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Roald Member
Joined: 06 Aug 2007 Posts: 367 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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Roald
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Fri Aug 24, 2007 9:15 am
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Big Craggy and West Craggy
July 25, 2007
Big Craggy from West Craggy
Here is an edited report I wrote up last month about a day hike with my daughter to Big Craggy and West Craggy peaks. Nothing adventurous, just a mellow day in a surprisingly beautiful corner of the Cascades...
I broke Tesha away from her crazy busy summer schedule to visit the northeast corner of the Cascades. I have been exploring this part of the Cascades with the enthusiasm of a recent convert, and this trip did nothing to quell my newfound devotion.
We drove up the West Chewuch and Eightmile valleys the night of July 24 and threw our bags on the ground at a deserted campground called “Nice.” Things were looking good already. Tesha battled moths attracted to her flashlight as she read a story out loud and I gazed at stars – a turnaround from years past when I was the story guy. Life can be sweet.
We rustled up the next morning for an early start on the Copper Glance trail. The hike begins on an old road to a mine that makes one marvel at the sheer will, desperation, and outright lunacy that must have fueled the quest for precious metals in these far-off places. From the mine the trail heads west past some beautiful meadows:
Meadow below Big Craggy
When the trail crosses Copper Glance Creek at about 3.2 miles, you have a choice: head northwest up valley toward the basin between the two Craggies, or north up the southeast slopes of Big Craggy. We started toward the basin, thrashing through easy brush on the left (west) side of the creek. But after a few hundred yards we backtracked to try the second option instead. Big Craggy’s southeast slopes seemed to offer easier brush and a more direct approach. Later in the day we returned to the trail via the basin, and that was ok too.
After a short while we popped out of the trees and began to dance with the highly moveable rocks on the slopes heading toward Big Craggy’s southeast ridge:
Dancing with the talus on the slopes of Big Craggy
Views of impressive Isabella Ridge grew with every step:
Isabella Ridge
Sounding like a self-help book, one route description says “Persevere to gain the summit.” Persevere we did, up to the top of Big Craggy:
Near the top of Big Craggy
Fortunately, the crew seemed in good spirits:
What's so funny? Soaking up the sun at the top of Big Craggy
I then took this photo, which I think is deserving of recognition for my brazenness in posting it and risking Tesha’s wrath:
Hey, where's my coffee?
There was a hatch of ladybugs also enjoying the sun at the top:
Ladybugs at the top of Big Craggy
At this point I need to come clean and confess something: We had more fun with the summit register than I think the Mountaineers who place these registers intend. Most people modestly keep their entries to a minimum – name, rank, and serial number. Some use the occasion to become on-the-spot weather reporters: “Sunny and beautiful,” or “Overcast with rain on the horizon.” Others reveal more than we might want to know about them. Example: At the top of Trico Mountain is an entry with an arrow pointing to the remains of a mosquito smashed on the page with the note: “This is Fred. He was my friend.”
Fitting into that latter category, Tesha wrote a short note about a Bob Dylan song I had been singing on the way up. Sitting here in the comfort of civilization, I now can recall much of the song. On Big Craggy, however, I could remember only a single line, over and over: “I’ll be your baaaaby tonight.”
“Hey,” I said as justification, “They say repetition is the key to humor...”
"You know, repetition is the key to humor." This drove Tesha nuts.
Speaking of the weather two paragraphs ago, it was indeed beautiful. And perhaps too comfortable, because we lounged around at the top while Tesha sketched in the summit register. She drew a copy of the tattoo on her left shoulder.
Summit register authoring
That Tesha has a tattoo on her left shoulder is a notable event in and of itself, at least in my life, although that story is more appropriate for www.dadsinshock.net than for www.nwhikers.net. I noticed The Tattoo soon after she came home this spring from college.
“Hey,” I said, “A rub-on tattoo! I haven’t seen one of those for years!” I started rubbing it to see how the ink would come off.
“Dad,” came the reply, “What are you doing to my shoulder?”
“Hey,” I said, ignoring my invasion of someone else’s personal space. “This isn’t coming off.”
I had half a notion to rub harder, sort of like when Tesha was four years old and I would clean her face with tissue and spit. Being a parent isn’t about being graceful.
This time I maintained calm enough to stop short of wiping spit on another person. But needless to say, The Tattoo has not worn off.
I sometimes find this difficult to believe. “I can’t believe you got a tattoo,” I tell Tesha occasionally. I really don’t know how she puts up with this.
The crazy thing is, I’ll probably keep muttering such things for a long time, until the reality of The Tattoo really does sink in. This experience has given me greater appreciation for all fathers, who are not known for their mental agility. It is not that we try to be blind, thick-headed, and stubborn. It is just that some facts have a hard time finding a home in our brains. The reality of a kid’s new tattoo is but one example. I would mention other examples, but they are too embarrassing.
As we all know, this makes being with your father a sometimes trying experience, a fact that makes Yana’s multiday excursion with her father all that more amazing and inspirational. Yana must be a remarkable person for wanting to hike alone with her dad for so long. And Yana’s dad must be a remarkable person for being the sort of dad his daughter enjoys hiking with. (I am tempted to show Yana’s TR to my kids, as a not-too-subtle hint for a future excursion. But a comparison with Yana’s dad is not likely to go in my favor.)
