[RAW-dad]

Last summer, accompanied by my patch-making daughter and her friend, I set out to do a high country off-trail route from Del Monte Ridge to Obstruction Point via Gunsight pass, Deception basin, Graywolf pass, “the northern Cameron” traverse and Lake Lillian, but was thwarted on the third day by my rusty old knees. ` We ended up getting to Deception basin via Gunsight (not easy) and then headed out Royal Creek. It was a great trip, but disappointing. This year, with my older and wiser knees, but sadly not my daughter (she had to work!), I headed back for another shot focusing on the Cameron traverse. Day 1 (8/7) started out early with a drive up to Obstruction Point, where I started out the Elk Mountain trail bound for Deer Park by 6:45. This is such a fun trail with that top-of-the-world sort of feeling to it with views near and far. I could see nearly all of my route, which was exhilarating and a bit daunting. Soon I was at Deer Park, where I replenished water and headed down toward Three Forks. I’d been on this trail 3 times before and seen a pack train twice and sure enough, along came another. This one was led by a skillful horsewoman, who was leading 5 or 6 horses/mules down to Three Forks to provision a trail crew that was camped there. Thank you for all that you do!! Soon made it to Three Forks and then on to Graywolf Camp with its brand-new privy. Gotta love a new privy! Found a spot off to the side, which proved to be lucky as there were eventually 4 parties at the site, one with about 6 tents! After 13 miles and 4500 ft of elevation loss, I hit the hay early and slept like a marmot.

1_Mt Baker sunrise

1a_Olympus patch

1b_Grand Valley

1c_Maiden Peak and Elk Mountain

1d_packtrain

1e_Gray Wolf Privvy

1f_Cameron-Graywolf confluence

Day 2 (8/8) was a bit of a rest day, as I made my way up the Graywolf trail past Camp Ellis and Falls Camp and eventually into the beautiful basins below Graywolf pass. Having hiked the Cedar Lake way trail some years ago, I purposely stayed on the main trail almost to the pass and then headed off trail towards the divide between GW basin and Cedar Lake. Camp 2 was made on the east side of the divide at about 5900 ft. This spot had incredible views of Mounts Deception, Clark, Walkinshaw and The Needles, as well as the GW basin and some nice nearby tarns. One was quite cold with floating snow, the others almost warm, almost. Enjoyed watching the changing shadows to the east, although the mozzies were a bit thick at this spot. No free lunch in the Olympics!

2_Devil's Club

2a_Moss country

2b_First look at the Needles

2c_GW basin flowers

2d_Needles pano

2e_Needles sunset

Day 3 (8/9) started bright and early with an easy walk up to the divide that takes one to Cedar Lake basin and its many marmots, which given recent trends was great to see. And hear! Soon I was at the NW edge of the lake and the start of the traverse that is well described in TRs by Boomheist, RodF, and Luc, which I’ll refer to from time to time. Started up and promptly saw a bear that seemed to be exactly where I wanted to go. Not one to head out into steep Alaska Cedar plus bruin, I probably went too high up that slope and had to do some down climbing to get around a rocky rib. Worked out in the end and I was soon at the divide between Cedar Lake and the eastern Cameron creek where the route ahead was laid out in all its glory. Could also see back to The Needles and way to the north including Grand Pass, which I would cross in a few days. Definitely a sweet spot! Traversed down the slope to the SW and entered an expansive basin that really deserves a full day of exploration. Unfortunately, all I could afford was a lunch stop and water refill before tackling what I thought was one of the hardest sections of the route – a rising traverse through a steep meadow with a few gullies thrown in for spice. One gully in particular required a significant down-climb to get past. Fortunately, flowers were abundant through this section and eventually the route moderates as one makes their way up to the foot of the largest Cameron glacier. This too was an interesting area with all sorts of glacial features including polished rocks, braided streams discharging muddy water into shallow lakes, and small crevasses on the glacier itself. The route then ascends west to gain the top of a rocky ridge that allows passage down to the foot of the moraine that eventually leads up to so-called Cloudy Pass (Boomheist & RodF). Recent TRs provide useful suggestions on how to negotiate this area and I was soon camped near a small tarn at the foot of the moraine (~5540 ft). This is a dramatic area with views of several tall waterfalls, cliffs and snowfields, the moraine itself, and the summit of Cameron and Head of Cameron to the west. It also has a real feeling of solitude that added to its varied attractions. The forecast (now 3 days old) had called for rain the next day and it was getting cloudy, so I spent much of the evening scouting the route ahead and was confident that it was doable – even in rain and fog.

