Ski Touring from the Alpine Lakes High Camp
Located just nine miles from Highway 2 but seemingly a world away, the Alpine Lakes High Camp are an excellent basecamp for backcountry trips year-round. The huts are rustic and off-the-grid, but are still cozy and welcoming enough for large groups and families. I’ve been wanting to stay in one of these huts since I learned about them years ago, but choosing which season to visit was a tough decision. In the fall they are the perfect jumping off point for some spectacular larch hikes, but weather can be unpredictable. In the winter the huts act as a basecamp for ski tours in the Chiwaukum Mountains. Usually this area of the range comes with long approaches, but by staying in the cabins hikers can forgo nine miles on the road with an hour-ish ride on a snowcat or a rigged-for-snow Land Rover. Plus, the snowcat offers ample space for things like coolers, all the fixings for full meals, and plenty of extra layers so it feels much more luxurious than a regular camping trip. Dogs are also allowed. Finally, the huts have a beautiful sauna and cold plunge that make for a refreshing end-of-day routine. Really what more could one ask for in a backcountry trip?
After the 2021-2022 winter season ended and we still hadn’t visited the huts I was determined to make it happen in 2022-2023. Last August I reached out to some friends who also had expressed interest in visiting the huts and we booked a 3 day/2 night stay in the Lupine Hut. It fits 8 people, and we would be a group of 7 plus one dog.
As our trip dates drew closer on the calendar I grew increasingly excited and apprehensive. I had been waiting to visit these huts for so long, and wrangled six other people to join me, what if they didn’t live up to my expectations?! I would soon find out all of those fears were completely unfounded as everyone’s expectations were blown away.
DAY 1
We arrived at the trailhead just past Stevens Pass on Highway 2 at 8:45AM, well ahead of schedule. Our snowcat was scheduled to depart for the cabins at 10:00AM, but the ALHC requested that visitors arrive thirty minutes early. Not wanting any unexpected traffic to prevent us from a timely arrival, we left plenty early. Andrew and his pup Jasper were already in the parking log and Sander and Greg pulled up shortly after with our friends Marita and McKenzie not far behind. We all gathered around, introductions were made for everyone who hadn’t met, and we chatted while we waited. We piled all of our gear behind our vehicles and waited for our ride. Around 10:00AM we heard the grumblings of the snowcat and then we watched in awe as a behemoth of a vehicle pulled around the corner and made its way to the middle of the parking lot. We started to shuttle gear into the belly of the snowcat, which was much more spacious than I expected.
Our group plus another couple from Seattle piled into the snowcat. Our driver gave us a quick rundown of safety instructions and tips on what to do if we started feeling queasy then he quickly climbed into the front of the cab. With a lurch, the snowcat slowly started up the road. The fifty minute snowcat ride took us nine miles and about 2,500’ up a meandering forest road. As we gained elevation I felt appreciative of the fact we were being driven up this road and didn’t have to slog up it with our gear on our backs. It felt downright luxurious to be whisked up the mountain!
The views opened up as we climbed. The sky looked like it was painted by two different artists. In some swaths, the skies were dark and storm clouds were roiling and dumping snow in the mountains, but in other directions the sky was blue with only a few wisps of clouds to be seen. The forecasts had called for intermittent snow and it seemed those forecasts were accurate.
Once we arrived at camp the cat driver welcomed us and gave us an overview of the cabins. We made a beeline for Lupine and started to get settled. We picked out bunks (mattresses and pillows are provided—campers bring their own sleeping bags and bedding), got to work on starting a fire in the brand new stove of our cabin, and started gearing up for a quick afternoon tour.
By 1PM we were on skis and heading up toward Sunset Hill. Our plan for the day was to go on a chill tour above the cabins. We hoped to gain McCue Ridge and find a good place to drop in to ski back to the cabins. Our cat driver warned us that this route could get “a little wacky” in places, but we wanted to give it a go.
The weather was incredibly on and off on our tour. We would get dumped on for five minutes only for the skies to clear and blue to peak through, just for those clouds to close back up and dump on us again. We gained the ridge and could tell the views to the south must have been pretty, but most of those views were unfortunately hidden by clouds.
After about 1,500’ of climbing we decided it was time to drop in and head back to the camps. We spotted a relatively mellow slope on Gaia and navigated toward the drop in point. The first few turns were powdery! Our group slowly made our way down from the ridge and into the trees, skiing one by one. Just as the snowcat driver predicted, the descent did indeed grow “wacky” as we were funneled into the valley via steep, dense trees interspersed with a few small cliff bands to navigate. There was a lot of survival skiing and side-slipping through the '“wackiest” sections, but we all made it to the valley floor in one piece. The tour was a little longer and a little more “wacky” than we had anticipated, but regardless it was fun to get out on our first tour of the trip and start exploring the area.
Dinner on our first night was tacos with all of the fixings. The great thing about riding in on the snowcat is that we could bring items that needed refrigeration in our coolers and we brought tubs full of food so there wasn’t a dehydrated meal in sight.
We rounded out day one with a sauna + cold plunge session. Sander is an expert at getting saunas nice and hot and on our first night we got the sauna up to 160 degrees. Once the heat in the sauna felt too much to bear we’d go take a cold plunge and return to the sauna to repeat the routine. I ended each night with a cold plunge and went to bed feeling surprisingly clean and refreshed.
Day 1 Stats
Miles: 5.3
Elevation gain: 1,700’
Strava Segment: https://www.strava.com/activities/8783874214
Day 2
Our second day was our only full day in camp so we decided that we should plan a long tour to take advantage of our basecamp location. The goal we had in mind was the saddle between Middle and North Chiwaukum. It was a saddle that fed right into a beautiful mellow backcountry bowl. And with a few fresh inches of snow overnight it looked especially enticing.
