Editor's note: This is a supported effort as some Cowgill members joined through Spider Gap before making it an out and back instead of the full loop.
For Cowgill’s October Smooth Mooves we headed out to Glacier Peak Wilderness. This area had been closed for most of the summer due to fires, so we wanted to take advantage of what was likely the only weekend it would be runnable before snow made it impassable. NNormal graciously sent us shoes to test for this run. Nine of us took the Tomirs or Kjerags out for a spin. Not many shoe brands will let you test their gear for 35 miles!
We started around 9 AM and finished just after 6:30 PM, managing to stay in daylight the whole time. A win for mid-October!
As expected, conditions were fairly snowy above ~5,500 ft, with stretches of knee-deep snow that definitely slowed us down through the higher terrain. We stopped for a longer water and food break at Lyman Lake, and there were plenty of creeks to refill from along the way.
The Buck Creek Trail was fairly overgrown in spots and had frequent blowdowns, which made for slower travel on the otherwise runnable final descent. It started to rain a couple of hours before we finished, so the descent from Buck Creek Pass left us all pretty soggy and ready to be done for the day.
Overall, what an excellent loop! There’s plenty of room to shave off time with better trail conditions and fewer photo stops.
Comments
It's really awesome to see people getting out there on that route! Such a special place.