[cartman]

The larch meadow

Larches everywhere

Larchy meadow

On yet another quest to summit an obscure 7000er, but this time with great larches as the primary goal, Brenda and I decided to go for Pomas Peak via the Myrtle Lake and Larch Lakes Trails in the Entiats. Much of the area burned in the Wolverine Fire of 2015, but thankfully the lakes and ridges nearby were completely spared. The trails to get there, not so much... Day 1: Entiat River Trail to Myrtle Lake and Larch Lakes We drove the good road, paved except for the last few miles, to the Entiat River TH. We decided to bring bikes for the 3.5 miles to the Myrtle Lake turnoff, as it's bikeable since the wilderness boundary is slightly past that. Unfortunately the Wolverine Fire did not spare the Entiat River Trail or surrounding hills. It's all burned, though it's starting to make a comeback with underbrush and a few saplings, and though the vast majority of mature trees are dead, not every tree was torched so there are seed trees in some places. The trail is in excellent condition with no blowdowns to the Myrtle Lake turnoff.

Devils Smokestack

Myrtle Lake turnoff

On the way in we ran into two hikers who mentioned the new bridge over the Entiat River had just been finished last week. Yeah, we planned that... Stashing our bikes, we hiked a short distance to the river. The crews did a fine job building this very nice bridge.

New bridge

Shortly past the bridge is the junction for either Cow Creek Meadows or the connector to the Larch Lakes Trail.

Junction

As Cow Creek is twice as long, we took the connector. This trail parallels the river on its west side for about a mile. It's almost all burned, and not showing much in the way of recovery yet. Does have some views and a bit of fall color, however.

Connector trail

Color in the burn

Gopher

The connector is in good shape most of the way, but does get a bit faint in the burn for the last tenth of a mile or so. About a mile along it reaches the unsigned T junction to the Larch Lake Trail. This too is completely burned out to start.

Larch Lakes trail burn

Worse, it is heavily eroded, so much so that one is forced to hike on the side for the most part. No way this trail would be suitable for stock. Once the trail reaches living vegetation, it's still not in good shape due to a lack of maintenance and brushing out. Here's a pic of one short section:

Larch Lakes trail needs maintenance

It's in bad shape for a couple of miles. Without a significant and expensive restoration effort, the Larch Lakes Trail will go back to nature. As Brenda was interested in tagging Fifth of July Mtn south of upper Larch Lake, and I'd done it on another trip several years ago, I tell her to motor on ahead while I mosey up at a more relaxed pace. Unfortunately, I miss a switchback in the brush and find myself at the bottom of a chossy gully.

Lost the trail

Since everything else looks brushy, I decide to just boot up the gully until I reach the trail somewhere above. It's a bit loose, but not difficult and I knock off a couple of hundred feet directly uphill,

Higher in the gully

until I spy the trail just above at a switchback. Twenty feet farther left and I would have missed it. Good views now of the ridge on the other side of the river.

Duncan Hill

Gopher, Choral, 7363, Duncan Hill

After a few brushy switchbacks the trail then goes straight to lower Larch Lake and the first larches.

Larch

Lower Larch Lake

The lower lake isn't particularly remarkable, but there is a large meadow just north of it that is open and ringed with larches now at their prime.

Into the meadow

The larch meadow

There are also a lot of smaller larches in varying stages of life.

The larch nursery

Middle school

Little did I know this was the last of the good sun and light we would see on this trip... After chatting with one of the locals camping here, I continued on the half mile on good trail to upper Larch Lake.

Upper larch lake

Unlike the lower lake, this lake is incredible. Expansive meadows, mountain views, and surrounded by larches in varying concentrations, from singlets to groves small and large. However I had missed the sun on the trees, so contented myself with a few scenic photos and proceeded to set up camp and gather wood for a fire knowing the night would be cold.

Reflection

Fall snow

Brenda returned before dark, having zipped up the trail on the east shoulder to the south ridge then to the summit of Fifth of July Mtn and back while I was doing camp chores. We had to work at it a bit, but finally got a good fire going around dusk and were joined by our neighbors in a camp fifty feet away who'd come in via the Basalt Mtn Trail. Kevin and Yula were glad to take advantage of the warmth and we had a good time hanging out for a couple of hours while the ladies dried out their socks. We finally went to bed around 10 under starry skies with no wind. At 4 am the skies were still clear. That wouldn't last... Day 2: Pomas Peak and the amazing Larch Lakes Rising around 7am, I retrieve the food bags and look up at white sky. The sky is such a uniform white I'm not sure if it's clear predawn skies or clouds. The forecast is for partly sunny skies; unfortunately as it gets lighter if becomes apparent it's all overcast. We ready daypacks and head out an hour later. As we round the lake to the junction to the Pomas Pass trail, I notice that the lake is absolutely still so get a good reflection shot.

