HK_NCascades_Final-44

Best season: Mid-July to mid-October. Hannegan Peak opens in late July.

Difficulty: Moderate to the pass; moderately strenuous to the peak.

Elevation gain: 1,926 feet to the pass; 3,047 feet to the peak.

Elevation loss: 616 feet to Boundary Camp.

Maximum elevation: 5,066 feet at Hannegan Pass; 6,187 feet at Hannegan Peak.

Topo maps: Mount Sefrit; Mount Shuksan.

Jurisdiction: Mount Baker Wilderness (Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest).

Finding the trailhead: From Glacier, drive east on Washington Highway 542 to mile 46.5. Turn left onto Forest Road 32, and after a mile bear left at the split for Forest Road 34, following signs for Hannegan Pass. It is 5.4 miles from the highway to the campground/trailhead at the end of this improved gravel road.

The Hike

This well-traveled trail leads up Ruth Creek to Hannegan Pass, the gateway to the northwest corner of North Cascades National Park. The route leads through Forest Service lands, with no special permit required for overnight stays. However, the trail ends at the national park boundary, and backpackers bound for Boundary Camp, Copper Ridge, or the Chilliwack Valley will need to secure a free backcountry permit at Glacier Ranger Station. From Hannegan Pass, a spur trail climbs westward to the bare summit of Hannegan Peak, which makes an excellent day trip.

The trail begins with an easy stroll up the Ruth Creek valley, gouged out of bedrock eons ago by the grinding of deep glaciers. Stands of Engelmann spruce and mountain hemlock are widely scattered; most of the valley is dominated by heavy brush sprinkled liberally with stinging nettle. Views are superb from the outset, featuring the jagged backbone of Nooksack Ridge across the valley. This great wall of metamorphic rock has been carved into arêtes and horn peaks by glacial ice, and slender waterfalls course down its lower flanks. The lofty summit that rises above the trail is Granite Mountain.

After a mile or so, the trail begins a gradual ascent of the valley’s north wall. The timber is heavier in the upper reaches of the valley, and now the ice-mantled summit of Ruth Mountain can be seen above the head of the drainage. The gradient steepens as the trail nears Hannegan Pass, and a couple of switchbacks lead upward through the forest to the edge of a meadowy bowl. A spur path now leads southward to a camping area that affords fine views of the surrounding summits. The main path continues its steady ascent, passing through stands of timber and flower-strewn glades to reach the low saddle of Hannegan Pass.

The east-facing meadows of the pass offer views of Copper Ridge and Indian Mountain, with glimpses of the more distant summits of Bear Mountain and Mount Redoubt. To the left is the spur trail to Hannegan Peak, and to the right a way trail runs south to round a tall summit and ends in alpine meadows. From Hannegan Pass, the Chilliwack River valley stretches out ahead, and the main trail makes a brief but steady descent into its headwaters to reach Boundary Camp at the edge of an open basin. The trek ends here, at a junction just beyond the park boundary with trails leading to Copper Ridge and the Chilliwack River.

Miles and Directions

0.0Trailhead at Camp Hannegan.

3.4Hannegan Pass camping area.

4.0Hannegan Pass. Junction with Hannegan Peak Trail (1 mile, moderately strenuous). Continue straight ahead for Boundary Camp.

5.0Boundary Camp. Trail reaches North Cascades National Park and a junction with the Copper Ridge and Chilliwack River Trails.

Hannegan Peak Option

This spur trail begins in a loose woodland of large mountain hemlocks but soon rises onto steep slopes mantled with wildflowers. Early views are dominated by Ruth Mountain and Nooksack Ridge, with glimpses of East Nooksack Glacier beneath the spires of Jagged Ridge. Before long, the path swings onto east-facing slopes for views of Mineral Mountain and the northern reaches of the Picket Range. The trail then zigzags to the top of a high spur, where a small pond may offer drinking water. It then continues straight up the ridgeline at a calf-burning pace. These slopes are subject to severe winter weather, a fact that is reflected in the sparse mats of heather and wind-torn clumps of mountain hemlock.

The trail ultimately crests a series of bald domes covered in frost-shattered rock. Mountains stretch away in all directions, featuring the steep summit of Granite Mountain to the west, and a long vista down the Chilliwack River toward the lofty and remote summits of Mount Redoubt and Bear Mountain along the Canadian border. To the south is the immense summit of Mount Shuksan, sending its sheer walls and spires above a collar of glacial ice. The trail ends upon reaching the penultimate summit of Hannegan Peak, where a pocket of fir and hemlock krummholz provides shelter from the elements.