Cascade Pass Trip Part 1

Josh · Josh on Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:49 pm

I have been to Cascade Pass several times, each time with its own unique experience... This is a place of many wonders! Thats why it is and for a long time will remain my Special Mountain! I will explain each of the experiences of when I went to Cascade Pass or Sahale Mountain which is basicly the same hike but right next to each other and to access Sahale, you must first go up to Cascade Pass.

The first time I ever went to Cascade Pass, I did'nt even get to the parking lot and took place in November 0f 2005. Before we left, there was reports of bad weather but we decided on it anyways. We spent the night a few miles from the trailhead because when we got there it was dark and while sleeping, we could here the river next to us rushing which was the Cascade River. When we woke up the next day, turns out we could drive an extra mile so we did so, by this time, we were two miles away from the trailhead and the road was gated off due to lots of snow. We also found a cabin on the side of the road which seemed pretty nice but was abandoned and was the house of a prospector. When we first started the hike up the road, it was tiring because we had lots of gear and many layers of clothes. The snowy conditions made this place so beautiful, but at the same time it was foggy all around us, almost as if we walked into a world of snow and fog.

It was a winter paradise, at the same time, there were many avalanches coming off off Johanesburg Mountain which made the place almost frightening. Are pace was'nt that great and the road is some what steep and the snow was deep, later when it started to get dark, we ended up turning around because it was getting dark, and the fog was coming in real thick. I remember that time, it was almost like a dream world. We got back to the car safely and as we were driving home, the mist was rolling off the mountains during evening made was so beautiful, fortunatly we decide on returning to Cascade Pass the next week because it was such a beautiful place.

When I heard the news, I was very exited and could hardly sleep the night before we left. By this time, it was Mid-November and was unusually smoggy out. When we finally left, it was mid day, and it takes a long time to drive to the trailhead of Cascade Pass. On the way, the smog almost magicaly cleared and it was a perfectly clear day! We got there a few hours before dark and once again, it was gated off two miles away from the trailhead which was kinda erritating. The snow had melted quite a bit and turns out our snow man we made the prevoius trip before was still there. Lucky for us on this trip, we brought the tent with us when hiking to the trailhead and the snow was'nt that bad on the asent up. When we finally got to the trailhead, we were able to put down our stuff and enjoy the sunset, which was very beautiful! Darkness came quick and we had to set up the tent in the dark using our headlights, and the temperature began to drop very fast. Fortunatly for me, I brought five layers of pants and had many layers of shirts and jackets and we were camping on a snowy surface which was convieneint for sleeping and we had ground pads. Finally we were able to get to sleep, but in the middle of the night, you could hear the booming of avalanches all around us, we were at a safe zone... I think. When ever I would walk out to use the bathroom, you could see Johanesburg very well, because the moon was behind the ridge making it visible. I thought to myself, am I in Alaska? This place was beautiful, never had I seen anything so beautiful as that night... even to this day. The next day just before the sunrise, I woke up, a wonderful sunrise it was, as if the sun were coming over the ridge to greet us and the moon at the same time came over the other ridge, making a very beautiful sunrise with all the land light up because of the reflecting snow.

We had breakfast and turns out when we were sleeping, my moms feet were soaked becasue her boots were not water proof so my brother decided to hike back down to get the spares which were at the car and in the mean time, my mom read one of my school books to me "The Watsons go to Burmingham 1963"... although it was a good story, I just was facinated with all the scenery around and felt so small in a valley so big! When atlast my brother got back, it was almost noon and another unfortune thing that happend was my brother got sick over night and he felt dizzy so if we were to hike up to Cascade Pass, he would have to stay with the tent at the trailhead and sleep while we hike. So we did so, and it was amazing how we had the whole place to our selfs, because the only snow prints were from us. When we first started hiking up, I was wondering if we were even on a trail but fortunatly we were and soon began to switch back up to the Pass. Its amazing how much harder it is with snow! When hiking up, I kept sinking to about knee deep or so and it felt like I was lunging up the Mountain. Later we got almost to the Pass, but there were dangerous avalanche shoots and also it was getting late, so we decided to turn around.

