North Cascades 2016

For the centennial of the National Park Service, I decided to avoid the crowds and go to one of the less visited parks in the system.  North Cascades National Park in Washington State is the fourth least visited, behind Gates of the Arctic (AK), Lake Clark (AK), and Isle Royale (MI).

Not far from Seattle, North Cascades is a remote jewel.  My trip to the Stehekin valley required a four-hour boat trip up 55 miles of Lake Chelan.  North Cascades boasts the most number of glaciers in the contiguous U.S., but even these are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Meltwater from glaciers and snowfields produces a myriad of cascading creeks, streams, and waterfalls that supply the park with its namesake.

The trip focused on two multi-day backpacking itineraries.  The first was along the South Fork Agnes Creek Trail to the Suiattle Pass and back.

This first portion of the trip followed part of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) through the Glacier Peaks Wilderness managed by the U.S. Forest Service.  Numerous PCT "through-hikers" put me to shame.  Most of these hikers were younger than I by 15-20 years.  More like elves than humans, I'm not sure their feet were even touching the ground.  Having started the 2,659-mile PCT in Mexico in spring and traveling 25-35 miles a day, the through-hikers I met were less than 90 miles from their final goal in Canada.  I was content to hike my forty miles in four days.

One of the highlights on the trail to Suiattle Pass was being able to hear and see several pikas.  Living amid the rocks above treeline, pikas are being challenged by climate change.  Last year at Glacier NP, I did not see or hear any pikas.  At North Cascades, they seemed to be showing off!

The second itinerary was to the Park Creek Pass and back.  Since the PCT veers northeast, this portion was much quieter.  On this trip, I covered thirty-five miles in three days.  The most difficult part was the 1,000-ft rise in one mile from Park Creek Camp to Two Mile Camp.  But the challenge was worth it.  Majestic views of Mount Booker and Mount Buckner encouraged me to press on to the pass.    

The alpine meadow just south of Park Creek Pass was especially lovely and worthy of a root beer barrel stop.  Like a prairie, pictures cannot convey the intimate quiet beauty of a meadow.  The surrounding mountains, however, provide a mighty frame for the high altitude fields with colorful alpine wildflowers.  

After enduring challenges on the trail, the little village of Stehekin provided many comforts.  With views of beautiful Lake Chelan, rooms at the North Cascade Lodge were very comfortable.  Karl Gaskill sells fresh organic vegetables and homestyle goat cheese at The Garden.  High marks go to the Stehekin Pastry Company, which specializes in homemade cinnamon rolls and sticky buns, filled savory croissants, breads and cookies, and my personal favorite - Robbie Courtney's special "egg-in-a-biscuit."  Stehekin means "way through" but to me, it means rest and relaxation.

Southernmost Illinois Spring 2016

Spring comes to southernmost Illinois a few weeks earlier than the northeastern corner where I live.  Itching for some hiking and paddling, I planned a trip to the Shawnee Hills and Cache River basin.  The landscape of southern Illinois is unique because it lies at the convergence of four physiographic provinces: coastal plains (south), Ozark plateau (west), low interior plateau (east), and the central lowlands (north).

The trip involved camping in the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge.  Most wildlife refuges do not permit camping, but there are 8 campsites on Crab Orchard's Devil's Kitchen Lake.  The blossoming dogwoods laced the forest.  It rained a lot the first night, but I love the sound and smell of rain when I am tucked in a dry tent and warm sleeping bag.

The bird sightings at Devil's Kitchen were fantastic.  Among 40 species I observed in the campsite, the highlights were common loons, osprey, pileated woodpecker, summer tanager, eastern whip-poor-will, barred owl, and great horned owl.

A morning hike at Ferne Clyffe State Park yielded otherworldly rock formations covered with ferns.  Again, the birding was excellent, including black vulture, wild turkey, Louisiana waterthrush, and several other warblers.  Best bird species was a pair of worm-eating warblers.  The wildflowers were also spectacular, including mayapple, squirrel corn, dwarf larkspur, and jack-in-the-pulpits.  There was even a morel mushroom on the trail.  

One of my favorite places in the Cache River basin is Heron Pond Nature Preserve, a national natural landmark.  A short walk along the river leads to a secluded cypress paradise.  Best bird was the white-eyed vireo, which I initially misidentified by ear as gray catbird.  It was competing for attention with a flurry of prothonotary warblers.  The visit to Heron Pond was part of an outing with the Illinois chapter of the Nature Conservancy.  Two venerable retired IDNR staff reminisced with our group about acquiring this special place to protect it.           

The activities concluded with a canoe trip through the Buttonland Swamp of the lower Cache River, which has been the home of Illinois' champion bald cypress tree for over 1,000 years.  The Cache River watershed contains 91% of Illinois' high-quality swamp/wetland habitat and is recognized as a wetland of international importance.  One key conservation goal is reconnecting two parts of the Cache artificially separated by the Post Creek Cut Off, a ditch completed in 1916.  The Nature Conservancy is hoping to facilitate the reconnection through the Grassy Sough Preserve with federal and state partnerships.  Without the natural flow from the upper Cache, the lower Cache accumulates silt that threatens the long-term health of trees and aquatic animals.