Ranking: 4/5 The Stiletto Lake area with all the gold larches and white granite makes this trip all worth while, as does the off trail scramble to reach Copper Pass, through the beautiful stands of glowing golden larches, but the rest of the hike becomes somewhat of a slog, as the majority of it is in the tree line. Still, reaching the lake makes this a worthy trip, if not the whole loop…
Difficulty: 7/10 Two of the three days are short, less than 7 miles getting in and out, but the middle day is almost 14 miles, (at least it was for us, as we had to backtrack!), and the TOPO maps here are considerably off, by almost a mile! The junction that leads down to the PCT on the TOPO map is not where it really is, so please take note of this! Otherwise, you’ll be doing what we did, and have to either walk a long way back, or head off cross country to get back on track. Needless to say, the trails here are not well marked…There are limited places around the lake to camp, so it’s best to get here early. Also, the route we took has a lot of off trail scrambling, so it’s necessary to have some route finding skills when following this loop!
Getting here: Drive Highway 20 (the Methow Valley Highway) to Twisp, and in town, after getting your permit to camp at the Methow Valley Ranger Station, turn west onto W 2nd Ave, which turns into the Twisp River road, and drive 25 miles to its end and a large Trailhead parking lot with a bathroom. Another .6 miles further up the road is the Roads End CG, if you want to spend the night.
Maps: There are the Green Trails maps #82, or if you prefer, create your own using the My TOPO map service.
Permits: As this is in the North Cascades National Park complex, you will need a permit to camp at Fireweed Camp, and a backcountry permit to stay at Stiletto Lake, which you can get at the Methow Valley Ranger Station in Winthrop, about 8 miles from Twisp. Will need a Northwest Forest Pass or equivalent to park at the TH, and there is no fee for the permit, but will still need to have one to camp overnight in the backcountry, see this website for the North Cascades, https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/fees.htm
Stiletto Peak Loop GPS Data pending
Our last hike for the season, and after watching the weather report for the area, we were a little concerned. Let’s just say we packed warm, with rain gear…Friday was supposed to be the worst of the days out, with forecasted rain and wind late into Saturday…But, we were determined to go ahead with our plans, anyway…
Day 1
6.62 miles, 3451ft gain/256ft loss, Fitbit Steps: 24,247 Possibly our lowest mile day for the entire season, and a good thing, as we had to drive from Puyallup to Winthrop to pick up our backcountry permit, a drive that took us a little over 5 hours…Kinda like driving from here to Whistler, for cryin’ out loud!
After picking up our permit, via a phone conversation with the ranger in the North Cascades Natl. park WIC center, a requirement since Stiletto Peak is just barely inside the National park boundary, we drive back to Twisp, and 25.5 miles up the Twisp River Road, passing by some of the latest wildfire damage along the way…Sad to see, and there were a few homes torched, and others covered with red retardant, the result of the attempt to save homes and property, which from what we could see was largely successful.
About 8 miles from Roads End CG, we hit gravel, an unsurfaced road that for the most part was in good shape, except for extreme sections of wash boarding…At Roads End CG there was supposedly a place to park near the trailhead. Well, we drove through the CG with 4 spaces, and didn’t see any signed TH or any designated parking, so drove back the short half mile distance to the official TH parking, and I must say, for the additional 5 to 10 minutes you will have to walk, this is definitely the best place to start your trek. It’s a large parking lot, with signage and a pit toilet.
On the trail by 1pm, a really late start for us…The trail starts out level and smooth , but gradually climbs with good firm tread path, and along the way, you’ll pass the Roads End CG, and see the small spur trail that leads from the CG to this trail, #432. Staying on this trail, it goes for about 2 miles to where you come to a trail junction with Copper Pass, which turns right. Stay left across a nice log foot bridge to stay on trail #432 to Twisp Pass, a bridge that goes over the North Fork of the Twisp River…Although, I would have to say it looks more like a creek than a river…
“…as if they were lit match heads lined up in rows along the hillsides…”
Through pine and fir forest, the trail continues its steady uphill, up around the ridgeline, and to a large rock outcropping which will give you westerly sightlines up the South Fork Twisp River valley to the leading edges of Hock and Twisp Mountains. Fall colors are in full display, with veins of gold, orange and scarlet leading up the sides of the slopes, as if the mountains had been gashed, and were bleeding multi colors. Very vivid! And, in the distance, you can see the golden larch glowing in the sunlight, as if they were lit match heads lined up in rows along the hillsides. Seems we got here at the right time for the larch to be full glory, something we were really hoping for…
“In other words, don’t be walkin’ and gawkin’ at the same time, or you might be eatin’ dirt…”
Continuing on, the trail continues to dodge in and out of the trees along this ridge until the 3.5 mile mark, where it breaks out into the open along a rocky section of the ridgeline. The trail here is cut into the side of the rock across a large talus field of boulders, very steep in places, and you’ll be looking straight down into the Twisp River drainage. From this point to your cut-off to Stiletto Lake, is mostly open ridgeline, with the trail becoming noticeably more rocky and uneven. Still easy to follow, just a little more concern needs to be given to foot placement…In other words, don’t be walkin’ and gawkin’ at the same time, or you might be eatin’ dirt…Or rock, if you’re not so fortunate…
And, there’s lots to gawk at, especially with the gold highlights of larch on the distant peaks and ridgelines opposite. Color is everywhere; even here on the trail as the salmon berry brush has changed to yellow, complementing the scarlet hues of huckleberry brush which has painted large swaths of red along the slopes as well.
