Jade Lake and Dip Top Gap in a Day

Distance: 25 miles

Elevation Gain: 5500 ft

Fired up from my Glacier Peak C2C attempt and looking for a longer run I had the required skills to complete, I set my sights on a solo push of Jade Lake and Dip Top Gap. I wanted a trail I was familiar with so route finding wouldn’t suck up a lot of my time on the trail. I backpacked at Jade Lake in the fall a few years go and chickened out of doing Dip Top Gap since the snow looked super icy from far away and I didn’t have much experience with steep snow at the time. It’s been high on my list of places to see ever since so I decided it was finally time!

Leg One: Trailhead to Marmot Lake

I started at the Deception Pass trailhead at 7am. Glacier Peak taught me that midnight starts are less than ideal, so I decided to opt for more sleep instead of a super early start. I also figured this would help me push the pace to avoid running out in the dark. I made it about a half mile down the trail when I heard some crashing in the trees and a few large pinecones fell at my feet. I was tempted to look up but based on the noise I had a feeling I had probably startled a bear and decided to high tail it out of there. I heard more crashing coming from the tree behind me and only looked back after another quarter mile or so. I didn’t see anything and opted to keep going.

The first four miles of the Deception Pass trail are relatively flat and I alternated between running and power hiking to warm myself up. After the flat miles, I reached the base of Deception Pass and was surprised at the incline. It doesn’t matter how many times I do this trail; I always forget about the forested climb to Deception Pass. It’s a nice gradual climb though, so it didn’t slow down my pace too much. After I reached Deception Pass and made the turn to Marmot Lake, I stopped at a small stream to fill my body bottles since I couldn’t remember how many water sources there were before Marmot lake. This turned out to be unnecessary since I immediately passed a couple of small ponds and crossed a larger stream. The water sources along the trail are plentiful and you could probably get away with carrying a half liter at a time. I stayed on the safe side and always had around a full liter.

I slowed down a little on the climb up to Marmot Lake as many backpackers were coming out and not yielding to people hiking up the trail. I tried not to get annoyed by this, but I was really hoping to be a little faster during this section and it was hard to do when I had to keep waiting for groups of 5-10 people to pass on their way out. I probably should have set my expectations differently since I was hiking in on Labor Day!

Leg Two: Marmot Lake to Dip Top Gap

Marmot Lake. The trail to Jade climbs the rock gully you see in the distance.

I reached Marmot Lake and the nine-mile mark after three hours on the trail. I took a brief break to munch on some food and top off my water before setting off to the more difficult portion of trail between Marmot and Jade Lake. I remembered this portion of trail as being hard but was pleased with how quickly I was able to get up it. The lack of a heavy pack helped greatly with my timing through this section. I reached Jade Lake around 11am and considered stopping to soak in the views, but with the hardest part of the trail ahead of me decided it would be best to rest again at the top of Dip Top Gap.

Jade Lake. I am always shocked by this blue green water!

On my backpacking trip here a few years ago, I had stopped at Jade Lake, so this portion of trail was entirely new to me. I was slightly nervous since I was solo and it was probably the most difficult part of the trail, but it was easier than expected. The hardest part was honestly the steep loose dirt you go down to get to the shore of Jade Lake and the beginning of the climb to Dip Top Gap. After that, it felt like a little bit of “choose your own adventure”. There was a stream from glacial runoff and I spotted cairns/faint trails on both sides of it. I opted to go climbers left on the way up, but on my way down I decided climbers right was more well-marked and easier to follow. Right before the base of the snowfield, I spotted a perfectly flat rock. I looked at my watch and I was hours ahead of the schedule I set for myself, so I decided to stop there to apply more sunscreen and take a quick nap.

Climbing the snowfield to Dip Top Gap was pretty straight forward. I put on microspikes for my own peace of mind, but poles probably would have sufficed since the snow had been softening in the sun and was starting to get to that mashed potato consistency. I stayed to climbers left of some icier patches (I am assuming remnants from when this was a glacier?) and I reached the gap around 12:30pm. I took a longer break here to enjoy the view, eat my McGriddle, and take some selfies celebrating my success and started back down to Jade Lake around 1pm when the wind began to pick up.

Leg Three: Dip Top Gap back to Trailhead

I started back down the trail and caught up to a group of backpackers that had departed Dip Top Gap fifteen minutes ahead of me. We chatted for a little bit while they took turns glissading down and I also opted to glissade even though I was unsure my leggings could handle it. The Lululemon All the Right Places crop stood up to the challenge and didn’t show a single snag or hole after glissading down a couple hundred feet of snow. I was able to get back down to Jade Lake quickly and opted to stop for a quick dip in the much warmer waters of No Name Lake a bit further down the trail. I continued on and started back down the gully to Marmot Lake. Both times I have been on this stretch of trail on the way out, I always feel lost because it looks entirely different on the way out. The descent also started to get to my knees, so I went a lot slower than I hoped to during this section and didn’t make it back to Marmot Lake until 3:30pm.

Once I reached the valley, I was surrounded by smoke. What started as a perfectly clear day had turned into an apocalyptic sight. I knew of no nearby fires and hoped a new one hadn’t sprung up nearby. I used my InReach to check in with Brian and it appeared smoke had just started blowing in from other fires. I hadn’t even considered smoke being a possibility on this run and my chest started to get tight from the unhealthy air quality. The misery started to kick in and after stepping off trail to relieve myself, I just sat there (away from my urine) for a while willing myself to continue. A helpful tool I have discovered to get through these moments is to run through a list of my most miserable outdoor experiences and rank them:

1. Altitude Sickness at Everest Base Camp

2. Food Poisoning while backpacking to Thousand Island Lake.

3. Heat exhaustion on the way up Little Giant Pass.

Then I ask myself if the current moment fits anywhere in that list. So far it hasn’t and it’s a pretty good motivator to continue on. However, I’ll need to figure out what I will do if I meet a moment more miserable than any of those.

My knees were still feeling the pain of the descent to Marmot, so I kept a power hike pace down Deception Pass. When I reached the flat area again, I didn’t feel like breaking into a true run, but the smoke and the fact I was nearing sunset inspired me to get out of there as quickly as possible. I started running and soon after passed by a group of women hiking out from Tuck and Robin Lakes. There was another trail runner in the group, and she opted to run out as well when she saw me. She set a perfect pace and I followed her out those final four miles and was back at my car at around 6pm for a total of 11 hours and 16 minutes on the trail. Eventually, I hope to accomplish these goals a little faster, but I am proud of what I was able to accomplish on very little endurance training this year.

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