Having trekked along both sides of the creek, my personal preference is the eastern side over the western side, but to each their own. Here are the pros and cons of each side, from my perspective:
Cabinet Creek, eastern side:
PROS: Generally, a gradually rising traverse through semi-open forest, minimal brush and few (if any) downed trees to go over or around, a faint path appears from time to time. No routefinding issues at all. If you keep the creek basically within view and/or earshot, you should be OK.
CONS: Cabinet Creek has to be crossed at some point. It might be best to do so when the smaller tributaries join near ~4500' elevation. My team crossed two streams, the first being a gentle sand bar section at 4500' that was only 1' deep, and the second being a log crossing over the main Cabinet Creek. Neither crossing was trivial.
Cabinet Creek, western side:
PROS: The entire team took this side during the descent, and the travel went quicker than I would have expected (but, again, we were descending). Plus, there were no crossing of any major creeks, only a few tiny seasonal streams. I really enjoyed seeing the old encampment just below 4000' elevation, which had an actual cabinet; I called it the "Cabinet of Cabinet Creek."
CONS: There is a lot of brush, a lot of downed trees, a lot of ups and downs, and some steep ribs along this side. Sometimes we were near Cabinet Creek, sometimes we were only within earshot of it, and sometimes we could not hear it at all. Even the person leading the team down this side lost his own (ascent) route from time to time (although, generally, the descent plan is to continue losing elevation while staying on that side of the creek). There is a short slide alder section in which you would want to find a good spot to cross.
Neither side of the creek is technical, and either side works. The key is to be safe, have fun, and not get lost. This is a great area of the North Cascades to explore.
Redwic - Jun 4, 2017 10:28 am - Voted 10/10
Cabinet Creek - West vs EastHaving trekked along both sides of the creek, my personal preference is the eastern side over the western side, but to each their own. Here are the pros and cons of each side, from my perspective:
Cabinet Creek, eastern side:
PROS: Generally, a gradually rising traverse through semi-open forest, minimal brush and few (if any) downed trees to go over or around, a faint path appears from time to time. No routefinding issues at all. If you keep the creek basically within view and/or earshot, you should be OK.
CONS: Cabinet Creek has to be crossed at some point. It might be best to do so when the smaller tributaries join near ~4500' elevation. My team crossed two streams, the first being a gentle sand bar section at 4500' that was only 1' deep, and the second being a log crossing over the main Cabinet Creek. Neither crossing was trivial.
Cabinet Creek, western side:
PROS: The entire team took this side during the descent, and the travel went quicker than I would have expected (but, again, we were descending). Plus, there were no crossing of any major creeks, only a few tiny seasonal streams. I really enjoyed seeing the old encampment just below 4000' elevation, which had an actual cabinet; I called it the "Cabinet of Cabinet Creek."
CONS: There is a lot of brush, a lot of downed trees, a lot of ups and downs, and some steep ribs along this side. Sometimes we were near Cabinet Creek, sometimes we were only within earshot of it, and sometimes we could not hear it at all. Even the person leading the team down this side lost his own (ascent) route from time to time (although, generally, the descent plan is to continue losing elevation while staying on that side of the creek). There is a short slide alder section in which you would want to find a good spot to cross.
Neither side of the creek is technical, and either side works. The key is to be safe, have fun, and not get lost. This is a great area of the North Cascades to explore.