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They did at one time, but then they changed the requirements to be monetized, much harder nowadays.

Perhaps near where the trail starts the uphill switchbacks to the glacier. Also if you continue to the south of the lake a bit it seems like there would be adequate trees in there.

Lots of trees around, if you don't mind setting up on steep terrain you could go straight downhill (east) from the lake. The trees in this area mostly have branches low to the ground, makes it harder to tie around the trunk I'd guess.

Sometimes the camera angle makes things look worse (sometimes the opposite). In this case I would say that the dropoffs weren't bad. While the trail from the lake to the glacier was rough and steep in places, overall it's in good shape. And only a couple of places where falling might be the end. But the trail is not difficult in those places though, so falling is unlikely. I actually have some fear of heights, although less than say 20 years ago, because of repeated experience with them. What is scary to me is all the climbers who go over that lower glacier and then climb almost straight up. It's a famous climb, climbers come from all over the world to go this way up Shuksan. Numerous videos here about that on youtube. Won't be one on my channel though, tbh the thought of trying to do that terrifies me.

Yes indeed. Until very late July it is likely early to go up here. Could be quite a bit of snow, perhaps even on the road before the trailhead. I did not do this trip in these conditions, but if I did I would like to have microspikes and a GPS. Also please be aware that while this route starts off on an established trail (Shannon Ridge), the upper part of this journey was off trail on a climber's route up Mount Shuksan. Was quite steep and rough. It's more than a hike, in places it's a non-technical scramble requiring use of your hands. If the snow is lingering late in July, there are a few places in the area with south facing slopes that are hikeable. Goat Mountain in Whatcom County comes to mind (great view of the north end of Shuksan from there).

Correct, other than a NW Forest Pass for parking.

Roughly 50 miles I'd guess. As far as I know those trails are all fine, although some may need brushing out since last winter there was a wind event that caused a lot of blowdowns all over the eastern Pasayten.

@@MrArtudtoo Been searching for good access for some larch viewing next fall plus a few climbs along the way. Have seen a few youtubes of access trails to the area that sound horrendous. Cheuwch I believe it's called was one that comes to mind. Was estimated to have close to 1,000 trees down according to the poor fellas descending that way. See "MyOwnFrontiers" Virtually no trail left June 2019 they stated. Leaning towards Andrews Trail for access at this point.

@@andrewduncan7643 The Chewuch trail is usually bad in my experience. Assuming it's clear, Andrews is the quickest way to Cathedral area for sure (19 miles if memory serves). The next quickest would be the Boundary trail from Irongate (about 25 miles to Upper Cathedral Lake). In the Pasayten, for pretty much guaranteed good trail, lots of larches and scrambling opportunities, I would recommend hiking the PCT north from Hart's Pass/Slate Pass area. But it was closed most of last season because of a forest fire, hopefully things will be better next year.

@@MrArtudtoo Yes, I was leaning towards an in and out from Irongate if necessary but prefer the loop configuration whenever possible. I imagine the PCT access will be cleaned up relatively quickly being the PCT and all.

@@andrewduncan7643 I had a similar hike last summer, thousands of logs, really slow and difficult travel (see my video "Hidden Lakes Trail Bushwhack").

No, but then again there was no full moon while I was here.

Some some pika too but they were too fast this time for me to record them.

@@MrArtudtoo 😆

I maybe didn't need to show up quite that early, since the hike didn't take all day. But I did have good solitude most of the way up, and it was cool hearing owls in those dark woods.

@@MrArtudtoo Ah- I bet that was awesome to hear the owls! Did you camp or drive up that early? It’s always a toss up for me to decide… but I do like starting near daylight 👌😄 Very nice!!

@@JenniferLupine You can hear the owls too, turn the volume up @ 1:09 . I drove. An advantage to driving so early is hardly any traffic, and the road construction crews lately on Hwy 20 haven't started yet at that hour.

@@MrArtudtoo Ah, ok, cool- I’ll turn up the sound at that point!! Cool!!

@@MrArtudtoo I really enjoy your videos! Got any new hike videos coming up this summer?