3_toward Cedar lake basin

3a_looking back at GW basin

3b_Cedar Lake and Towhead Babies

3c_Marmota olympus

3d_Heading up to Cedar Lake Cameron divide

3e_The route ahead from Cedar Lake divide

3f_Looking north to Grand Pass

3g_first basin pano

3i_Gully

3j_Steep meadow flowers

3k_central Cameron glacier

3l_The route ahead - go left

3m_Looking back at area below Cameron glacier

3o_Camp 3 below Cameron

3p_Camp 3 view of the moraine

Day 4 (8/10): Some light rain occurred over night and it was pretty foggy at 6 am, but there was none when I awoke, so I ate a quick breakfast and packed up my gear. Good thing because the rain started in earnest around 7:30 and continued pretty steadily for the next 5 hours. There was only one sane way out of this basin and that was up, so I made my way to the base of the moraine and followed the spine upward. Footing was tricky at times and there was a strong swirling wind that added drama, but the way is obvious and progress steady up the steep incline. Soon I found myself off the spine and in an area with some large boulders and stunted trees that provided some much-needed shelter from the strong wind that was now coming out of the west (lower on the moraine it had been easterly). I angled to the right and came to the large tarn at 6370 ft that is mentioned in other TRs. As advertised, there is a steep snowfield above the lake that provides access to a moderate “crease” between rock and snow and eventually the pass – IF one can get around the lake without taking a swim. I spent a lot of time studying the route ahead, started up it with a death grip on my ice axe, and then midway through it, before I got to the crease, somehow found myself on a super steep section of gravelly rock about 20 ft above the snowfield. Wtf? How’d I manage that? Having little shame and fortunately no onlookers, I decided the best course of action was to butt-slide my way down the slope (I think I saw that in the Freedom of the Hills…). This worked well and I was soon moving up the crease and on to aptly named Cloudy Pass where the wind was roaring, the rain falling, and the views negligible (& out of focus). I was pretty much soaked at this point and getting cold, so I quickly made my way down into the vast Cameron Basin where the wind let up, but the rain did not. My original plan had been to go up over Cameron Pass, camp in upper Lost basin, and head over to the Lillian basin the next day. That was a fair-weather plan, so plan B took be down the Cameron Trail and eventually up over Grand Pass and into upper Grand Valley where I hoped to camp in an out-of-the-way corner below Low Pass. After being in such wild terrain the past 2 days and having trod this trail 5 times before, this was disheartening to say the least, but probably the best course of action given the weather. Besides the considerable elevation loss and gain, this route took me into the vegetation, which drenched me still further. On the way up to Grand Pass the rain let up and at times there were bright spots, so I was able to dry out a little, though my boots had a certain squish to them for the rest of the day. At this point my camera died, so no more photos… Sorry! (Last photo from Grand Pass was taken in 2015.)

4_Heading up toward the moraine

4a_mid moraine

4e_view west from Cloudy Pass

4f_Looking back at Cloudy Pass

4g_View back from Cameron Basin trail

Day 5 (8/11): Got up to light rain, which had been intermittent overnight, and was soon heading down past Gladys and Moose lakes and up the trail toward Obstruction Point. There was 1 tent at Gladys and 4 or 5 at Moose, which is pretty light for a weekend in August – yet I’m certain all those spots were reserved on recreation.gov. Gotta do something about that site! No further rain, but a cold NW wind was whipping up on Lillian Ridge, so I made a bee line toward my car and those all-so-comfortable inventions called seats. All-in-all a great trip with an off-trail section that equals anything I have been through in the Olympics. It should not be taken lightly, however, as the route is both physically and mentally demanding with little margin for error if one were to stray. I’ve seen reference to others doing the traverse in reverse, but it’s not clear to me how one would go down the spine of the moraine. I certainly would not want to…

[RodF]

Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for sharing your trip & photos.

[silence]

You gotta love the Olympics. Nice work ... thanks for sharing!

[Fatrick]

Committing route solo, nice work!