Cascade Pass to Sahale Arm

Jocelyn Timmermans
Oct 3, 2024
2 min read

Updated: Oct 7, 2024

Sept. 30, 2024 -- North Cascade National Park

Stats: 16 km / 917m gain / 1866m high / 5.5 hours MT

This hike far surpassed my expectations -- and my expectations were high. Me and my Fujifilm X-T2, felt like a kid in a candy store. There was so much to see! Looming granite cliffs accented by a slight dusting of white with glaciers wedged between them. Rolling hills with brilliant autumn colors and the emerald green Doubtful Lake nestled in Sahale Arm. No wonder they call this "the most popular day hike in all of the North Cascades".

Hike # 2 in a 3-day trip

By 8:00am we were in an almost full parking lot. Probably due to backpackers. At 1110m, we already had amazing views of Cascade Peak + Johannesburg Mountain, even before we started hiking!

Forbidden Glacier -- north.

Cascade Peak (2250m) & Johannesburg Mt (2438m) -- west

squirrel ptarmigan

Cascade Pass (5.5km in) overlooking the valley of Pelton Creek.

The Triplets (2103m) to the left -- southwest.

Sahale Glacier.

Doubtful Lake (1641m) -- east.

Pocket glaciers on the Triplets.

Doubtful Lake flows into the reknown Lake Chelan.

south

There's more than 300 active glaciers in North Cascade National Park.

Sahale Peak to the right -- north.

We stopped here, not wanting to risk falling on the icy trail.

We had lunch on the last grass-covered knoll before the steep climb to the glacier. But it was too cold in the wind. So we did not linger long and retreated to just past Doubltful Lake.

Wow!!!

I managed to get within 20' of this mountain goat. But as soon as three other hikers joined me, he took off.

I struggled with my numb hands. Between pulling my mittens off & putting them back on, I still managed to get a few clear shots.

Denise found this warm spot where we relaxed and gazed. It even had a hidden spot in the stunted evergreens so we could relieve ourselves. This was an important feature as there were many people on the trail.