Permits: Three nights: junction camp, cross country Logan zone and Skagit Queen camp
Difficulty: Difficult
Route Name: Fremont glacier route
Snow Level: 6400 ft
Elevation Gain: 10000 ft
Total Miles: 49.00 mi
Gear: Standard glacier. Saw a trip report that mentioned pro for the top so we brought a few things but did not use them.
From Camp to Summit: 6.5 hours
From Summit to Camp: 6.5 hours
Weather: Sunny and warm
Trip stats overall according to Juliet’s Gaia (this is different mileage and elevation than the map shows)
Miles: 49.83 miles
Elevation: 15,009ft ascent
Moving hours: 39 hrs 40mins
Gummy candy required: too many to count
Day 1:
Headed to Marblemount Ranger station in hopes to adjust our initial permit to day 2 in the cross country zone. We got there around 8, found out another group was also planning Logan from a different route, and they offered to adjust plans so we both could have a great trip! Yay! Got our permits and were on our way. Started at Colonial Creek trailhead, where both cougar and bear signs were posted. Our first day was about 11 miles in to Junction Camp. Beautiful sections of wandering trail and green forest floor, was a joy to explore as we worked our way up Thunder Creek.
Our campsite had other campers and deer both interested in sharing our space, but we enjoyed the views of the mountains and played some cards before bed.
Day 2:
From Junction camp, we headed up toward the Logan Cross Country Zone near Park Creek Pass. On the way we stashed a bear cannister at Skagit Queen camp for the third night with some of our food in it, and headed up 4k and 9 miles. On the way we thanked the trail crew who were not only cutting down blowdowns, but also warned us about a wasp nest under the blowdowns (and managed to spray them before we returned). We also saw several remnants of the old mining process deep in this valley (15-20 miles from the trailhead) and maneuvered through several remaining blowdowns from this winters storms. There is one significant river crossing that got up to the knees, and this time I brought lightweight sandals that made it a bit better (and doubled as camp shoes). Made it up into the thunder basin area where views of Buckner and park creek pass over meadows continue to amaze me. Even the second time coming here I am still in awe. The last 20 switchbacks were in midday heat and took some persistence, but we made it to about 6200ft in a basin about 0.5 miles before Park Creek Pass and found spots to camp and a great stream. We did witness some rockfall nearby from a gulley, and several large snow avalanches on the mountains across the way as warm weather melted layers and weak layers gave way. Tony and I took a quick jaunt to Park creek pass to see what we could see before we made dinner, finalized our wake up plan and headed to “bed” for a few hours of rest before our long day ahead.
Day 3: summit day
Last year when I tried this route, I had underestimated timing. The bottom 2k feet of gain has far more route finding, side hilling, sketchy waterfall crossings (3), and boulder field hopping than some routes and the long traverse up from camp should not be underestimated. (If you go for this, having one or more gpx tracks will be incredibly helpful.) This time we planned for a 1am start to give plenty of time, and even with quick movements it took us almost 4 hours to get up 2k to the bottom of the glacier. Luckily this year we timed it better and the glacier looked much more friendly in July than it did last year in August (mostly blue ice and above our pay grade). Our team took in a magnificent sunrise over the Boston glacier, forbidden peak, eldorado, and Buckner as we set up our rope and began the ascent. The glacier travel section was pretty straightforward when it’s not blue ice, but was very firm after a cold evening. I was glad we all brought crampons (and even more glad aluminum ones worked! We made it up to the hogs back feature at the bottom of the rock transition fairly quickly. Some trip reports had this as a point of challenge, but we were able to carefully step from snow to rock, then remove crampons before moving up the steeper rock section. The rock scramble section consists of class 3-4 moves up some steep and some loose rock sections and a series of ledges with a bit of exposure. Similar to the north twin, any class 5 moves may mean you are not on the best route. One trip report mentioned rapping down somewhere or maybe wanting to place gear, so we brought a few things we thought may help, but I didn’t find it helpful or needed for the climb. Once you gain the ridge, you traverse up and around a few small points. We thought we hit the summit and realized we had one more notch to go. Turning back and taking a lower route was the best route to go. Made it to the summit by 8am with a glorious view in all directions thanks to great weather. This summit is one that is in the books for layers of mountains from Baker and Olympics to Rainier and Glacier. We waved over to Glacier, hoping Malia’s team may catch the good summit vibes, ate a snack and headed back down. The return to camp involved just as much technicality as the way up, so it did take quite a long time. We were able to speed up our decent by covering some snow slopes instead of boulder fields. Still took us until 2:30pm to get to camp (13.5 hrs camp to camp for 6.25 miles and 3k elevation). We took a break to refill water, dunk our feet in the small creek and pack up before we headed down another 5ish miles to Skagit Queen camp where our bear cannister waited with dinner. Due to blowdowns and a break after the river crossing we didn’t get there until 7:20pm, so it was a long day (17ish hrs of moving time).
Day 4: While I wanted to sleep in, it was supposed to be hot, so we decided to leave by 8 for our remaining 15 mile descent. Between Skagit Queen and Junction camp there is a 1000 ft hill that feels steep to go down on the approach, and takes a lot of mental and physical energy on the way back out to go up. After Junction camp, the majority of the hike out was pleasant trail, a few steeper downhill sections, several water access points and a few ripe berries. We heard there was a bear and cubs in the area from a ranger, but only saw a family of deer. We got back to the car, dropped our packs and went straight across the parking lot to jump in the lake and cool off. My car said it was 87 degrees!
Overall: this trip has a bit of everything! Amazing views, long slogs, beautiful trail, scramble and glacier. The variety keeps you engaged the whole 49 miles, which is pretty amazing to say! Our entire team was in good spirits at the end and thought that while we wouldn’t want to redo it tomorrow, it was a truly enjoyable trip. Glad to tick this one off the Skagit60 finally!!
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