HK_NCascades_Final-88

Best season: Mid-July to mid-October.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Elevation gain: 2,590 feet.

Elevation loss: 1,940 feet.

Maximum elevation: 5,980 feet.

Topo maps: Azurite Peak, Slate Peak; Mount Logan, Washington Pass.

Jurisdiction: Okanogan National Forest.

Finding the trailhead: Take Washington Highway 20 to the Mazama cutoff road, 11 miles west of Winthrop. After a mile, there is a T intersection. Turn left, passing the Mazama general store. This is Harts Pass Road (Forest Road 5400), which is paved as far as the Lost River, about 5 miles. It then becomes gravel, and is narrow and winding with many potholes as it makes the steep climb past Deadhorse Point to reach Harts Pass, 18.5 miles from Mazama. At the intersection atop the pass, go straight ahead on the primitive Slate Creek Road (Forest Road 5400-700, high clearance recommended) for 5.5 miles to reach the well-marked trailhead.

The Hike

This route follows the old mining access road that runs from Slate Creek over alpine Cady Pass to the Azurite Mine, in the Mill Creek valley. With recent interest in reopening the Azurite claims, travelers may meet an occasional four-wheeler along the way. The mine itself is a patented claim that is still active and should be treated as private property. Stretches of the Mill Creek Trail leading down to Canyon Creek and over Azurite Pass have been abandoned and are no longer worth seeking out.

The trek begins at a road closure gate and follows the old roadbed upward above the South Fork of Slate Creek. After a series of minor ups and downs, the roadbed levels off, and gaps in the Douglas fir offer fine views of Mount Ballard. Upon reaching the South Fork, a condemned bridge (easily passable to foot traffic) spans the water between two small cascades. The old road then climbs steadily through heavy timber, heading northwest toward Cady Pass. As the lowland forest gives way to subalpine firs and mountain hemlocks, views open up to reveal the northern buttress of Mount Ballard as well as the barren crest of Tatie Peak to the southeast. The sparse conifers are now underlain by thickets of huckleberry and white rhododendron.

As the track approaches the ridgetops, expansive views reach the bare ridges to the northwest, with the distant peaks of Joker Mountain and Castle Peak rising beyond them. Cady Pass burned over in the 1980s, and the few firs that survived the fire rise amid a mat of grouse whortleberry, dwarf blueberry, and lupine.

Upon cresting the pass, travelers gain spectacular views of the crags to the south and west. Looking eastward along the ridgeline, the summit of Mount Ballard peers out above an intervening spur. The glacier-carved trough that bears Mill Creek is stretched below, bounded by the craggy walls of Majestic Mountain. To the west are the twin mounds of Crater and Jack Mountains, permanently mantled in snow and ice. Far to the west are a collection of distant spires. From right to left, they are Mount Terror, the rocky dome of Ruby Mountain, Paul Bunyan’s Stump, and finally Colonial and Snowfield Peaks cupping Neve Glacier.

The old road turns eastward as it descends into the valley of Mill Creek, and alpine meadows soon give way to arid brushfields that grew in the wake of the fire. Majestic Mountain provides a constant backdrop as the roadbed snakes downward through a series of hairpin turns. Looking up the valley, hikers can see the abandoned road grade on the lower slopes of Majestic Mountain leading to the upper portal of the Azurite Mine.

The road bottoms out as it nears Mill Creek, then begins its gentle climb up the valley. The old Mill Creek route joins the road at its low point but is so overgrown with brush that it is nearly impossible to spot. As the main road follows the creek toward the Azurite Mine, isolated stands of tall silver fir and spruce are interrupted by broad swaths of alder, the legacy of frequent snowslides. The craggy countenance of Majestic Mountain looms above, a tangible presence throughout the latter part of the trek. Trail maintenance ends at the Azurite Mine site, with its dilapidated headquarters building of corrugated steel guarding vast piles of tailings on both sides of the stream. Mining began here in 1914, and more than $900,000 in gold was extracted before the mine finally shut down. There are good views of the valley’s head just beyond the mine site.

Miles and Directions

0.0 Cady Pass Trailhead. Route follows closed road.

1.3 Bridge over the South Fork of Slate Creek.

5.3 Cady Pass. Old road starts to descend.

8.7 Unmarked junction with abandoned Mill Creek Trail. Follow the old road eastward.

10.0 Azurite Mine site.