after, the strikes started to follow and soon I was tied into my first trout of the trip. I could see flashes of bright red through the crystal clear water as it came closer. My anticipation grew that this could indeed be a westslope! My hunch was confirmed as it met my net and I was ecstatic at the prospect of a new trout species. I observed its magnificent coloration as it laid submerged in the net.

More trout soon followed, a sampling of more Westslope cutthroat and rainbow/cutthroat hybrids known as cutbows. Jill and I both caught our fair share of trout, and most excitingly, all of them rising to a dry fly.

The weather graciously held out for fishing but started to turn during our hike out. Once the rain started, it would continue for the duration of the 5 miles back, through the next night and packing up the following morning.

Back at camp, we ate a dehydrated dinner of chicken coconut curry (seriously tasted gourmet!) under an awning on the banks of the Skagit River while watching the rain fall before retreating back to our tent to play Go Fish and retell stories about the day. A perfect end to our first summer in Washington.