Cascade Pass

Steven and I had two days off together this weekend so we decided to go hiking..it was a rather last minute decision because he didn't find out until Friday afternoon that rafting was cancelled. Anyway....we stayed up until 11:00 on Friday night packing meals and our gear. The alarm clock went off at 4:00am on Saturday morning and our day began. We both took showers to wake us up and then headed to the bakery so Steven could grab some coffee on the way up the road. We drove up to Car Wash Falls and the Old Wagon Trail where our hike was to begin....light packs for this trip because the evening plan was to stay in the base camp site at Cottonwood Camp. The trail to Cottonwood is about 9 1/2 miles along the old road for most of the way. It was a nice walk...just a little cool when we started our hike at 6:00am. We arrived at Cottonwood around 10:15 and dropped off our packs and sleeping gear at the Tent to Tent site. It is a base camp site set up by Stehekin Adventure Co that guests can reserve (see www.stehekin.biz and scroll down under accommodations and click on Tent to Tent) and fortunately no one was staying there for the night. All we had to bring was food and clothes and my camera of course. We took a little break there and had a snack before continuing on the hike towards Cascade Pass. As we hiked alongside the river, the sun continued to shine to reveal a bright blue sky, small waterfalls showering down towards the river, and beautiful mountain peaks all around. It truly was the perfect day for hiking. We passed several campsites along the way and the entrance to Horseshoe Basin. It took us about 4 hours to hike the 51/2 miles uphill to Cascade Pass and we only stopped for a snack once and took a few breaks to drink water from waterfalls and small water run-offs. We made it to the top of the pass and the view was amazing...looking out to see several snow-stopped mountains. The time was about 2:30 and so we found a large rock to sit on and enjoy lunch. After resting there for about 30 minutes, it was time to start hiking again..downhill this time. The debate was whether to hike into horseshoe basin that evening or wait until the next morning...we decided to go ahead and tough it out and hike into the basin. It was so beautiful!!! I hope we get to go visit there again sometime. We walked around and viewed the waterfalls...then hiked/climbed up a rock slide area to see an old Copper Mine. The Mine is still open (not fenced off) with visible remnants of rooms built inside for the miners to live. The opening goes back several hundred feet and while walking along into the mine..it continues to get colder and darker. We just followed the railroad tracks in and looked at all the prospect holes along the way. It was really neat! I will try to get some pictures uploaded to post soon...no promises though. On the way back out of horseshoe basins....the ache in my legs was increasing. Fortunately we only had another 3 miles to go before returning to the base camp at Cottonwood. We arrived there around 9:00, just in time to cook a hot meal and get ready for bed. The next morning, we woke around 6:00 to have warm oatmeal for breakfast..then begin the 9 mile hike back to were the truck was parked. We both decided Saturday was the perfect day for hiking to the pass because Sunday was a little overcast....and the decision to hike into horseshoe basin on Saturday evening was a good one as well....not so sure the legs would have handled the extra 8 miles that Sunday. The walk home was nice with only a few blisters on my right foot. The best part of Sunday was returning to the truck and driving straight to the bakery to enjoy lunch consisting of a cinnamon roll, ice cream, and a carrot cupcake. Oh it was so good!! The afternoon was reserved for hot showers and a nice long nap as well. Steven and I were thankful to have the weekend off together...and a great weekend it was indeed...inspires us to plan another hiking trip!!