Last week I got an extra day off from work and took advantage of it by going on a two night trip to the mountains. My friend Greg joined me as we drove over Stevens Pass towards our destination. A complete report can be found here: http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7970372&highlight=spider
What follows is a condensed version:
We left the trailhead at 12:30pm and hiked the first 5.5 miles in the woods along Phelps Creek with minimal elevation gain. At 5.5 miles we entered Spider Meadow and the views opened up. At the opposite end of the meadow we marched up the last bit of trail for the day with 1000' of elevation gain. We reached Larch Knob by 4:30pm where we would set up our camp for the next two nights. That evening the moon was full and illuminated our camp.
The next day we got a late start and headed up to the top of the Spider Glacier and down the other side over the gap and headed into Lyman Lakes Basin. The Lyman Glacier supplies the water in the basin as it stands 75' high at it's terminus. We hiked through the basin and down towards the lowest lake, Lyman Lake. Our original goal was to head up to two summits above the lake, but with health concerns and time constraints we opted to turn around. We made our way back up the trail and were able to take our time and take a bunch of photos. We made it back up to Spider Gap and got a nice little glissade down the Spider Glacier. Back at camp the moon returned again with all of it's brightness.
Our last day we woke earlier and took our camp apart and started the trip back to the trailhead. We made very good time despite being tired and having heavy packs. It was a great trip that showed me the beauty that the area has to offer.
Full set of pictures are here: http://flickr.com/photos/bkraai/sets/72157607350990346/
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