09/08/07, Saturday morning, we left Redmond at around 7am. After we turned off from Hwy 2, we made a stop at Plain, a tiny village with one general store. We fed ourselves with sanwiches and coffee. We then drove off to Phelps Creek Trailhead. The Forest Service roads around here are a rather complex web. I’m glad I read the driving directions carefully and I had a map with me. The last one hour of driving is on unpaved roads. Some sections are very very rough. All-wheel-drive high clearance vehicles are recommended for peace of mind. There are many well built campgrounds along the way. If we need to take off from the trail head early next time, we would camp here. As I can recall, the last two camp grounds are Nineteen Mile and Alpine Meadows, for future reference.

At 11:30am, we take off from the trail head (3500 feet). After 3.5 miles, the trail crosses Leroy Creek. We arrived the south end of Spider Meadow (4800 feet) in 5.5 miles, at 1:00pm. There, we had a little snack and chatted with a couple who were on their day 8. We asked a little about the trail condition. There are a bunch of campsites at the south end of the meadow. There is also a map of campsites here.

The trail leads to the north end of the meadow in about 1 mile. It corsses Phelps Creek near the end. The water is very low late in the season. But I have read trip reports early in the season saying that it’s hard to cross. If it is the case, camp here and cross it in the morning. The trail begins to climb after it ascends into the woods. About a quater mile to half mile later, there is a turn-off to Phelps Basin. The elevation here is about 5300 feet and there is a sign. This is the last chance to camp before Larch Knob. The trail ahead is steeper and Larch Knob is colder and windier. If you want a comfortable place to stay overnight, this is where to stop.

The trail then switches back on a steep slope that brings us to 6200 feet, almost out of timerline. There is a toilet sign pointing to the right. On the left, there are a few trees with a relatively flat area, enough for 3 or 4 tents. This is the Larch Knob campsites. This area is very dusty. However, access to water is very convenient. Spider Glacier is within 100 feet away. The trail to the toilet leads up the hill. Up on the hill, there is a larger meadow that can accomodate more tents. I suppose it’s less dusty and windy. However, when we got there, it was already taken.

We camped here at around 4pm. Yes it took us more than 4 hours to get here. But do not get me wrong. This is not a tough trail. Actually it is quite easy. It is very well maintained and flat till the last section, which is not that bad either. We took it very slowly because I had not recovered from a brutal 6-hour mountain bike ride on Thursday and we totally had no time pressure.

The temperature drops pretty soon after the sun moves over the valley. Lack of rest and deprived of sleep, I felt asleep even before it got dark. It was pretty gusty in the night. I can hear the wind blowing into the gap making high pitch sounds.

We were on a very loose schedule, so we didn’t get up till the wind dwindled. We took our time to cook breakfast, waiting for the sun to climb over the ridge bringing warmth to our campsite. We left the campsite at around 9am and hit Spider Glacier. The glacier has degraded so much that it is mostly just a snowfield. The snow is a little hard and sliipery in the morning. But in general it is not steep nor exposed. An ice axe prooved useful, but a pair of trekking poles would also do a good job. There is no deep snow in the late season. Gaiters are not needed. Spider Gap is at 7100 feet. The climb up took us 1 hour. Then we descended on Lyman Glacier, on the northwest side of the gap. The total descent is about 1200 feet, half of which is on the snow. This is the far end of the glacier, there is hardly any ice, but mostly snow (at least it is the case in the season). There are too many exposed rocks for glissading. Do not attempt in late season. Below the snowfield, it’s a moraine with the galcier retreated. Be careful with the loose rocks. The easiest way is go toward a small knoll below the snow, pick up the trail marked by cairins from there. The trail follows a small creek runnin into Upper Lyman Lake.

At the lakeshore, the view is stunning! You can see the whole Lyman Glacier, with its snort on the edge of the lake. The snort forms a high ice wall by the lake, heavily crevassed, glowing ligh blue. Ice chunks are floating on the green and blue lake. Chiwawa Mountain is towering up the lake. The tip of Glacier Peak and Lower Lyman Lakes can be seen on the gap, but totally blocked from here. You need a very wide angle lens to capture the scene. Or forget about the camera, imprint the beauty in your mind. I’m sure it will stay there for a long long time.

We wandered around the lake for about an hour and headed back at around 12pm. The snow becomes softer with the sun shining on it. By 1:30pm, we were back at our campsite. We broke camp and left at 2:30pm. We didn’t meet anyone till we got to the meadows. For the whole morning, we were the only two there. The whole glacier, lake and the mountains were owned by us! We got to the south end of the meadow at 3:30pm and sprinted the last 5.5 miles in 1 hour and 45 minutes.

The timing was perfect. We didn’t have to drive the unpaved roads in dark. We also had enough time to drive to Leavenworth for a dinner. In general, this is a perfect 2-day trip with moderate difficulty. It can be easily done by even beginning backpackers. The reward is very high. The only downside is the approach of driving on the unpaved road and the first flat 5.5 miles, which are a little boring.