I did, but I couldn't hold the camera while I was pulling on the rope. This was just a small part of a backpacking trip where we did quite a bit of sightseeing. czcams.com/video/EUo09vmLWzQ/video.html

@@MrArtudtoo yeah... I guess pausing in the middle would cause a bit of a traffic jam depending on how busy it was. I'm trying to find out if the cable car on Norrish Creek near Mission is still there. I haven't been in about 40 years.

@@davidabremner There wasn't much danger of a traffic jam. But I did have a concern that if I stopped in the middle {where the car would be sagging down at its lowest point on its cable) and lost momentum, that the car would be harder to get moving again, having to pull uphill so to speak.

Thanks Les! You might've been there since the last time I was. Maybe 10 years ago, I'm not sure. I'm planning on going back and exploring that climber's route.

@@MrArtudtoo Sounds great! I think I was there around 20 years ago!

This Blue Lake is the one on WA State Route 20, just west of Washington Pass.

@@MrArtudtoo Thank you for this new information, I'll keep that in mind if I make it to the elbow lake area in 2023. I am from Oregon and I don't get as many opportunities as i'd like to hike in the washington cascades. With how this winter is going so far too, I have a feeling that the north cascades may be snowed for quite a long time this summer.

@@danielmoung9098 I deleted my reply because I had mistaken Blue Lake near Elbow Lake for something else. That Blue Lake is actually an easy hike, and it's trailhead is close to the southern trailhead to Elbow Lake.

At that moment I was worrying more about not getting gored than I was the camera. I would've liked to have gotten the shot, but safety comes first.

Pack was about 45 lbs.

@@MrArtudtoo Pretty heavy!

Thanks, knowing people enjoy watching makes it all worthwhile. I don't have any videos to publish right now but I hope to get out at least once overnight next month. I'm sure I will get some day trips in too. Sometimes I go a while between videos (especially in winter), but it is always my intent to do more sooner or later.

The kid may have been a factor. But she came up to me with her kid following her, I was minding my own business in camp trying to get some dinner. If she was being protective she shouldn't have come up to me? I'm thinking she is habituated to food (maybe even some dumb human fed her) and salt sources (human pee is a big attractant to goats, deer, other animals such as marmots and porcupines lol) at this campsite, and has a territorial attitude about it. .

I have seen a lot of goats over the years, and only one other time was I in real fear of my safety. And that one was my fault, it was early in my backpacking experience, and I was the one who not knowing better approached the goat and got too close. But this incident was the only time one ever got that close to me. Definitely the most aggressive one I have ever encountered, although the first time was a pain too. I kept that one at distance by throwing rocks, didn't have bear spray then. Honestly, I think they are maybe more dangerous than bears. Although not especially so, as long as you can keep them at distance.

I am coming to the conclusion based on this experience and also anecdotal testimony that mountain goats are more dangerous than bears.

I don't mind showing my turn-arounds, because I think it is important for backcountry travelers to understand that they should set limits at which point they should abandon the objective, depending not only on how the actual route is but also other conditions such as weather, snow, blowdowns/deadfall, equipment, dangerous animals, etc.

@@MrArtudtoo I think tv land has put a lot of pressure on people because they don't show the problems. I would rather watch you make an attempt and fail than a slick run production that never shows the true reality. Trips out in the real wilderness can be very dynamic real quick like. Like you just embrace the fact that going home sometimes is the best choice. Tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to achieve your goal.

@@jonvenden4284 Well-said, and thank you for saying it. I agree 100%.

btw, I'm more of a goat shouter than whisperer, haha

Yes, the spray stopped the charge.

Bears are actually kinda shy. They will usually avoid humans. And they are more interested in your food than you, generally. There are a few bears in this area but there are a lot more of them on the west side of the Cascades. Even there, one might hike for years and years and never see one. I've talked to PCT thru-hikers who never saw one all the way from Mexico to Canada. I take standard precautions anywhere in bear country; never have food or scented items in the tent, and always have food stored where a bear can't get it, in a bear box, or a bear-proof canister, or hanging out of reach in a tree. I used a canister and a hang on this trip. I also bring bear spray. Just in case. Better than a gun because it sprays such a cloud it's hard to miss, and also the bear lives through the experience and learns a lesson to avoid humans.