We reach the turn-off to Stiletto Lake, our destination for the night, at 4.62 miles, (BM of 6064 on the map, and 6040 on the GPS, but…Who’s keeping score, right??) where there is a nice sign welcoming you to the North Cascades National Park. This is Twisp Pass, and we turn right here on an unmarked boot path that leads up along this open ridge to a signpost at 4.91 miles, that says no livestock. You can see it’s been used as a scratch post for deer or elk, its once square edges now shredded to a more rounded look…If you were to continue along the trail straight, believe it leads to a small tarn, but, we were in a hurry, so we turned left here at the signpost, and continued our journey to Stiletto Lake. We were in a hurry for a couple good reasons…First, the promised bad weather, that had yet to change to bad, and the fact that we had gotten a late start. So far, the weather wasn’t an issue, still fairly warm but with a slightly colder wind starting to blow, but the fact that we had little daylight left, left us in a hurry to get there…
About a half mile below the lake, you will start running into small grassy meadows with larch, and they did not disappoint. They were, of course, the main reason we left this hike to the last one of the season, and we were rewarded with full colors, the trees having completely changed from their summer coat to their fall…It was hard to not stop and record the event…
“It was as if they were electrified, glowing brilliantly in the receding light…”
Finally, below the ridge that hid the lake from view, you hit a small meadow with shattered white granite boulders strewn out in a long pile, as if someone had overturned a bowl of sugar cubes, and here were large stands of larch, all glowing brightly in the collected sunbeams that remained. It was as if they were electrified, glowing brilliantly in the receding light. More picture taking ensued…Finally, knowing we were close, we tackled the remaining steep uphill to the lake, and then quickly scouted around, trying to find the best campsites for our three tents…The darkening clouds had now gathered on the peaks that made the cliffs that surrounded the lake here, creating a huge granite bowl. It was hard to really appreciate the beauty of the place at the moment, as the cold wind blew insistently at us, and being sweaty from the days march, it cooled us down fast. Too fast for our taste…
We found a flat spot, and quickly set up tents, having to hold down the ground tarps with rocks as the wind blew. As soon as tents were up, the next priority was to get dry clothes on. I may have waited too long, for about half of my fingers were now white, with no feeling or blood left in them. No matter how hard I tried, either rubbing them together rapidly as if I was trying to start a fire without tinder, or putting them in my armpits to get them warm, I was unsuccessful at generating enough heat to get feeling back..
“…and after a painful few minutes or so, I was ready to contribute to us getting edible, digestible substance into our guts…”
Managing somehow to pull on dry clothes, we set about getting water for dinner, and wearing pretty much everything we had brought with us, we started cooking. Well, first, there was the chore of heating water to put in a baggy so that I could hold it, in hopes of getting the blood flowing through numb fingers again…That worked, and after a painful few minutes or so, I was ready to contribute to us getting edible, digestible substance into our guts…
Dinner done before it got dark was an accomplishment, and after all the chores were done, we set down to relax with a cup of Fireball, but…The weather had other ideas…It started raining…With a few snowflakes thrown in for good measure.
“…spent the night trying to evict us from the ledge here at Stiletto Lake…That’s real nice, Clark!”
It was a dark and stormy night…The kind of night you want to be home in front of a cozy fire, watching the firelight flicker and dance around the warm room while the storm raged outside…Instead, we were here, forced to huddle inside our hastily erected tents hiding from the wind lashed rain and snow that spent the night trying to evict us from the ledge here at Stiletto Lake…That’s real nice, Clark!
Throughout the night, the wind blew, at times hard enough to push the sidewalls in to touch you, with a constant raining and the sound of ice hitting the tent on occasion, more of a clicking sound than a splat from a raindrop…It truly was a dark and stormy night…
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Hello, and thanks! Yes, I had to hire a designer, too much for me to get started, thats for sure…I still have a lot of trips, videos, reviews, etc. to add, been a little overwhelmed with how long it all takes, but getting there!
I used Upwork.com to hire a freelancer.
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Thank you so much! I just recently updated my site, and this is definitely one of the things I have yet to add…Been a little behind in doing all of the uploading of content, etc. Hopefully, I will get this done soon. Right now, in the planning stages for hikes this year.
Again, thank you! Hopefully, you will continue to check back in as I add new articles!
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Thanks! Had to have a developer do the heavy lifting for me, but I’m currently adding new content as soon as I can, still have quite a bit of content to add…
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Wow, thank you for the incredible praise! I am honored, and humbled…Thank you so much! Happy to see that there are people out there reading!!!
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Hello! I would reply to you by your name, but unfortunately, I do not read Russian…I would be honored if you share this with your zynga group! Glad you like the site! Going on new trips this year, so there will be new content then, and I hope to include gear reviews, and videos soon! Again, thanks for your interest!
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Yes, I have! Just recently added a video to the Goat Rocks Traverse, hope to add more soon, as well as a page of short videos of some of the hikes that I thought were most excellent! Also, hope to add some product reviews of some gear that we use that we think others would benefit from, and some gear that didn’t quite meet expectations…Again, thanks for the nice review!
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Thank you, glad you like it! Just added a new hike, the Goat Rocks, have a couple more planned so there will be a few more this year, as long as the fires here don’t shut everything down…