Twisp, McAlester & South Passes

This was a great loop! The road to South Creek trailhead is in good condition. South creek trail had only a little snow near the top. It is a long hot trail to the top. Water sources may dry out later in the summer. There was still snow at McAlester Lake and a lot of soggy ground from melting snow. We saw very few other people on this trip. Our group encountered both a porcupine and a black bear with 2 cubs on the McAlester Creek trail. All fords had logs to cross on or rocks. The intersection of McAlester Creek and Twisp Pass trail is not signed well.

We had very few bugs on the trip. On the Twisp Pass trail, about a mile before Dagger Lake, we encountered a very large avalanche area with thousands on downed trees and an obvious avalanche chute. It was very impressive. It was at least several years old, since some of the trees had been logged. This section of the trail had lots of bear scat piles. The snow here was almost solid for the last mile before Dagger Lake, but we were able to follow tracks. The ranger station said Dagger Lake was full, but there was no sign that anyone had been there. There was so much snow still at the camp that it was hard to find a dry place to put a tent. Closer to Twisp Pass,several of the snow crossings were more difficult and really had to watch your footing. The snow had pretty much melted out at Twisp Pass and very little snow left out to the trail head. Twisp Pass was a georgeous trail to hike down. A great trip!