Backpack - Gothic Basin

We'll carpool Saturday morning up to the trail head off of Mountain Loop Highway, it's about a 2 hour drive.  We'll try to be there for 10am. Carpools will be coordinated via email a few days prior.

This trip is open to all club members over age 18, but is part of the Foothills Branch "B3" Backpacking Building Blocks course, and successful completion will provide credit toward B3 course graduation requirements. Since this backpack is part of B3, emphasis will be placed during the trip on coaching and review of key trail skills and gear usage.

We'll start our climb and it starts going up fast. We'll have the whole day to make it, so we won't be in a rush. The entire route after gaining a thousand feet or so offers peak-a-boo views of the North Cascades. We'll stop along the way for lunch.

By mid to late afternoon I expect we'll be in the basin. We'll find places for us to camp,and have dinner watching the alpenglow on the peaks to the North. Time pending we can explore the lakes and Foggy Pass Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. After coffee and breakfast on Sunday, we'll decide as a group what to do for a few hours, then descend and head home.

There is one stream crossing that may prove difficult and might require some terrain negotiation. It's likely we'll also encounter snow on the trail and possibly in the basin so micro spikes will be required of all. Trekking poles also recommended. This trail has a lot of elevation gain, so it's expected this will not be your first hike of the season.

It's still too early to tell, but if there is still a lot of snow in the basin, we'll figure out an alternate destination. For weather, a bad forcast cancels.