Sat, Aug 15 2026 - Chasing Shimmers on Sapphire Lakes - North Cascades (View Original Event Details)
|  |
Pohoto album contributions by all, and will be updated with more photos every day.
1st Hike: Maple & Heather Pass Trails: A paved path leads to Rainy Lake, easing you into the climb. Within a mile, the forest closes in, and the real climb begins: three miles of switchbacks through shadowed timber. The trees reveal their secrets at the end, with a canopy breaking to reveal ridgelines and granite peaks. The trail turns generous, easing along the ridge’s spine past wildflower slopes and Lake Ann. It leads to Heather Pass, a wide, wind-brushed saddle where the North Cascades unfold. The way down is quieter, a long, gradual descent.
2nd Hike: Cascades Pass & Sahale Arm: The trail begins in a shadowed forest. The cool, green air reduces the world to switchbacks climbing steadily toward the light. Patience prevails as the trees thin and the switchbacks stack until the forest opens. Rockfields give way to Cascade Pass, surrounded by Johannesburg Mountain, Magic Mountain, Mixup Peak, and Cache Glacier. El Dorado Peak rises behind, a threshold between forest and sky. The trail turns north, switchbacking up a steep slope. Marmots escort you through meadows. The trail crests a rounded shoulder revealing Sahale Mountain. Its glacier spills silver meltwater down three thousand feet to a lake. The final stretch is a half mile of scree and broken rock, a scatter of flat ground against the wind at the glacier’s old moraine. From here, the world spider beyond Cascade Pass, Buckner reaching east to Storm King and Goode. It’s a place that feels, at that height, barely of this earth.
Calendar of Events
Event Places