The Sunset was once again very nice! Very nice sky color and would have turned out better if we had the camera we have know. When we got down to the trailhead, my brother was awake and was feeling sick but a little better, by this point, it was very dark, so we packed up the tent and got our headlamps out and heade back to the car. Once again a very nice trip to Cascade Pass area, but my mom unfortunatly lost one of the cameras we brought when going out of the car once on the way home.

I later kept wanting to go back to this area and had t wait until June 2, 2006 to return. This time, my dad, me and my brother and mom came with. This time, even all the way in June, the road was still closed! We thought that the ranger got lazy but later found out why. We once again spent the night two miles from the trailhead, and we placed our special water bottols near the river filled with chocolate milk and when we woke up, for some reason mine was gone and everyone elses was still there yet mine was the most protected... to this day I wonder what happend because it was a scpiecal plastic container bottle. It was this trip that was the most frightening of anything I have ever done. Before we headed out, I looked up the mountain and saw the fog on Sahale and all the snow and said "I'm in the mood for a challenge today" and put back my ski polls. Later we found fools gold along the road, and my dad got bored and threw a tree in a the Cascade River... in a way it was kinda funny to see a tree in such a small river get sucked away.

Later when we almost got to the trailhead, we discovered why the road was closed, it was'nt that the road was washed out, but there was an avalanche that burried the Trailhead and was very thick. Unfortunatly I had forgotten my Sunglasses so the snow reflected the light into my eyes making it hard to see. I got thirsty and needed a drink of my grape soda which was refreshing. Atlast we hit the trail, and was some what snowy and we heard bears around us which made it seem a little uninviting. Later before the switch backs, we decided on taking a short cut... BIG MISTAKE! It was some what steep to go up the short cut and we needed many breaks. We finally got above the clearing and into the forest and found a trail... we thought this was the Cascade Pass trail which it was but turns out it was the old Cascade Pass trail and was partly eroded and old. My dad went to go lean up against a tree and it fell right over because it must have been a dead tree and bent tombling down the mountain. Later as we kept hiking, it got snowier and snowier, and the side of the trail got steeper and steeper, and it got to the point were I was thinking, I dont remember this and I was starting to want to go back. We kept moving on and later my boots were getting soaked on the inside and out and my feet were getting cold and the side of us started to get so steep, it almost became walking along side of a cliff and walking on snow beside it. I later began to ask myself, "Why Do I get Myself into these situations" because I later got to the point were I was wondering how I was getting down because It almost seemed as if I slipped, I would fall off the side.

Later when getting to an avalanche shoot which we passes several along the way, my day was crossing it and slipped on a slippery spot and went slidding down a very steep avalanche shoot and below that was a huge cliff! My dad was lucky enough to roll his body over and fell into a mini crevess that was next to the cliff and managed to stop his fall. After this, he was able to climb back up to the trail. After that, I and everyone else was very tired, and at that point, we decided to turn around. Before we left the spot, a marmot came up to us, he was friendly but kinda looked like a Beavor. On the way down, I could hear the roaring of Johanesburg and was worried about avalanches coming down on us from above. On the way down, we had to travell over other avalanche shoots and I regretted not bringing my ski polls, and I also was starting to have cramps on the way down. I evenually became so tied from the experience, I had to have my brother make snow prints for me because I had to step in everystep and that took too much out of me and I was frightened because of the steepness around us. Later I was able to pull through and hike back down safly and got to the trailhead before dark. On the way down to the car, I found a boulder covered in fools gold, even though I was so exuasted, I some how put all my might into carring it down a ways and my brother Michael carried it down the last mile, and around the time we got back to the trailhead, it was sunset. Another exiting yet frightening trip to Cascade Pass.

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