Poetry in Color

Each September, I eagerly await the vibrant fall colors in the Cascades. While the golden larches of early October get the most attention, I have come to love the bright red blueberry bushes in mid to late September. Few areas contain more alpine blueberry bushes than the region south of Glacier Peak.

The gentle mountains south of Glacier Peak has long been one of my favorite areas to backpack, with scenic ridge line trails and sweeping meadows. A few years ago, I backpacked the Meander Meadow Cady Ridge Loop. Gazing across the valley, I noticed a long ridge that could be included in the loop. With peak names like Poe, Longfellow, Bryant, and Emerson, it is called Poets Ridge.

I recruited Will to join me on a fall romp around the Little Wenatchee River Valley, connecting Poets Ridge to the PCT and Cady Ridge. With smoke forecasted to improve later in the day, we got an unusually late start – around 10 AM. We ascended the Poe Mountain trail, emerging into the alpine for a tasty snack. Usually, the blueberries are prime for eating in late August, but dry out or fall off by late September. I have never seen so many blueberries both prime in color and consumption!

At the ridge, we continued along the footpath towards Longfellow. The trail is pretty well defined, although it can disappear in places. The trail sidehills along the west side of the ridge beneath Longfellow, but we decided to stay on the ridge as long as we could.

Travel along the ridge top was mostly pretty easy. Even the rock was nice and grippy.

Past the souths summit of Longfellow Mountain, the ridge got much slower and more technical. We scrambled some more exposed rock before encountering some steep, lichen colored rock just before the true summit. Not wanting to waste more time, we bailed on the true summit and dropped down to the west towards the “trail”.

After descending some steep vegetation, we picked up the footpath, following it across a steep sidehill slope until eventually reaching the Longfellow / Bryant saddle. There was actually a small stagnant pond here, but the water looked disgusting so we continued on.

From the saddle, the route follows the ridge proper until the final scramble up Bryant Peak. Tackling the summit block head on looked too technical for us, so we traversed around to the left, passing two backpackers coming the other way. Then we scrambled back up to the summit ridge.

Dropping off Bryant to the north was a little steep and loose; it might be better to descend more to the NW. Regardless, we got to mellow terrain quickly and started traversing westward back to the ridge. We crossed what looked to be dried out springs, but actually found a tiny bit of running water a few hundred feet down! Since we were unsure if there would be anymore water on this route, we made sure to fill up.

After Bryant Peak, the trail mellows out a lot and becomes more defined. This section is very peaceful, with quiet hunter camps tucked away in clumps of trees, next to vibrant red meadows.

A dozen or so shots rang out from hunters in Meander Meadow as we traversed above them. When I visited this meadow in August years ago, it was one of the greenest places I had ever seen. At this time of year, it was an incredible mosaic of reds and yellows – truly nature’s easel.

Once we reached the PCT, we started cruising. Smoke had rolled in from fires to the southwest, but the colors of the meadows right around us were still incredible.

As we left the PCT to the Cady Ridge trail, the air suddenly started to clear. We entered a stunning meadow fully of ripe, red blueberry plants. It was probably only 4:45 PM, but the sun was low in the sky already. Will and I slowed to a saunter, munching on berries and basking in vibes. Here in this meadow, everything was peaceful, everything was perfect.

Fall is perhaps the shortest and most dynamic season in the Cascades. One day it could be smoky, the next snowing. In a few short weeks, the hills will lose their color. But during moments like these, when the air is still, the sun is low, and the foliage is vibrant, there isn’t really anywhere else I would rather be.

The Cady Ridge trail continued to give, with views of the endless layers of mountains to the south, and Glacier Peak to the north. Eventually, we said one last goodbye to the alpine and dropped into the forest for good.

The trail is a steep, loose, rocky horse trail. Near the bottom, it completely switches character and has flat switchbacks. Still, it is a relatively efficient journey to the valley floor and the trailhead. We were back easily before dark.

Autumn is a fleeting but special season in the high country of the Cascades. This loop was a fine outing, with nearly the entire day spent in stunning meadows. Thank you to Will for joining on a wonderful frolic through the land of color!

Notes:

• This route was about 19 miles and 7k ft gain. It took us 8 hours.
• There exists at least a faint trail most of the way from Poe Mountain to Bryant Peak. It is mostly on the west side of the ridge.
• Excluding the voluntary scrambling we did closer to Longfellow, which could be bypassed with the “trail”, the hardest section was right around Bryant Peak. The scrambling is probably 3rd class, although it is more like navigating steep grassy ledges than traditional scrambling. I would not want to do it if wet.
• We found a tiny bit of water on the north side of Bryant, following some springs downhill. The PCT water source before the Cady Ridge trail was better. If neither of those sources are running, then taking a half mile detour to Lake Sally Ann would be your only water source. There’s also a chance there is running water on the NE side of Kodak Peak, but we didn’t venture that way.