I’m such a slacker. I started this blog shortly after my trip to the Southwest and California, hoping to catch up with all the hikes and backpacking trips I did in the past year. Life got in the way. I got busy. Life got in the way once again. But here I am, finding the tiny bit of motivation I have left in me to start this blog up once again. This was a hike I did a while back but it at least still falls under the one year mark (yay me). As we are entering permit season aka get on Recreation.gov and secure your permits before you let the year fly by you, I decided to write up one of the most underrated hikes located in the North Cascades. This is a permitted area but I don’t think Thornton Lakes gets nearly as much hype as Sahale or Copper Ridge. Nonetheless, I wholeheartedly enjoyed this hike and absolutely could not feel my legs or shoulders after this.

The Basics:

As mentioned, you need to get permits for this hike through this link. Prior to that, I like to dig around various resources to get a feel and sense of what to anticipate before the hike and during the hike. The permits for North Cascades National Park become reservable starting on March 15 at midnight PST. This isn’t a lottery, so I believe the better you put in your top choices, the better. My friend and I went on a zoom call just to talk about the different dates that would work out for me. If you’re not much of a planner, I believe if you show up at the Marblemount Ranger Station early enough (God knows how early anymore during a pandemic), you are still able to maybe secure permits. But I like to plan ahead especially when people are rushing to the outdoors because Dave and Buster’s is closed or your favorite bar is no longer opened due to the pandemic.

Anyway, I did put in dates for Sahale Glacier Camp but I obviously didn’t get it. I wasn’t even planning on doing Thornton Lakes. My friend got the permits and realized he could no longer go so I seized the opportunity and decided to try this hike. It did not disappoint. Our dates to hike Thornton Lakes was June 18th to June 19th. Highway 20 could remain closed until late into July but the trailhead lies before you even enter the park boundaries. So basically way before you reach the touristy spots like the Visitor Center or Diablo Lake - perfect because there’s hardly really any traffic here.

Road to the Trailhead:

Oh man, the road was rough. I rented an SUV just so I could get to the trailhead. Even so, the Jeep I rented got stuck. Good thing it was at least high clearance. I really wouldn’t attempt this road if it was raining or has been raining. The potholes are gigantic. I have taken a low clearance vehicle some good old dirt roads with massive potholes but this one, you could perhaps try to go on an adventure with your reliable Prius but I personally would not recommend that. There were some good folks that gave us some tips on how to get unstuck. After a couple of panic attacks and almost losing my mind, we made it to the trailhead. The lot was tiny - it fitted maybe like 5 cars. But there were tons of people parked along the road. As usual, make sure you are not blocking the main access road. When people are done with the hike, all they want to do is to get to their car, take off their socks, and take deep breaths and head home.

Don’t be that person that blocks the road so people couldn’t get home to their dogs.

Classic view of the Cascades while descending into Thonrton Lakes

The Hike:

Thornton Lakes is a 10.4 mile hike (roundtrip). So it’s really only 5.2 miles to camp. Don’t underestimate the mileage though, especially if you’re planning a trip to Trapper’s Peak. I didn’t make it to Trapper’s Peak because my friend and I were both weak sauces and we were exhausted by the time we got to the intersection. I think heading to Trappers would add about 2 miles to your hike. I heard it’s beautiful up there. If you’re a peak bagger, you wouldn’t want to miss it. My friend and I were just regular joe’s that wanted to have a fun time out in the backcountry, so we both decided to skip the peak. Your end goal is to the reach Thornton Lakes - an alpine lake sitting in the North Cascades enveloped by rugged peaks and the old old Pacific Northwest trees.

After 5 miles of constant struggling, this is the highly anticipated view we were looking forward to.

The first two miles was an easy stroll on an old logging road. It might seem overgrown at times, but for the most part it is wide enough for plenty of social distancing. But there were sections where it would be impossible to pass. With giant packs on our packs, my friend and I found it impossible to really get out of the way but it was good because we didn’t really see a lot of people on the way.

We slowly made our way through the log road and eventually started climbing. The trail reminded me of hiking up to Lake 22 or Storm King. It was pretty steep at parts. But I don’t recall seeing a lot of snow at all despite it being June. Snow does generally linger in the North Cascades especially when you reach higher elevations (duh) but we didn’t see much snow until we descended into Thornton Lakes which really was the last 0.5 miles and losing 550 feet of elevation. I wouldn’t call this hike difficult but I thought it was difficult because this was the first backpacking I did when I returned from Hong Kong. I spent 14 days in quarantine (and isolation) so yup, being wild and free in nature felt foreign. My body wasn’t quite ready for the type of physical stimulation but I made it in the end.

