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ozzy The hard way
Joined: 30 Jul 2015 Posts: 475 | TRs | Pics Location: University place, wa |
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ozzy
The hard way
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Tue Oct 05, 2021 7:52 pm
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Well it's that time of year again! When everyone does that thing...larch hunting! I wanted to make sure to stay away from the masses and Finney Pk fit the bill! This one has been on the list for quite sometime now and I wanted to save it for a nice larch trip. The time was now! The weekend forecast looked great so I recruited old Hans again who I knew would be amped about this one! We headed out to the west fork buttermilk early Friday morning. The temp was hovering around 30f so it took us awhile to get ready lol. When we arrived at 530am the parking lot was completely empty! We eventually got goin at 645am as the sun was coming out. The approach to fish creek pass kinda drags on, but once you're about 30mins away that's when the larches start to make their presence felt! Star peak looks pretty awesome from this angle as well! The rest of the way up the pass was a breeze due to all the golden views.
the first of many lol big boi Star pk back down towards twisp Fish creek basin
The fish creek basin area had a condensed sections of larches and we were excited to make our way through! Dropping a little from the pass we moved towards the star-baldy saddle. The trail was awesome and views were stellar! All the goldies made travel a little slow at times...it seemed every corner we turned unveiled something equally as badass! The larches came in all shapes and sizes, they are an interesting type of tree for sure. Upon arrival at the star-baldy saddle we took a break to admire the views all around. I think we made it there at 1230pm. We were stoked to be up in this awesome area, I had no idea it was this grand! From the saddle we dropped again and headed towards the pass that leads to indian head basin. We stayed right at all forks. We also had our first views of Finney proper!! Dayyyuummm, we were so giddy to go scope out the bivy spots by the Finney tarns! At 7200ft we cut south from the trail cross country. It's easy to traverse the way to the lake that's down below the tarns, this lake is about 100ft lower. The area is a larch asylum of course and the lake/tarns are a worthy destination in their own right. We took our time past the lower lake then went up to the tarns and found a sweet bivy spot just to the east at 7200ft. Holy sh## what a badass basin we found ourselves in!! We had some sick views of the north face of Finney looming almost 1000ft over head too! Wow! We took time setting up camp and drinking whiskey. The time was 3pm.
dropping into the basin craziness Hans diggin it first good look at Finney the lake below the tarns it was a pretty lake the tarn we camped by camp
After an hour we dawned lighter packs and made the push for the summit. The col north of the peak is what you aim for, 7700ft. The views were getting better by the step it seemed and once we arrived at the col it was even better. The fernow group to the west and bonanza to name a few were cool looking! We could even see the boat dock at Lucerne down on Chelan! Damn I've never seen that before. We dropped about 200ft from said col then worked around some cliffs til we saw an obvious gully that rose toward the summit area. The terrain was kinda loose and sh##ty in a few spots but overall it felt pretty secure, mostly choss and talus. The upper part was a boulder field that led to the summit. We topped out about an hour after leaving camp. Ooohhweee...the views were amazing and we even found a register! We were happy to see it was noted in the reg that we were indeed on the true summit! The bump to the east appeared to be almost just as high lol. So more whiskey was had as we chilled for an hour or so, cheers! The climb back down was easy and we stopped at the col to catch a nice sunset before our descent back to camp. At camp the temp dropped quickly as we waited for the stars to come out. It was a pretty good show. It probably got down to 29f that night, nice fall weather lol.
up to the col Hans in lead larches find a way almost there Looking back at camp gold Chelan down low views from col the gully we took to the top on top at last Camp with star, Courtney, and oval cheers baby!! Verification, thank god the peeps the peeps towards the east back down da gully easy enough oh the views yewwww the sun goes down
The morning dawned and we didn't crawl out of our bivies until 730am. It's so hard to get moving when it's cold out. It was nice having climbed Finney the day before, this allowed us to explore around the tarns in the morning! Just like the day before, every corner had something special to offer! A very spiritual world we found ourselves in! The majority of the time we were in complete silence just listening to the sounds of nature, the birds were chirping! We took in the area and took our time packing up camp. At 10am it was time to leave. It was such a bummer leaving this place! We retraced our route back home and the scenes laid out before every turn made the miles fly by! I was also stoked on how gentle most of the travel was, most of it was on trail. This makes for quick travel although it didn't feel like it at times. Overall I was still rather smoked from the trip though and all the visuals were almost too much to take in! Goddamn I love it! We made it back to the car around 4pm totally fulfilled for now. This was probably the best ever larch trip for myself and I'm already looking forward to next year! We didn't see anyone the whole time until we got back past the star-baldy saddle. The first people we ran into recognized us from NWhikers! Nice to meet yall Candy and Johnny, cheers! What a small world. It was great gettin out there with you again Hans! What a great few days to be alive! Cheers everyone!
