Exploring Napeequa Valley via Boulder Pass

3 day weekend & a planned hike around Copper Ridge in the N. Cascades cancelled due to trail closure. Opted for a visit to this remote valley in Glacier Peak Wilderness.

Drove on Hwy 2 to Lake Wenatchee turnoff and followed decent roads to TH along the White River. Few cars at the TH Friday around noon. Pleasant flat hike for the first few miles along old growth firs, cedars, hemlocks, following the mellow White River.

Trail split up to Boulder Pass and long uphill stretch followed but switchbacks were good. Crossed Boulder Creek and continued climbing towards Clark Mtn.

Reached Boulder Pass at 6pm just before dark. Found good hang for hammock on top of the pass with great views of hills on the other side of the valley. Nice clear night with almost no wind - brisk but stayed warm.

Up with the sun after 7 & had breakfast, broke camp, and started on the steep descent down to the valley floor. Lots of switchbacks and pretty decent trail all the way down the 2K ft.

Napeequa River ford is usually difficult but the flow was pretty mellow and had no trouble. Strolled along the river up valley with Clark glacier coming into view to my left. Sunny & warm day - enjoyed the views to the end of the valley near a nice creek coming down the hill. Passed a couple women hikers who were going the same direction. I thought they might have been PCTers taking a fire closure detour, but they didn't look like they'd been hiking all summer.

At turnaround point, I mistakenly continued up a very steep scrambley "trail" almost 1000ft thinking the trail continued to High Pass camp. I ran into the 2 women who said they had come down from Little Giant Pass, doing a loop. We were in x-country terrain so I was kind of envious I couldn't continue their way to explore. Will have to come back for this loop. After some x-ctry I checked notes and realized High Camp was a long ways off and the actual trail had ended 1000ft below. Took a break & turned around in order to find camp closer to the car.

Had enough daylight to climb the 2000ft back to Boulder Pass. Wind was picking up and clouds looked a little threatening. At the pass decided to get lower in case of bad weather, but there weren't many options for camping until I got a ways down to an established campsite with privy. Got there just before needing a headlamp & there was a camper there cooking a meal. I setup a hammock in the trees near the camps and returned to the cooking area to chat with the camper dude. Turns out he was a ranger & was on a free weekend doing some x-ctry exploring. Chatted w/ him about various outdoor topics until it started sprinkling rain. Had to cutoff dinner prep and grab all the food back to camp to put tarp up. Rain petered off & I finished dinner near camp.

Up to chilly but dry morning. Occasional rain during the night. Mice were v active and kept me up a while as I was paranoid about food, pack. One mouse ran across my hammock - no fear! Pretty easy hike all downhill back to White River trail and arrived back at car after a nice lunch break by the river.

Fun facts

• Bear hunting is allowed in the area!