[Brushbuffalo]

When I hiked to Muckamuck Mountain on August 30 I drove right by the best access point to Old Baldy (former lookout site). Then in looking at the map in consultation with Ray Kresek's information of sites with former lookouts, I saw that Granite Mountain (7366')was only six miles from Old Baldy (7844'), Granite also being a site of a lookout in the past. However although only about 6 miles apart as the raven flies, the summits are about 40 miles apart as the Toyota Tacoma negotiates. These two are what some would call 'dumpster dives', a term I dislike. Any day outside is a fine day if you have fun, are challenged a bit in one way or another, and come back safely.

Old Baldy from FS37

Old Baldy (why do I keep typing it as Old Badly?) from Granite Mountain

I had September 24 and 25 open, but the forecasters several days before were calling for very strong wind in that area.....hmm, how about gusts predicted to be 55 or more? EDIT: did these hikes just a couple of days before early winter. I left Bellingham at 5 a.m. on the 24th with the plan to hike Granite first then follow with Old Baldy and camp on top. From Loup Loup summit I took FS 42 then FS 100 and 4235 to an open basin south of Granite Mountain. When I examined Google Earth I realized the whole area had been burned (Tripod fire?) but it looked like an easy route could be found. I started at 5600 feet by a small creek and chose climber's left of it to ascend. Immediately the brush and fallen logs began. The brush, mostly willows, obscured many of the fallen logs, making the going slow (less than 1 mile per hour). Logs under brush don't show up too well on Google Earth!

Just dive into this ( this isn't where I started but is typical of the scene)

Moose or cattle track?

Moose!

not anything like North Cascades ( west- side ) stuff, but still a little slow going

Cool burl

just sort of tiptoe through this stuff. It is like a slow- motion steeplechase.

Beautiful coarse granite with large feldspar crystals and dark xenoliths, which are inclusions of other rock contained by the granite magma

I aimed for a prominent dark ( lichen stained) granite outcrop at the head of the broad valley, above and beyond which travel was much easier, since the fire had not scorched the portion of the mountain on the uppermost eastern slope. Soon I found the first signs that I was near the site of the former lookout in the form of numerous stumps cut decades ago.

one stump

5 stumps

I also found a strange set of parallel aligned logs on a flat a couple of hundred yards from the lookout site. Not sure what that was about. Possibly a stockpile of firewood stacked for bucking and splitting by the lookout staffer?

But the strangest thing was a pile of horse manure, not fresh but definitely horse. What route the horse, and presumably rider, used to get there is uncertain.....certainly not the way I came! The old trail evidently came from near Conconully to the northeast. I don't have evidence that this trail survived the decades and the fires. Anyone know? EDIT: a TR by avid lookout friend Eric Willhite shows that the original trail came in from the northeast. The debris from the lookout was the usual: rusty nails, broken glass, melted glass, rusty implements.

Lookout site

Concrete fragments

Hinge

It was a log cabin cupola groundhouse so there wouldn't have been a tower. Built in 1930, destroyed in 1954.

Granite Mountain benchmark, placed 2 years after the lookout was gone

east

south

Stove pipe segment

phone wire and rusty doo-dad

another view of lookout site

See it? You have to look for it a bit. She was there on 11/28/18, a good time to avoid the worst of the brush.

of course!

I decided to try descending the south ridge then trend right and go straight down slope to the road and my truck, skier's left of the route I ascended.

down this way...stay well left of the creek!

I thought this was a boulder imbedded in the trunk, but no, it's a huge burl!

three feet across

flaming shrub

It went OK until I got within about 1/2 mile (was probably less but seemed LONG) of the road. I made the mistake of getting in the middle of the broad valley too near the stream. If you go, stay away from the stream! Not too surprisingly the brush is worse there, but the fallen trees were a mess. If I did it again, I would pay closer attention to avoid areas of green...pretty basic routefinding. But I am not going again. This peak has little to recommend if you are not a lookout-site aficionado or peakbagger. Totals 3.2 miles r.t., 3:56 total including breaks. About 1800' gain. Next I drove FS 4225 to Lester Road and Bear Creek Road to lunch at Old Schoolhouse in Winthrop, then drove East Chewuch Road to FS 37 and up to Baldy Pass. I had hoped to start phase 2 early enough to gain the summit of Old Baldy before dark, but it is steep, I am slow in middle age (stage 2), and sunset comes early these days. By the time I started up the hill it was already 6 p.m. Oops...I think back on all the delays ( 20 minute nap on the early drive, 20-30 minutes of being off route on FS roads, screwing around in logs and brush descending Granite, fumbling with packing before going up Old Baldy, losing 10-15 minutes by optimistically following the cattle path). Darn, could have made the top to bivy, but read on....would have been a bit uncomfortable attempt at sleep..

Baldy Pass on left. Old Baldy route is the skyline.

just head right up! ( photo in morning upon return)

I followed a man-made trail, evidenced by many sawn logs and some blazes, plus these two reflectors on a tree, but it led toward the east (climber's left) to a terrace below cliffs. I think the trail was cut by a rancher to let summer-ranging cattle get through the fallen logs more easily. So this cost me an extra 10 or 15 minutes of backtracking. The better route just goes up with minor cliff bands that I went around on climber's right There are also minor boulder fields, but in general the going is easy.

blazes and cut logs mark a path for a bit, but I followed it too far climber's left and had to backtrack.

..

I missed a clear view of a nice sunset It got brilliantly red in a couple of minutes.

