Glacier Peak Wildernes 6 day backpacking trip

"Day 4: Image Lake to campsite on Suiattle River trail.
Day 5: Out to second car at Suiattle River parking lot."

John,

The Suiattle River Road has been closed for at least 8 years now and as far as I know is still closed. One of the results of this is that no maintenance has been done on most of the trails in the area, and you are liable to encounter a lot of blow down along the Suiattle River Trail and probably coming down from Image Lake as well. Even if you were willing to face that hassle, the Suiattle River Road is closed at ~mile 6, which would leave you with about 16 miles of road hiking to get to a prepositioned car. Some people have ridden bikes as far as the Downey Creek bridge(approach ramp washed out) and hiked the last 2 miles on out and back hikes, but a point to point hike would make that much more difficult to set up. It would be wise to call the Darrington Ranger Station to get the latest information on the condition of the road and trails before committing to an exit there.

RS phone number: (360) 436-1155

I did the Spider Meadow/Image Lake/Buck Creek Pass loop quite a few years ago. Buck Creek Pass, to me, was the climax of the whole trip! Plan to stay a day and day hike southward towards High Pass. At least take the quick trip over to Flower Dome, sit there among the fragrant lupine eating your dinner to watch the sunset and (if the right time) moonrise over Glacier Peak.

Yes, the last 9 miles from the pass down to Trinity are relatively dull, but the (rather strenuous with a lot of up and down) section from Image Lake to Buck Creek Pass, as well as the area at the pass, going from amazing old growth forest to the alpine, is outstanding.

Plus, it's a lot more convenient to have your trailheads only a couple of miles apart!

From what I've read on nwhikers.net, the Siuattle River Road will be closed even to bike and foot traffic this year as they are finally (!) working on repairs.

The only black flies encountered on that trip were at Spider Gap while we waited for the snowfield to get sufficiently soft (our super-cautious trip leader waited until it was downright mushy).

Absolutely go out via Buck Creek Pass. It is one of the highlights of the trip. Middle Ridge is really cool. Camp up top at Buck Creek and take the time to hit Flower Dome in the evening and also take the time to hit Liberty Cap and High Pass.

I also fell in love with Miners Ridge. We camped at Lady's Camp and was one of the best spots in the world!!

Thanks to everyone for the information. I can not wait to do the trip.

What dates are you going?

Sunday Sept 7- Saturday Sept 12, 2014

I'm doing a very similar trip starting on July 28th for 5 nights with my brother and our teenage sons. I'm curious for those that have done this trip whether I can hammock camp every night or should I be prepared to go to the ground?

Any advice on what I should expect with bugs this time of year?

if you are interested in the trails on the west side including the PCT and the trails running off to the west both north and south of the peak, I did most of them in a week long trip a couple years ago.

I'm currently planning on doing the Spider gap to Buck Gap loop but I'm open to other options. The other trip I had considered was the Copper Ridge loop up in the north cascades NP. What trails did you do and can you share some of your thoughts?

"The other trip I had considered was the Copper Ridge loop up in the north cascades NP."

If you end up doing this loop, and don't mind getting your feet wet, crossing the Chiliwack River and humping your way up onto Easy Ridge via a climbers trail is well worth the effort. The views are spectacular, among the best in the Cascades, and there are good campsites along a well defined trail that runs out as far as "Perfect Impasse". Beyond that, the going becomes a sporting proposition, but no need to continue. By then, you will have gotten your money's worth.