Stats: 24 miles and 7000ft gain (approx), also the lot was full when we got back.
-- oh and sorry for all the pics again, it's hard picking the best ones lol.
Frosty morning the tarn the tarn is more of a lake it seems hold! Finney basin beautiful morning towards camp pondering I don't wanna leave departure back at the big lake Finney parting views star star is burly fish creek basin
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames”-Mr Mojo Risin
kite, Theboywhocriedroute, Prosit, Matt, Eric Gilbertson, Nancyann, raising3hikers, mtn.climber, RAW-dad, half fast, jaysway, Kenji, Gimpilator, jstern, Route Loser, GaliWalker, ONELUV1, Tom, Randy, zimmertr, neek awilsondc, rubywrangler
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames”-Mr Mojo Risin
kite, Theboywhocriedroute, Prosit, Matt, Eric Gilbertson, Nancyann, raising3hikers, mtn.climber, RAW-dad, half fast, jaysway, Kenji, Gimpilator, jstern, Route Loser, GaliWalker, ONELUV1, Tom, Randy, zimmertr, neek awilsondc, rubywrangler
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Fletcher Member
Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Posts: 1870 | TRs | Pics Location: kirkland |
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Fletcher
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Tue Oct 05, 2021 8:23 pm
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Killer larch trip.
ozzy
ozzy
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Gimpilator infinity/21M
Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 1684 | TRs | Pics Location: Edmonds, WA |
Fletcher wrote: | Killer larch trip. |
I second that.
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rocknclimb Member
Joined: 10 Sep 2010 Posts: 474 | TRs | Pics Location: Wenatchee Valley |
Jealous you got there during peak larch. Cheers buddy
When asked "Why do you climb"? Simply respond "Why don't you"?
ozzy
When asked "Why do you climb"? Simply respond "Why don't you"?
ozzy
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ozzy The hard way
Joined: 30 Jul 2015 Posts: 475 | TRs | Pics Location: University place, wa |
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ozzy
The hard way
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Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:54 pm
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rocknclimb wrote: | Jealous you got there during peak larch. Cheers buddy |
Thanks dood! After talking with you on our last trip that sealed the deal for Finney! You were right on with the beauty of the area!
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames”-Mr Mojo Risin
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames”-Mr Mojo Risin
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geyer Member
Joined: 23 May 2017 Posts: 462 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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geyer
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Wed Oct 06, 2021 10:48 pm
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Successful hunt, I'd say!
ozzy
ozzy
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Lightning_bug Member
Joined: 29 Aug 2016 Posts: 37 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
Gorgeous pictures, ozzy! The tarns are such a magical place, and I'm glad we got to experience them right after y'all. I feel similarly that visiting them was a spiritual experience. It was so great to meet you and Hans. Small world indeed looking forward to more of your awesome trip reports!
-Candy
Theboywhocriedroute, ozzy
Theboywhocriedroute, ozzy
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ozzy The hard way
Joined: 30 Jul 2015 Posts: 475 | TRs | Pics Location: University place, wa |
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ozzy
The hard way
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Fri Oct 08, 2021 5:21 am
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Lightning_bug wrote: | Gorgeous pictures, ozzy! The tarns are such a magical place, and I'm glad we got to experience them right after y'all. I feel similarly that visiting them was a spiritual experience. It was so great to meet you and Hans. Small world indeed looking forward to more of your awesome trip reports!
-Candy |
Hells yeah!! Glad y'all got back in there and had a killer trip! Awesome meeting/chattin' with you both! Cheers and thanks!
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames”-Mr Mojo Risin
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames”-Mr Mojo Risin
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Theboywhocriedroute Member
Joined: 06 Oct 2021 Posts: 17 | TRs | Pics Location: Highway 2 |
Tom, RichP ozzy
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Kim Brown Member
Joined: 13 Jul 2009 Posts: 6900 | TRs | Pics
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I can't think of anything to say. <=====that's a compliment.
"..living on the east side of the Sierra world be ideal - except for harsher winters and the chance of apocalyptic fires burning the whole area."
Bosterson, NWHiker's marketing expert
ozzy
"..living on the east side of the Sierra world be ideal - except for harsher winters and the chance of apocalyptic fires burning the whole area."
Bosterson, NWHiker's marketing expert
ozzy
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