According to my stats on Gaia, we hiked for about 5.5 miles and gained 2,503 feet in elevation. On paper, it really isn’t a strenuous hike. But doing as the first backpacking trip, it was a little too much for me.

Getting to Camp

The descend into Thornton Lakes was pretty jaw-dropping for me. I remember saying ‘wow’ almost the entire way down to the lake. I was hating myself while on the hike because I was exhausted, my legs were burning, and my backpack felt like it was 20 pounds heavier than when I first strated the hike. The lake was seriously gorgeous, I think I nearly shed a tear.

Prior to this hike, I did most hikes and backpacking trips to the mountains. So it’s always been breaking out of the tree line finally and boom, mountains all around you. This view had the infamous Thornton Lakes surrounded by mountains (part of the Cascades?). The lake itself was still partially covered with snow and ice. It was beautiful. And sometimes views like these get especially amazing because your body has worked hard, you’re exhausted and hungry, and that moment you see the lake, you know you finally fucking made it.

The hike into camp wasn’t easy and we knew that. The ranger at the station reminded us that we would have to scramble over boulders and some log jams to get to camp. He was carrying a 30lbs pack and had no problem doing that. For a person as short as I am and not as agile as a spider, I struggled a bit. My friend straight up ditched his pack but I wouldn’t recommend that. I let my gravity do its thing and carefully slid down the boulders on my butt. In this case, sliding down was easier than climbing up the boulders. I struggled the next day but you already know, I made it out in one piece. The log jam wasn’t difficult to pass compared to the boulders - simply take it one step at a time and watch where you’re stepping, and you’re champion your way into some of the most secluded backcountry camping spots.

When we stopped by the ranger station to pick up our permits, we were notified that it would be a full house. But. that wasn’t the case. We got to camp at around 4 or 5pm. We waited and waited - nobody else showed up. I sometimes get a little terrified when I realize that it would just be my friend and I spending the night out in the backcountry with some bears and other critters. But once we found the permit spot that was close to the lake and near a secret spot that oversaw the Cascade Mountains, we pitched our tents and made dinner.

I don’t exactly remember what was happening at that time but I think it was supposed to be a great time to check out some shooting stars or whatnot. I was tired and still severely jetlagged so I did sort of skipped stargazing even though I would pop my head out of the tent to check out the star-filled skies. What’s great about the North Cascades is that it still remains to be one of the most remote and rugged national parks despite its close proximity to Seattle (~3 hours to get there).

I had a great time rolling and tumbling in my sleeping bag but thankful to have my sleeping bag liner (a new addition to my gear list) because the temperatures definitely dropped to the low 30s at night despite it being a pretty hot day during the day.

The next morning, I took my camera near the lake as the morning fog was beginning to dissipate. My friend and I spent some time hanging out on the lake and decided that we were going to make our way back to our cars. The hike out was almost even better because I was less tired and felt less defeated because I was heading home and felt like I had more time to really soak in the views. I love the North Cascades personally and I feel like I don’t give it nearly as much love as I should.

Do this hike!

That’s all I have for Thornton Lakes. If you are looking for an amazing hike in the North Cascades, I highly recommend this hike. I’d say it would be perfect for backpackers that are looking to challenge themselves a little bit more because the trail itself could get steep at parts. If you are training for a more difficult hike later on, this would be a good starting hike to test out your capabilities. For experienced backpackers, this would be a piece of cake. I personally would rate this as difficult due to how my body was feeling and also being jetlagged (and running on 3 hours of sleep).

This hike can easily be done as a day hike as well as it only sits at 10.4 miles according to the NPS website but I think the total mileage for us was about 11.2 miles. With longer days ahead of us, there would be no problem getting to the trailhead early to secure a spot and to potentially watch the sun set behind the Cascades. I really enjoyed this hike and am currently planning to do more hikes that involve a lake because there’s just something about alpine lakes that really hits the spot.

Stats (from Gaia):

Distance: 11.2 miles roundtrip
Time: ~4.5 hours
Elevation Gain: 2503 feet
Permits: America the Beautiful aka the National Park Pass
Parking: Limited
Season: Late June to Early September (or whenever Highway 20 closes for the season)

There is a privy at the trailhead. There are a total of 3 backcountry spots for camping. Permits are required from May 15 until September 30. They can be reserved in advance starting March 15 using this link. Always check trail conditions and other backcountry restrictions before venturing out.

Useful Resources:

Obtaining Permits for North Cascades National Park (NPS)
Thornton Lakes on Washington Trails Association (WTA)
Thornton Lakes (The Outbound)
Leave No Trace Principles

Happy hiking! 🥾