8-26-21  I hiked up Hannegan Pass yesterday.  It is the main route from the west to get into the North Unit.  Deso is about 25 miles to the east from there.  The picture below is looking back at the trail which follows the sidehill.  I thought I might be able to see Deso from the top — but not sure–so many peaks.  Did run into a 3 person NPS trail crew headed out.  They told me that Jim at Deso has been a big help in relaying messages this summer as the repeaters are not working well.  In addition since Puget Sound Dispatch took over the Park’s radio network –there have been misunderstandings.  The North Cascades when I worked there had its own folks down in Marblemount who understood all the trails, people and idiosyncrasies of both units.   I usually dealt with Lescha @ Fire Dispatch but there was also Comm Center that worked with the Wilderness Rangers, Law Enforcement as well as the trail crews.

It was very nice of the young trail crew to stop on the trail and listen to a couple of my stories from when I worked Sourdough Lookout twenty years ago.  I gave them a copy of my card for this website….  I would guess they were anxious to get out to civilization again and get cleaned up and have a restaurant meal.