It was too dark to see without the headlamp before I was on the summit, and besides the forecast for strong wind was spot on. The wind was buffeting me about, and I'm short and stout. I was tired, and not feeling like fighting the wind to the top, I got the light out, hunted briefly, and found a small flat spot to bivy. It wasn't out of the wind very much, but I quickly peeled my damp shirt and wriggled into my bivy and sleeping bag, being mildly disappointed for not being on top but happy for two things: I didn't bring a tent (hard to put up in that wind, if I could even find a spot in the dark), and I had a warm bag. But at first I was concerned because I started shivering uncontrollably to the point where my teeth were chattering...haven't had that happen in many years! Then I realized that I hadn't zipped up my bag above the waist....doh! My hastily chosen spot wasn't really out of the 50 mph wind very much, but in the morning I saw that there weren't many better spots nearby. You ever have unrealistic but vivid dreams? Mine was that the wind was so strong that a tree would snap, impaling me and pinning me to the ground in my bag! But reason prevailed when I realized those few subalpine trees have survived many 50 mph winds, and probably the occasional 100+ gust as well. However, back home my wife asked if any of those trees up there had blown over or snapped in the past, and the answer is ' yes'.....just don't let out your weird dreams! Although I am a certified ( certifiable?) weather geek I never did actually pull out my anemometer due to the cold and my preoccupation or laziness, but I know from experience that those winds easily exceeded 50 mph on frequent occasions that night. After spending 11 hours in the sack, I got up at sunrise to hike the remaining 244' vertical feet to the summit. The wind had died down but it was enough below freezing for the small puddles to be frozen solid. After spending 15 minutes on top and not seeing any good bivy spots right near the site of the former lookout, I was glad I didn't push on in the dark and ferocious wind last night to a poor bivy spot in the rocks. However, it would be a good summit camp if you get there in daylight and have time to search around for a good spot.

final gentle slope to summit

Old Baldy summit

Granite Mountain, just 6 miles away

Looking back down the way I came

Tiffany group

About to descend into the subalpne forest again...which clump of trees is my bivy gear in? (easy....I left some colorful objects clearly visible in the scattered clumps of trees

My not ideal bivy spot at 7600'. Wind came blasting through from the distance. Fun sleeping!

Puddle on a boulder, frozen solid

Insulators, all broken and in a pile

Lookout was an L-4 built in 1934 and destroyed in 1953, even shorter lived than Granite. I traveled 2.8 miles r.t. and gained about 1300'.

Old Baldy again. There is a mildly impressive cirque on the NW flank of O.B.

and again....never has such a blob been photographed so much in a TR!

I bivied right about where the snag is pointing, left of the summit.

Colors are starting. Photo along FS37.

. I won't be back to that one, either, but it is a moderate short cross-country hike to a fine viewpoint. Finally, to wrap it up I drove up to First Butte, a standing lookout that I first visited in 1995. It was staffed then but it is in need of basic maintenance these days. It is unlocked.

First Butte tower

The Osborne firefinder is intact

and a wood stove, but otherwise the interior was bare.

Not the potty! At least I hope not!

The hatchway was unlocked and untampered with, but expect to push the heavy thing up to get from the stairway to the catwalk

Poor picture, but the plank in shadow had a sizable chunk missing.. Would increase one's pulse if it split upon your footstep as you stroll the catwalk.

Old Badly from First Butte ( edit: whoops, there I go...Old Baldy!)

Tiffany group

Craggies and Isabella Ridge to northwest

The shutters need some means of afixing them to lessen wind damage. The road to First Butte is a bit rough. Your Subie can make it, but I wouldn't want to see anyone abuse a Prius on it. FS37 to Baldy Pass is 'Prius-able' and FS42, 100, and 4235 are passable by regular sedans (September 2019)..

[Downhill]

[Downhill]

Awesome pics and TR!!! I'm a huge sucker for lookouts - or former lookout sites! Thanks so much for this report! I want to be stationed at a lookout. It has nothing to do with Kerouac.

[Brushbuffalo]

Downhill, of the ones I've reported on recently you should at least hike to Muckamuck and Old Baldy, stroll to Corral Butte, and drive to First Butte, although if this storm dumps a lot of snow, easy approach may be soon ended for this year. You would be a little more committed if you went to Granite Mountain....quite a bit more taxing, but still worth it. There are so many more former lookout sites and a steadily reduced number of existing lookouts. Have you joined Forest Fire Lookout Association? Good organization.

[Downhill]

I have not joined but you have inspired me! I have a queue of yet-to-do trips for this season and the weather is working against me. I still want to fish more, but after the first good freeze up high, they will likely all sleeping until next year.

[Abert]

In 2012 I went up Granite more from the west (from 4235). I don't remember it being especially bad, but I'm sure a lot more trees have fallen (and brush grown) since then. I also wondered whether I was seeing moose or cow tracks crossing the Lightning Creek bottoms. Granite photos I spent the night in the car on Starvation Mountain and took the Golden Stairway Trail up to Old Baldy the next morning. Your bivy makes me shivver just thinking about it, but maybe that's just my mindset with the apparent early onset of winter weather. Old Baldy photos

[Brushbuffalo]

Abert, your route on Granite is twice as long but might be better than the way I went. By the way, great pictures and especially of the mountain bluebird. There are moose about and cows too, but how did the horse get up there with all the fallen trees? Then again, I'm no horseman. I thought about hiking the Golden Stairway from Starvation summit, but I needed to be home early on my second day, and having seen how short the route was from Baldy Pass, I opted to go that way. Sorry to cause 'cold thoughts' with my description of the wild night on OB. It wasn't too bad once I settled into my warm bag.....and zipped it up! And indeed, with the snowstorm predicted now, it just might be an early winter in the high country. We'll see.

[KarlK]

Quote: See it? You have to look for it a bit. She was there on 11/28/18, a good time to avoid the worst of the brush. Fay reminds me of one of my very favorite artists, Johnny Cash, and his version of "I've been everywhere." Fay is an inspiration. Nice report!