Shore reflection

Larches above the lake:

Ridge larches

The trail to Pomas Pass is in good shape for the most part, with a couple of blowdowns to negotiate the first quarter mile, but after that it's all clear.

Trail north

Entering a fine meadow,

Meadow trail

we admire larches at their prime on the neighboring hillside.

Larches

What would end up being the theme for the day was the flat light from the overcast skies. Not conducive to bringing out the best colors. Soon the trail begins to switchback uphill. At ~6400' the woods get a bit more open and we enter one of the more magical scenes I have ever encountered in the Cascades.

View

Larch Lakes

The pictures don't come close to doing this place justice. It's a combination of meadows and lakes, flowers and larches, and color out of a fairy tale. It's The Sound of Music meets Willy Wonka here as we're delighted by the views afar while surrounded by miniature Oompa Loompas everywhere on the nearby slopes.

Meadow larches

Western anemone on the trail

Hillside anemone

Western anemone

Larch vista

This is one of the most unique places I've ever seen in nearly twenty years roaming the Cascades. It's so wonderful I don't want to leave. Even my normal summit yearning is suspended by the magic of this spot. But we are headed out today, so onward we go! Soon we reach the ridge and more views,

Looking back to Fifth of July Mtn

Dakobeds and larches

Carne Mtn and Rock Creek Valley

Chilly

The Dakobeds

while enjoying the spectacular Partly Sunny skies.

"Partly sunny"

We round the first bump on the trail and start uphill off trail toward the farther higher bump.

Scrambling

Having seen this peak a few years earlier from Carne Mtn, it looked like a gentle bump one could just walk up easily to the top from the south. The terrain is not difficult by any means, mostly little benches in the grass and rocks with some krummholz higher to negotiate.

Krummholz

Soon I reach Brenda at the top of this "summit".

Brenda on the false summit

Standing just below the top at eye level with the highest rock, I look over at a farther point and think

That one is higher

Sometimes it's hard to tell which of two not so distant points is the higher one, but this time I'm pretty sure we're not on the high point, so I note the elevation on my altimeter before heading out. The ridge ahead clearly doesn't go, so we don't linger here and start working our way back down the slope we came up, dropping ~300' and then traversing skier's right around a buttress on more grassy slopes, then across a shallow dirt gully before working our way up again. Nice north side larch basin:

Pretty north basin

Going a bit farther left than we needed to, we tromp through some more krummholz and around stunted pines to the true summit of Pomas Peak, 7320'+, by my altimeter 35 feet higher than the other summit.

Summit block

Yay! Unlike the last few obscure 7000ers I've done recently, there is a register here. I open it up and surprise! (so not), it's a Fay Pullen register.

Pomas summit register

What is a bit of a surprise (not really) is no one has signed it in five years. Though not difficult to reach, I knew this peak was one of the more obscure 7000' mountains simply because it has no name on any map and there is so much else surrounding it to climb. Apparently it's even more obscure and rarely climbed than I expected. But then, this may be the most neglected ridge in the area, as Garland to Devils Smokestack and Rampart are done now and then but not that frequently, and Fifth of July less so, and I suspect Pomas to Chilly even more rarely. Looking north we see ominous clouds that seem to be getting closer.

Approaching storm

Not wanting to be caught in what looks to be an approaching snowstorm, we again cut our summit stay short and move down the mountain, this time taking a line straight down from the top in the middle of the slope. This works out very well and would also likely be the best line up. Traversing past the shallow gully and the false summit buttress, we continue on easy grassy benches,

Traversing

back to the trail below.

And back to the trail

A few more photos before the peaks are out of sight,

Last look at Chilly

Carne Mtn.

Old Gib

Larches and Carne

we traverse back toward the ridge above the lakes,

Pomas Mtn trail

Trail and larches

Larches on the slope

relishing the oh-so-accurate weather forecast.

Still partly sunny

Down the trail a bit we reenter the land of make believe.

Return to Magicland

Fairyland

Poofs

Magical

I wanna stay

I linger a bit here while Brenda moves on, wondering if it looks this good in light this flat, how magical it would be on a clear day. Finally it's time to go, resolving to return here someday when the sun is bright and the larches are golden again. Down to the meadows,

Back to the meadows

Slope larches

into the woods,

Trail to the lake

Trail larches

and down to the lake,

Mountain reflection

The other side

we return to camp

Trail to camp

and pack up to leave. I had been intending to wander around the larch groves at the far end of the lake then returning to camp, but suggested to Brenda at the last minute to simply pick up the packs and leave by going around the far side of the lake and take pics as we go.

