[neek]

I wasn't planning to do another larch trip, but Eric (cartman) talked up this area so much that I decided I had to take advantage of the incredible stretch of weather and see the Sawtooths for myself. I learned quickly, however, that warm days this time of year do not translate to warm nights, and don't magically make the nights any shorter! I spent a lot of time just lying there, waiting for the sun to come up, trying not to let any warm air escape my sleeping bag. Maybe I should have brought a book. Maybe I should have brought various electronic gadgetry required to compose trip reports in the field. Luckily, I don't get bored easily. Having that sort of downtime, where you can't do anything even if you want to, provides time for uncluttered thought, time to practice being mindful. That's the theory anyway. In reality I was counting the countless seconds, hoping for some space-time anomaly to fast-forward the night so I could get on with things. And when the sun came up, it didn't really come up. Light preceded heat by an hour or two. If my hands didn't get so cold, maybe I could function better in those twilight hours. But what was the problem? I wasn't in a hurry. No one was keeping score. The whole point of a wilderness experience is to escape the clock-driven chaos of normal life, or what normal life has become. (Not that I would complain about it no longer being a daily struggle for survival for most of us.) When I think of the Sawtooth range, I think of Idaho, which is funny, because this part of the Cascades really does remind me of Idaho. Grassy, open, dry, full of lakes and rocky peaks. The rest of the family did happen to be in Idaho at the same time--thus my ability to take 4 days off. This was one of my best trips of the year, and I had some good ones. But on with the report. Day 1 (Oct 11): Cooney Lake It's a long drive from the west side: over Stevens Pass, through Wenatchee (which I can never seem to navigate through without missing one of the 20 or so exits you need to take simply to stay on the highway), north on 97 and then 153 (the gas station in Pateros has a really nice bathroom), then east on 4340 which starts as Gold Creek Road or something, and finally to the end of 4340-200 to the Foggy Dew trailhead. Actually I didn't go that far. I stopped at the unmarked Foggy Dew Ridge trail at a switchback about a mile from the end. This ended up being good because high up on the ridge there's a tiny patch of sagebrush, and I like seeing (and smelling) sage at least once per year (but no more than twice). After and/or before that there was serious blowdown, hundreds of small-diameter logs, 90% of which had been cleared, or else I probably would have given up at some point. Somewhere around 7000 ft I lost the trail. Maybe I was way too high on the ridge. But no, I even pulled out the GPS and was supposedly right on it. This led to some slow-going, especially when the route went across a steep rocky area. But there were some nice meadows too--and tons of bear poop. Just as I was thinking "wow, there's a lot of bear poop around here, I wonder if there are any bears", I looked up to see one scurrying away from me. No time to get the camera out--that's how it usually goes. I eventually found the trail again, or at least found Cooney Lake. I was planning to go much further this day, but it was clear that I'd end up on the top of a ridge in the dark if I tried. So I set up camp, surprisingly with decent privacy despite half a dozen other parties there. The night was long and cold, and the wind picked up. In the morning, everything was covered in larch needles. But they are so non-threatening, as is everything about the delicate larch.

Sagebrush on Foggy Dew Ridge

No trail required

Larches are a bit past their prime

Hawk with what I believe was a grouse

Nothing to see here. Move along

With a few new bolts this should be good as new. (I carried out some Mylar balloons, a half-eaten shirt, and a bungee cord, but wasn't thoughtful enough to carry this around for 4 days)

Is there really supposed to be a trail here?

Sun messing with my camera

Not a sign I'm used to seeing. Yes, a lot of these trails are open to everyone

Cooney Lake with Switchback Mountain behind

Day 2 (Oct 12): Martin Peak, Boiling Lake, Star Lake Given that I was behind schedule, I decided against the Switchback-Martin-Cheops traverse and simply took the 2-mile direct line over Martin Peak to Boiling Lake. No difficulties, just lots of talus, which would be a theme for the rest of the trip. After a short break, I cranked out about 10 somewhat-boring trail miles to the basin between Courtney and Star, where I found a really nice lake to camp at. Being in the evening sun however meant that it was going to be shaded for much of the morning. I decided that Courtney would therefore be on the agenda for the next morning while I waited for things to warm up. It was another long, cold night. At one point I woke up feeling like I just had a solid block of sleep. It had to be, what, 3am? I looked at my phone. 8:50. I busted out laughing. Four hours later I was back in dreamland.

Switchback in morning light

Cooney Lake

Heading up from Cooney

Switchback

Almost to Martin

Looking back at Cooney Lake and Switchback

Cub Lake to the west

Looking north. Save Cheops for another day

Given the dry hazy bleakness beyond, this must be looking east

Highest of the Martin Lakes

Mount Bigelow rising above Boiling Lake

On the spur trail that goes to the saddle just S of Boiling Lake

Wintry scene to the SE of Boiling

Boiling lake (did not see any bubbles)

Deer

Not bad

Junction

Trail view

Courtney, I think

Shelter

Still larchy

Courtney

Edge of burn

Larch needles in water. What makes them collect in these circular patterns?