Anyway, there is a sketch of Tesha’s tattoo in the summit register of Big Craggy. This might violate some code of conduct for summit registers, and if it does we – or rather she – will have to back there and erase it. I mean, if we let this breach of summit register etiquette slide, who knows what people will do next.
After sketching and sleeping for a while, we traversed west and south to the saddle between Big Craggy and West Craggy. At about this point I began fantasizing about a cold coffee concoction from a coffee stand in Winthrop that I like. “It’s called something like a Creamocino, or Creamofrappu,” I told Tesha. "Or Crappofremo... No, that's not right... Anyway, it’s really good.”
The going down Big Craggy’s west ridge was better than the slopes coming up from the southeast:
Descending the west ridge of Big Craggy, with West Craggy in background
The traverse involves some ups and downs along and to the south (left) of the ridge connecting the two peaks. I had expected mostly class 2 walking, but a few times we had to take our hands out of our pockets:
Traversing to West Craggy south gully
We aimed for the main gully we had seen from Big Craggy, and dropped into it only a few hundred feet from the top of West Craggy’s SE ridge. From the top of the ridge it is an uphill walk to West Craggy’s summit:
Looks a lot like the top of Big Craggy, doesn't it?
There were views all around: west to the peaks around Lago, south to Gardner and North Gardner, and SW toward Silver Star and the Washington Pass area. Particularly intriguing is the large area to the west of the Craggies. The ridges and valleys all look accessible, and the map labels a valley one ridge over as “Lost River Gorge.” That sounds very cool, and there appear to be no official trails going in there. I wonder what it is like in there.
Pasayten peaks
Coming SE down the gully off of West Craggy is not difficult, but it would be much more fun in the spring with snow. We caught a few patches for glissading:
Slip sliding down West Craggy
And then we were treated to the sweetest surprise of the trip. The east face of Isabella Ridge rose to our right:
Wall on isabella Ridge
… And we stopped at two small tarns that are not on the map. One is a meltwater pond in a talus depression, and the other is in a beautiful alpine setting:
Cool tarn near Copper Glance creek headwaters
One time coming off a scramble of Mt. Daniel, Tesha and I had so much fun roaming that we forgot to hike out as planned until it started to get dark. We happily used this as an excuse to stay an extra night. The headwaters of Copper Glance Creek had that same magical allure. It was tempting to bivy overnight, but our lack of gear and food eventually would have made the night uncomfortable. So we hiked through minor brush and wet meadows to the trail. Jumping over downfall, Tesha climbed on a dead branch that broke off and scraped the back of her leg. The call of the Frappucremo was strong, however, so she turned down an offer to bandage up her wound and we bombed down the trail to the car. Her gash impressively oozed blood as we walked into a restaurant in Winthrop, and we gulped down our meal like wolves. And then we got a big, sloppy, Frappucremo, or Creamofrappu.
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BeyondLost Crazy Bob
Joined: 07 Jul 2007 Posts: 3601 | TRs | Pics Location: Whidbey Island, WA |
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wildernessed viewbagger
Joined: 31 Oct 2004 Posts: 9275 | TRs | Pics Location: Wenatchee |
Those are in my sights, we've been outflanking Lake Chelan and making are way around. Spectacular country, wide open, quiet places with big mountains and views.
Living in the Anthropocene
Living in the Anthropocene
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peltoms Member
Joined: 13 Jul 2006 Posts: 1760 | TRs | Pics Location: Worcester MA |
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peltoms
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Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:57 pm
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Well we know which one of you is more photogenic! Those are some nice looking tarns.
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Matt Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 4307 | TRs | Pics Location: Shoreline |
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Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
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Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:18 pm
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Great storytelling, especially about the tattoo. BTW, what does it look like? Did you get a picture of the register drawing?
This seems to be the summer for father/child trips.
That grassy meadow on the way to Big Craggy is one of the greenest spots I've ever seen in the Cascades.
“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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Dean (aka CascadeHiker)
Joined: 02 Mar 2002 Posts: 1967 | TRs | Pics Location: ex Kennewick, Wa & Lehi Utah |
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Dean
(aka CascadeHiker)
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Sun Aug 26, 2007 2:50 pm
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Jamin Smitchger Member
Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 673 | TRs | Pics Location: Pullman |
Don't worry, most climbers are pretty weird.
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Yana Hater
Joined: 04 Jun 2004 Posts: 4212 | TRs | Pics Location: Out Hating |
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Yana
Hater
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Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:14 pm
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PLAY SAFE! SKI ONLY IN CLOCKWISE DIRECTION! LET'S ALL HAVE FUN TOGETHER!
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Yet Member
Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Posts: 2634 | TRs | Pics Location: Happily Ever After |
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Yet
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Fri Oct 23, 2009 10:17 am
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Roald, I love this TR! I want to say more, but that really about sums it up.
Your daughter kinda rocks, huh?
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