Let's see what's over there

After an open stretch we enter another larch wonderland.

Larch Land

Larchy meadow

Around the lake

Larch grove

Looking back

Boulder and tall larch

This side of upper Larch Lake is a ever-changing mosaic of larches tall and small, with groves of varying size and concentrations. I meander through here, entranced by the variety of golden scenery along the lake. I spy a nice gathering of larches and decide to wander into them.

More larches

Inviting

Larch

Another larch grove

Into the grove

Surrounded

Larches everywhere

Baby larches

Even the slopes and ridges are peppered with larches.

Once more it's time to leave, with a last look at the lake before entering forest.

Upper Larch Lake, from the other side

There is a path here,

Path

Snowshroom

which turns out not to connect to the main trail, so we do a very short cross-country jaunt to the trail and down to the lower lake, where we wander the meadow for more larch beauty.

Entering the lower meadow

Expansive

Nursery time

Babes

A gaggle of little ones

Patriarch

Another big 'un

Slope larches

Mixed in

A few more larches on the trail just past the lake,

Trail larches

Trail larches

then it's goodbye to The Land of Magic and Beauty and back to the Beast that is the remainder of the route. In tribute to the wonders above, I take no pictures on the way out even though the jungle trail seems easier going down. We decide to check out the Larch Lake Trail crossing of the Entiat. However, we lose the trail in high grass a few hundred horizontal feet from the river and simply push through shrubs and grass to the shore, where we see a cairn on the other side a bit upstream marking where the trail is. There's no log at that point, but I see a spot where a little rock hopping can reach a log that spans the rest of the river, so Brenda tosses in a big rock to improve the step and we cross it easily back to the Entiat River Trail, past the wilderness boundary,

Goodbye GPW

and the last half mile to our bikes. We knock off the three and a half miles back to the car, satisfied with an efficient exit out. Despite the threatening skies earlier, the snowstorm never touched us all the way back to the lakes or on the way out. This was an interesting trip via trails new to both of us. Very much a case of yin and yang here, with the Beast of the approach giving way to the Beauty up high. Making it up Pomas Pk was fine, but it was the lakes and especially Fairyland above them that were the true highlights. I will return again, but probably via the Basalt Mountain Trail and over the shoulder of Fifth of July Mtn, as that route stays high and scenic with no brush or downfall on the trails all the way to upper Larch Lake. Thanks again to Brenda for being an outstanding partner and of course for all the driving. Fun and interesting trip, great to see the larches for the first time this year. 20 miles, 4800' gain Eric J. Johnson

[Brushbuffalo]

Very nice, Eric. You consistently capture what must be the best "larchiness" year after year. Your middle name should be 'larch'.

[Bootpathguy]

[HitTheTrail]

[Navy salad]

Wow! Thanks for the thorough trip report! This must have taken a while to put together!

[Ski]

excellent!

[ReubenD]

I was excited to post a TR for this one thinking that it seemingly doesn't get a lot of traffic, but I guess you beat me to it by a week, cartman. Our route differed slightly in that we went skipped Myrtle lake and headed directly to Larch Lakes for the first night. The lake froze partially overnight, but the sun was warm and we lazed around taking pictures and eating a warm breakfast. Larches are definitely peaking right now.

The second day we headed up the Garland Peak trail towards the junction with the Cow Creek Meadows trail and got some more larches along the ridge above the lake. The trail along here is well maintained and easy to follow once you get to the other side of the Larch Lakes meadow.

Looking down on Cow Creek Meadows from an overlook was kind of sad. It looks a week or so past prime colors and especially depressed with the burn all around it. The trail going down to the meadow from the Garland junction is in need of maintenance, with lots of burned blowdowns slowing our progress. The meadow itself is very beautiful, however, and there look to be some nice camping spots in the woods just next to it.

The trail down from Cow Creek Meadows had occasional blowdowns and suffered from some erosion, but it went fairly quick and soon we were at Myrtle Lake.

We didn't stay long, wanting to ford the Entiat (not realizing there was a new bridge!), and made short work of the trail back to catch burgers in Leavenworth for dinner.

[grannyhiker]

Thank you for sharing the wonderful photos! During the Wolverine Fire I was checking maps every day to see what was happening to Larch Lakes. I'm so glad to see the larches survived! Although I expected it, it was still shocking to see poor Cow Creek Meadow! Although I'm glad those baby larches at the edge of the meadow are evidently doing fine. Any chance of getting WTA to help before those burnt over trails (like the Larch Lakes trail) are completely gone?