Star Lake

Larch reflection

Day 3 (Oct 13): Courtney, Star, Seance The day began with a brisk, pre-breakfast climb of Courtney. The register was in sad shape and almost full, with no pencil and a decrepit Nalgene, so I took it with me. Whoever goes up next, consider leaving one.

OK, this'll have to do for sunrise color

Courtney in morning light

Oval Lakes

Looking NW

Looking SW. Stuart is way back there, and Rainier

Star

Peaks I've heard of but can't name

Glacier

Sun is finally up at camp

I had breakfast (my standard--homemade granola with Nido), packed up, and headed up Star Peak. Its register was missing a lid. How convenient, I happened to be carrying one! I dumped out the mouse poop, signed with a pen found nearby, and covered it up.

A dusting of snow makes trails easy to spot. I took this one S from Star Lake to a saddle on the SW ridge of Star

At the aforementioned saddle

Courtney and probably Oval

Pretty brown looking down there

Star

The ridge I'll head down

West fork Buttermilk valley

Heading E from the summit was initially quite steep, then talus-y, then very nice flat solid ground.

Looking back at Star

Courtney and Oval

Hoodoo Peak

After some really nice ridge running, I was almost to Bernice Lake, but had one more ridge to cross. I contoured around a steep talus slope at 7600 ft rather than heading down into a basin or up to a rough-looking high point. This proved to be the most efficient route. Secluded Lake Bernice was everything I had hoped, even with the larches past their prime.

Lake Bernice

Outflow stream forms a little canyon

I climbed to a saddle E of Bernice, dropped my pack, and climbed to Point 7982 for no particular reason. (I might have been a little confused about which peak was which over here, but we won't dwell on that.) Then I headed to Seance, 8067. Views from both were nice. On the summit of Bigelow, 2 miles away, I saw two moving specks--people! So whoever topped out around 4pm, I saw you! But now I had a dilemma. The ridge heading to Beefhide looked a little rough, and it was already getting late. I didn't want to drop to the basin W because then I'd practically be back on the Summit trail. What about the other side? There was a nice looking flat spot not far at all to the SE. Furthermore, I could see a pass to the W of Bigelow that looked accessible. Would the forest down in that valley be pleasant? Anyway it seemed like my best option, so I headed down. I later realized I may have been entering forbidden territory, thanks to the Crescent fire. There was no indication at any point of my travels so far that there were active closures, so I plead ignorance. If that is not enough I'll sacrifice a marmot to the powers that be, or whatever is required to atone for the transgression. I admit it here only to warn others who may be headed this direction.

Vertebra

Other side of the ridge I just came across

Point 7982

Smoke

The ridge to Beefhide and beyond

Coming down from Seance

Frozen

Mini-canyon

Sunset

Pleasant camp spot

Day 4 (Oct 14): Bigelow, Switchback That forest valley I was worried about? It was about as easy and open as they get. I guess that's how it is over here on the dry side.

Forest

Cougar?

And it soon got even easier, because at 6600 ft I stumbled upon a well-maintained trail. This was the East Fork Buttermilk Creek trail leading up to Hoodoo Pass, the one I said earlier looked nice. I reached the pass in no time and was soon at the summit of Bigelow. Wow, that was just yesterday. It seems like so long ago.

Hoodoo Pass

Bigelow Summit

Star and Oval

Upper Eagle Lake

Glacier and ... Bonanza?

Oops. Now you tell me

From Hoodoo Pass it was all trail back to the car. Lots of trail, to be sure. Not much to say about it, but the Angel's Staircase trail up to 8000 ft was pretty scenic. I can't believe people bike that, with the steep dropoffs. At the top it was only a short talus walk to the summit of Switchback. Here I had company, a guy I assumed was camping at Cooney Lake.

Frozen creek

Old Maid looks really inviting from here

Start of Angel's Staircase trail

I know you're tired of dormant larches by now

Trail goes almost to the top of Switchback

The rest of Old Maid

Looking north from Switchback

Cooney Lake from Switchback's summit

Guy on Switchback

Heading down to the Foggy Dew Creek valley

On the Foggy Dew trail, after some mountain bikers scared me half to death, the guy I met on the top of Switchback came up behind me. I guess he decided not to camp after all. I was right behind him for the remaining few miles, and we spent the last half hour on headlamp. At the parking lot I sheepishly asked if he'd mind dropping me off at my car a mile down the road. How nice that was! Earlier in the day I was considering a 4th night out. Now I was back at the car a little after 7pm, time enough to get home before midnight (barely). Given how nice it still is out, maybe I should have stayed longer. But, sometimes the chaos of ordinary life calls.

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Nice shots of the hawk. Looks like it's giving you a bit of the stink eye. Larch, lakes, lots of mountains and ridges, good stuff.

[cartman]

Good to see you had a great time. That area is so expansive and scenic you can go back over and over and still find new places to see. Next trip there go when the larches are prime and the color will blow your mind.