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WHIDBEY ISLAND  WASHINGTON  USA

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ARROWHEAD LAKE

     This is one of the most remote places in the North Cascades.  It is reached by an extremely toilsome eight miles of scrambling, climbing, and yes, even a bit of hiking.  This lovely tiny lake is full of fish as well.  One of my partners caught and released 19 cutts in about 20 minutes right in front of our camp.  The mosquitos are more plentiful than the fish though.  One very interesting thing I saw at Arrowhead Lake was a large number of some kind of moth, flying low over the surface of the lake, being caught by dozens of trout jumping clear out of the water: amazing!  Taking a clue from the moths we found the biggest, ugliest flies in our books and caught our dinner in mere minutes.  There was also a large hawk circling over the lake, probably fishing, but we didn't witness a catch.

     The trail is not marked on any Forest Service map I have seen.  The Green Trails maps are sufficiently detailed for accurate navigation if you know your way around via compass.  The approach is by the Enjar Lake trail.  From your well deserved camp at Enjar, swing around the lake to the left to the rise next to Hamar Lake.  From there, turn left, straight into the towering wall and climb.  Climb straight up to the pass above Arrowhead Lake and drop 800 feet to the lake.

     From Seattle drive north on Interstate 5 to exit 230.  Follow State Route 20 east to Rockport.  Turn south on Highway 530 to Illabot Creek Road, about four miles.  Illabot Creek Road is an active logging road and is steep and rough.  Watch for log trucks. The trailhead is between milepost 20 and 21 at the bridge crossing Otter Creek.  Otter Creek is very interesting.  Below Slide Lake the creek runs underground to just above the bridge.  Explore a little.