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Panther Creek Trail offers miles of rewards for a short hike
By KAREN SYKES ![[Bio]](../image/bio_bttn.gif){kind=small}
SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER
"Boring" he said, when I asked an acquaintance long ago about Panther Creek Trail. "It's all in the trees and there are no views." Since I am fond of summit views, I was in no rush to hike this particular trail.
Years later, having hiked many trails and spent time on a few summits, I've found that special gifts await those who visit these "boring" trails. I may once have believed that the greatest rewards are found on summits, but my values have changed -- I have hiked high and low and have yet to find a boring trail.
Instead of summits, some trails offer wild rivers where prospectors once dreamed of gold, of licorice ferns springing from wet rocks, of slabs slathered with moss -- moss so thick you can lift it off a rock by a fingernail and set it back down again without harm -- of serpentine pathways leading to small unnamed waterfalls and rivulets.
If you are not summit-bound you may find yourself standing for long moments before a boulder that seems to have fallen from nowhere, beside a river whose journey is never finished, or climb a wall of evergreens with your eyes to watch a pair of eagles silently soaring, or look through the gloom to see the tawny flash of a squirrel before it scurries out of sight.
Such a place is the Panther Creek Trail, one of two trails in the North Cascades that go to Fourth of July Pass.
You may have to be a little bit crazy to drive three hours for a three-mile hike, but you will be rewarded. Our Mountaineers party was probably the first to set foot on the trail this year. The North Cascades Highway has just opened and a light snowpack has made this hike possible -- it is usually suggested for July. The park ranger had not yet been out on the trail but said the snow level is at about 3,500 feet. He also gave a good description of the trail, which climbs a hogback ridge before descending to Panther Creek.
The ranger warned that we might be stopped by a washout at about 2.5 miles (a section that usually washes out every winter), but he said we could follow the stream to the Panther Creek bridge. Beyond Panther Creek, there are avalanche chutes that hikers are advised not to cross.
On the trail we saw wild ginger, pipsissewa (belonging to the wintergreen family), and licorice fern, which grows on rocks, logs and tree trunks but dies back in summer. We also saw green dog lichen, a bright green species that looks like miniature scalloped petticoats, residing with the mosses. A naturalist won't get too far up the trail before falling under the spell of these mosses.
This trail provides an excellent opportunity to view the wrathful aftermath of an avalanche that knocked out a lot of timber. Here the creek is spanned by an enormous logjam. Small children will need assistance.
From the logjam it's about a half mile to the Panther Creek bridge, themost artistic bridge I've encountered.We hit snow the last half mile before the bridge, and beyond the bridge it looks like rough going, with the trail still under snow.
Later in the year, experienced hikers can return for a long one-way hike by leaving another car at the Thunder Creek trailhead at Colonial Creek Campground.
Getting there
Allow three hours. Drive to Marblemount on state Route 20, stay on Route 20 and drive eight miles past Colonial Creek Campground and park at the East Bank trailhead. Walk the road a short distance to the Panther Creek trailhead, which is signed and will be on your right.
Trail detail
The trail begins to climb immediately through lodgepole pine and open forest until it reaches an elevation of 2,200 feet. Then, it maliciously descends in a series of short switchbacks to Panther Creek. If you can manage to forget about climbing these same switchbacks on the way out, you'll enjoy the majestic terrain, the big boulders, the mossy walls, the green glow of evergreens.
The trail continues up the creek about a half mile to the washout. You can't miss it. You should be able to cross it and hike another half mile to the Panther Creek bridge at three miles. Panther Camp is nearby. The section between the washout and the bridge is the most dramatic segment of the hike, with small waterfalls and streams falling down from lonesome cliffs above, boulders and trees of all shapes and sizes covered with luxuriant mosses and lichens.
From the designated campsite at Panther Creek the trail crosses a few avalanche chutes and small streams. At 2,700 feet the trail leaves Panther Creek and climbs through forest to Fourth of July Pass at 3,500 feet, just under six miles from the trailhead. Fourth of July camp is a quarter mile farther, the next designated campsite. It's four easy miles to the Thunder Creek trailhead at Colonial Creek Campground, if you are doing it as a one-way trip.
Trail data
From trailhead to Panther Creek bridge, 6.2 miles round trip, elevation gain approximately 1,000 feet. From trailhead to Fourth of July Pass, 11.5 miles round trip, with an elevation gain of 2,000 feet. A Park Service backcountry-use permit is required for backpacking. For additional information, refer to "100 Hikes in the North Cascades" by Ira Spring and Harvey Manning (The Mountaineers, 240 pages, $14.95). You can call the North Cascades Visitor Center for trail conditions at 206-386-4495.
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