I’ll have a full trip report next week, but figured I should post some conditions for other hikers.
Trail Conditions
Nothing notable for the maintained trails from Rush Creek to Thousand Island. We went around Gem Lake (orange route) on our way in, then through Spooky Meadows (blue route) on our way out.
We hiked from Thousand Island Lake to North Glacier Pass and over to West Glacier (yellow to green route) without any special equipment. I would recommend Kahtoola Microspikes or Hillsound Trail Crampons if you’re attempting Banner Peak. West Glacier is very hard and hadn’t softened up at all when we were descending around noon. The sun wasn’t hitting the glacier much, but it was in the high 40s to low 50s.
Water
In general, there’s plenty of water along the trail, although some of the sources that are on the maps we used were dried up. Some thoughts:
- On our hike in, the first place we filtered was stream near the northern most tip of Gem Lake.
- From Gem Lake to Thousand Island Lake, we never carried more than a liter each.
- On the western side of Thousand Island Lake, the only running water we found was the stream coming from Northern Glacier Pass. It was flowing well until the boulder field.
- On our descent, we made a detour to Summit Lake and filtered there. The water in Agnew Lake looked a little murky (may have been due to the rain) and we didn’t see much water on our descent through Spooky Meadows.
Smoke
On our hike in, smoke wasn’t an issue until we dropped down to Thousand Island Lake. A few miles before Thousand Island Lake, we had a nice view of Banner Peak, but after dropping down to water level, we could see and smell smoke. We were either above the smoke when we saw Banner Peak earlier, or it quickly rolled in. While the smoke hindered our view, it was mostly just a nuisance since we were done hiking for the day.
On day 2, I could smell smoke as we headed towards North Glacier Pass, but the higher we climbed, the less I could smell it. From Banner Peak our view was obscured by smoke.
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Despite the smoke we encountered, we had a great time overall. It was great to see a new area, as well as get out with some new gear. I will be posting info on my Jacks ‘R’ Better High Sierra Sniveller, Greenlight Planet King Pro, Darn Tough ATC Sock Micro Crew Cushion Socks, Geigerrig Hydration Pack Engine & Insulated Drink Tube soon!
