Jun 30, 2018
The is an awesome backpacking trip that does not seem to be popular and there are not too many trail reports about it. We were there a couple days ago and so we thought we share some highlights about this loop. The Whatcom Trail is strenuous. Almost a constant uphill and you'll come across the 45 degree switchbacks early in the trail. The trail is well-marked initially but wayfinding gets more difficult as you approach the Snass Pass area. Definitely recommend you have your route laid out on the GPS. We lost the trail a couple of times because of the snow. There wasn't much snow - you don't need snowshoes or spikes. The trail is somewhat overgrown, I guess from lack of use, which is really unfortunate because it's a great trail. Once you reach Snass Pass, you have the option to climb up Snass mountain or carry on. It would be pretty strenuous to do it all in one day with a full pack. We gave it a pass as a steep climb on snow-covered scree was not what we had in mind plus we were already quite tired. There is a nice camping spot just past Punch Bowl lake that you may want to spend the night if you decide to make it up Snass Mountain the next day. Since we were not climbing up Snass, we made our way to Snass View campground. There was still flowing water from a tiny creek close to the campground. The next day we made our way back via Dewdney Trail. The first few kilometres were a tad slow due to the creek crossings. I guess in hindsight we should have just changed to our water sandals and walk across. We must have crossed the same creek about 8 times! At times the trail was covered with water way above the ankles. Once water crossings were no longer an issue we put our boots back on and hiked all the way back, it was easy going but the trail was overgrown in areas and we could see that someone has been doing some trail maintenance and cutting back the overgrown bushes. This is an awesome overnight adventure.
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