I pulled up the avalanche forecast as we made coffee and ate breakfast. It was considerable at and above treeline and moderate below treeline with the main problem being wind slabs. Most of our planned route did not travel through or below avalanche terrain but there were a few short stretches that traveled under some steep, corniced slopes. As a group we decided to remain vigilant and reassess if necessary when we were on our route.
Just past 9AM we set off for the day. Our planned route was about ten miles round trip with just under 3,000’ of gain and we figured we should be returning in mid to late afternoon.
The first section of trail was frustrating as there were a few hundred feet of descent to do in the forest. In fact, the trail is very undulating and gains very little elevation until Lake Julius, which we reached at 10:30AM. So 1.5 hours of travel with barely any elevation gain to show for it! These types of tours always test my patience, it feels like we’re hiking so long and making minimal progress. The lake was also completely wind scoured, a telltale sign of strong wind events that were undoubtedly loading slopes in the backcountry as well.
By the time we reached the second lake, Loch Eileen, the wind was scouring not just the landscape but us as well. We all put on our hard shells and continued up the ridge just south of the lake. From here we zigged and zagged uphill. While crossing our group was crossing an open slope one by one, Andrew, who was leading the group set off a small wind slab so we quickly backtracked and regrouped. We took out the map and realized that the slope we had been attempting to cross was just one tiny pocket of orange on the slope map (indicating that it was avalanche terrain). We looked at the map and plotted out the rest of our route as a group. It wouldn’t cross any avalanche slopes, however, it would cross under a few steep slopes—we decided to take those sections fast and one by one.
The route-finding and navigation ended up adding much more time to the day than we anticipated. We had initially planned four to six hours for the full trip but we were already at 3.5 hours and still hadn’t even made it to the saddle yet. But, I didn’t mind the extra time. Our objective slope for the day had been sitting in a cloud all morning so we weren’t worried about sun-affected snow and the views surrounding us were incredible. The low clouds filtered light beautifully across the slopes and orange trees stood in stark contrast against the bright white snow. Despite the slow-going and the cold wind, it was a wonderful day to be in the backcountry.
At last, we cut the final switchbacks up to the saddle between Middle and North Chiwaukum. The clouds that had been lingering on the saddle all day were still present so we didn’t have sprawling views but we were treated to some stunning, albeit brief, peek-a-boo views as clouds intermittently broke around us.
It was so cold and windy at the saddle that we didn’t wait long to transition to downhill ski mode. The moment we had spent all day hiking for had finally arrived! The ski down was everything we had hoped it would be and more. The bowl was perfect and still holding snow nicely. We all hooted and hollered as we skied down. It was a glorious run that lasted all of 15 seconds but those 15 seconds were worth it!
As we made our way back toward the hut we ran into a few other groups that were skiing some nice slopes just to the southeast of our bowl, it seemed like everyone was enjoying the day.
We arrived back to the hut at 4:30PM, a full day of skiing in the cold under our belts. I once again ended my day with a sauna and cold plunge combo and went to bed exhausted but happy.
Day 2 Stats
Miles: 10.2
Elevation gain: 3,000’
Strava Segment: https://www.strava.com/activities/8783873543
day 3
Our third and final day dawned bright and clear. It was the first perfectly clear day we had all trip and we were determined to get out on another short tour.
We didn’t need to worry about being ready to leave the cabins until the afternoon since I signed us up for the 3PM shuttle back to our cars. That meant we had all morning to tour.
We decided to head back up toward McCue Ridge in hopes of being afforded more views than we were on the first day, which was full of flurries and clouds. We were quick on the skin track up and made it to the ridge in what felt like no time and it was immediately clear that the tour was worth it. The views to the south that had completely eluded us on the first day were now completely clear. Big Jim, Cape Horn, and Snowgrass Mountain stood like mighty sentinels before us. We spied some incredible looking ski slopes among them and already were thinking toward future tours in the Chiwaukums.
We also spotted a lovely looking mellow south-facing slope that had been sitting in the sun all morning looking like it would be perfect to ski around noon. Alex wanted me to get a photo of him skiing the slope, so I stayed back on an outcropped rock with a birds-eye view while he, Sander, Andrew and Jasper continued up the ridge to find a drop in point. Greg stayed back with me and we chatted as we both took photos and waited for the others.
As we watched everyone ski down one by one it was evident by the whoops that the ski was fun. I was happy to get some photos of them skiing, but I also felt a tinge of jealousy. I wanted to ski that slope. I wanted to whoop! Alex radioed me and suggested that Greg and I meet them back at the drop-in point for a lap. He didn’t have to tell us twice. Greg and I quickly skinned up the slope and worked our way over toward where they dropped in.
Our final ski down of the day was easily the best run of the trip for me. And ironically, it was just a quick 45 minute skin from the huts. The snow was nearly spring corn and the accompanying views of the mountains were beautiful.
Once we were back at the huts it was time to pack up. I couldn’t believe how fast our three day stay had gone by—and how much fun it had been. It’s tough to know what a winter backcountry trip like this will entail, especially when you make reservations for the trip in the dog days of summer, but even with some unpredictable weather and snow squalls, we had a blast.
While we had gotten to ride the snowcat on the way up, on the way down we got to try out the Land Rover. The Land Rover was a little bumpier than the snowcat and I could almost feel myself being rocked to sleep by the jostling, but I kept my eyes open and enjoyed the views around us just one last time.
Day 3 Stats
Miles: 3.5
Elevation gain: 1,300’
Strava Segment: https://www.strava.com/activities/8783872775
*****