Louis Creek High Route

The Louis Creek High Route (Crowder, D.F. and Tabor, R.W., 1965, Routes and Rocks; Hiker's Guide to the North Cascades from Glacier Peak to Lake Chelan; The Mountaineers, Seattle, 235 pp.) is located about 8 miles east of Glacier Peak and 22 miles north of Stevens Pass in Washington State. It connects the Napeequa River trail and the High Pass High Route.

Our approach was via the Chiwawa River Road and trail 1518. The trail begins with a ford, straightforward in September, of the Chiwawa River. The trail is in fair condition to Little Giant Pass. Descending to the Napeequa River Valley, the trail is eroded and overgrown in places. On the valley floor, the trail is difficult to follow in two or three places. The Louis Creek High Route leaves the trail at 4700'. The initial ascent to the Louis Creek Basin is steep and covered with annual vegetation. Above 6000', it becomes much easier.

Brian and Barb at Little Giant Pass (6408'). The view is east with Chalangin Peak behind Barb. 1999.09.22

The Napeequa River Valley is a high valley east of the Cascade Crest and Glacier Peak. East of Little Giant Pass, the valley floor (4200') is mostly open albeit with occasional dense thickets of alder. The area is blanketed by ash from eruptions of Glacier Peak. 1999.09.26.

This 180 degree wide mosaic is of the Clark Mountain complex viewed from the northeast from 0.2 miles west of Louis Creek Falls (6040'). Clark Mountain (8602') is the highest peak. The Clark Glacier is on the left. Richardson Glacier is below and to the right of the peak. Luahna Peak (8450') is the distinct peak to the right of Clark. The Piltz Glacier is below and to the right of the summit. To the right of Luahna is the broad summit of Chalangin Peak (8350'). To the right and behind Chalangin is the Moth Glacier on the east flank of Ten Peaks Mtn. At the far right is the head of the Napeequa River Valley. 1999.09.23

It is difficult to find shelter from the wind in the Louis Creek Basin (6000'). This camp (6800') is in the saddle between Mt. Berge and Buck Mountain leeward of a larch grove. The lower east face of Mt. Berge (7948') is in the background. Cold, windy and threatening to snow much of the day, it snowed lightly that night. 1999.09.23

Striking volcanic ash dunes and ridges are evident in the Louis Creek Basin and the west slopes of Buck Mountain (8528'). A prominent ridge on a high snowfield leads to the summit (center). This image was taken 0.8 mile south of Mt. Berge at 7800'. 1999.09.24

Travel north on the south ridge of Mt. Berge was more exposed and slower than we expected from Crowder and Tabor (op. cit.). About 0.5 miles south of Mt. Berge, we abandoned the ridge and descended west reaching the trail at about 6000'. We set up camp late in the day at about 6200' south of High Pass. The night was noteworthy for high winds and a foot of snow. Rather than continuing north over High Pass to Buck Creek Pass, we descended south to the Napeequa River.

Below 5500', the route to the valley floor passes though thickets of alder brush. Following the route was difficult with the ground covered with snow. It was necessary to backtrack several times. Near the Napeequa River, the ground was bare although wet snow continued to fall.

This graph shows our progress over Little Giant Pass on the following day (data from previous days were not saved). A clothing adjustment break occurred at the pass. On the east side of Little Giant Pass, a late lunch accounts for the pause at 4790'. The South Fork of Little Giant Creek crossing is at 4000'. Subsequently, it is about 0.6 miles before the trail resumes its descent. These data were logged by an altimeter watch. 1999.09.26

This graph shows our climbing rate averaged over 30 minutes. The peak climbing rate was 1200 ft/hour. The peak descent rate was almost 1900 ft/hour.

Brian and Barb pose east of Little Giant Pass at about 6000'. The conditions contrast with those three days earlier at this location (see first image). Brian's metaphor was Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. 1999.09.26

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