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plain old dan Member
Joined: 24 Aug 2005 Posts: 276 | TRs | Pics Location: Tualatin Oregon |
9/23-9/24
Prior to MFK closing I wanted to climb Big Snow and see Hardscrabble Lakes and surrounding areas. One route finding note - it wasn't clear on any report I read how to find the start of the trail! So here it is - there is a small parking area (2 cars) prior to a large downed tree 12.2 miles in on the MFK. Most reports have people proceed up from the tree - don't do that! it's all brush and overgrown. There is a second parking area about a hundred feet further down the road that has room for many cars. Park here. Look across the road and find a dirt path in the rocky soil cutting diagonally up to the right.
I hiked up past Hardscrabble lakes, thru the notch and down to the "football field", dropped my pack and made my way up to Big Snow summit.
football_field1 tarn_1
On the way down I had some willing posers.
bird_2 bird_1
After finishing a roll of film, I retrieved my pack and then negotiated the cliffs down to Gold Lake and the many tarns surrounded it. I setup my tent at a nice spot overlooking Gold Lake and took a brief siesta. The rest of the afternoon I spent circumnavigated the lake going up and down the ridgelines. I scouted two possible routes to get around point 6305 to continue on to Chetwoot and/or Crawford for future reference.
peaks
Waterfall between football field and Gold Lake.
waterfall
I arrived back at Gold lake inlet just in time to discovered why it might be called Gold Lake. With the sun setting on the cliffs above, the lake turns, you guessed it - gold.
gold2 gold1
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Dayhike Mike Bad MFKer
Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Posts: 10958 | TRs | Pics Location: Going to Tukwila |
Looks like you had a good time!
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke
"Ignorance is natural. Stupidity takes commitment." -Solomon Short
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke
"Ignorance is natural. Stupidity takes commitment." -Solomon Short
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Rich Baldwin Mister Eddie
Joined: 22 Dec 2001 Posts: 1686 | TRs | Pics Location: Martinique |
I love the texture in those last two photos.
Was you ever bit by a dead bee?
Was you ever bit by a dead bee?
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Don Member
Joined: 25 Apr 2005 Posts: 2013 | TRs | Pics Location: Fairwood, WA |
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Don
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Sat Sep 30, 2006 6:19 am
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Good stuff Mania! No pics of the Hardscrabbles? That area turns completely crimson this time of year. Where are the summit pics?
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plain old dan Member
Joined: 24 Aug 2005 Posts: 276 | TRs | Pics Location: Tualatin Oregon |
Thanks DHM, I did have a good time despite chipping a lens, losing a lens cap and discovering the steripen was busted!
Rich, I agree with you but Tazz had the opposite reaction!
Don, the lighting wasn't ideal when I passed by the hardscrabbles plus I just wasn't that excited about them... here is a summit pic looking back at the football field...
football_field2
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Mtn Dog Technohiker
Joined: 01 Aug 2004 Posts: 3336 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellevue, WA |
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Mtn Dog
Technohiker
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Sat Sep 30, 2006 11:46 am
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Hey Mania! I hiked up Big Snow Mountain yesterday (9/29) and saw your name in the summit log. Now I know why you were wondering about the MFKRd conditions last week. I also wanted to do this hike before the road closed so special thanks to H. Hound for the inspiration when we hiked on the other side of the MFK Valley into Iceberg Lake in August and thanks to Ragman and Rodman for beta information and GPS data from their ascent on 9/10
The trail is well defined from the road and is especially well traveled between the upper and lower lakes as it makes its way between a talus slope and Hardscrabble Creek. Certain parts are steep and there are a few places where you can lose the route just before Lower Hardscrabble Lake. I even found a defined trail on parts of the upper ridge between the boulder slabs and north of Upper Hardscrabble Lake. My cousin joined me for the hike and we left his house in North Bend at 6:25. We started hiking around 8:15. I left him at Upper Hardscrabble at 11:10 and climbed through the pass at 12:10. Walking the boulder fields I noticed another hiker on the north side of the ridge at 6,300'. I worked my way over to him and yelled, "Good afternoon!" When I got closer I realized it was H. Hound, my hiking buddy from August, just sitting back and soaking up the amazing views. After catching up for a few minutes and shooting some pics off the north face of the ridge I continued to the summit arriving at 1:15. I returned to the pass at 2:30 where H. Hound was waiting for me. We descended the talus field together and he showed me a great shortcut down from the talus to the Upper lake. After descending the chute from the pass you can continue straight to the lake and pass just left of a cliff section. It's steep in places but no worse than some of the trail. Rotten tree trunks and roots litter some of this route but it's a very doable descent. My cousin was patiently waiting for me at the lake and the three of us returned to the TH at 5:30 together. H. Hound helped us refill water bottles and showed us the trail we had missed south of Lower Hardscrabble Lake - Kudos Hound!
The Lower Hardscrabble Lake is low this time of year
Morning Light on Lower Hardscrabble Lake Lower Hardscrabble Lake Basin
The talus field above Upper Hardscrabble Lake is a fun, routefinding ascent
The winding way up from Upper Hardscrabble Lake Rock strata over the talus slope The pass looms ahead above the talus chute
From the ridge views open up in all directions
Big Snow Mtn summit from the ridge Dog's teeth looking west from the ridge Glacier Peak from Big Snow Mtn Myrtle, Big Snow, and Snowflake Lakes
Benchmarking is a fun spinoff from Geocaching
Logged the benchmark (Geocaching.com)
The colors of fall surround Upper Hardscrabble Lake
Fall Colors on the ridge east of Upper Hardscrabble Lake Overcoat Lake and Peak w/fall colors in foreground
Afternoon light casts shadows across the basin
Afternoon light on the Big Snow Basin Eastern Buttress Reflection in Lower Hardscrabble Lake
Footprints on the sands of time will never be made sitting down.
Footprints on the sands of time will never be made sitting down.
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plain old dan Member
Joined: 24 Aug 2005 Posts: 276 | TRs | Pics Location: Tualatin Oregon |
Hey Mnt Dog, I think we were the last two people from this forum to summit this peak!
Going from Upper Hardscrabble to the chute I hiked around the trees on open talus fields. Coming down I went straight thru the trees and vegetation to the upper lake. I must not have found the best way because I thought going around was easier!!
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Mtn Dog Technohiker
Joined: 01 Aug 2004 Posts: 3336 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellevue, WA |
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Mtn Dog
Technohiker
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Sat Sep 30, 2006 2:00 pm
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Mania, that is exactly what I did! I thought the talus slope was a nice, gradual ascent given the 1,200' gain from the Upper Lake to the pass but I got a little too high too early and had to traverse westward to start up the chute. I came down through the forest with H. Hound and it was definitely shorter and quicker, and I thought it was managable too; especially since I had just bought a new pair of trekking poles and they were a huge help on the talus and duff covered slopes. But you were backpacking and I was dayhiking with just a lumbar pack - that alone could make a difference. Ragman and Rodman explored a route down to the lake from the talus slope as well but they were unsuccessful (it shows up in their GPS track). I think they may have been further east of where we came down.
My cousin saw someone else descend to the Upper Lake while Hound and I were on the ridge. Not sure how far he went.
Footprints on the sands of time will never be made sitting down.
Footprints on the sands of time will never be made sitting down.
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forest gnome Forest nut...
Joined: 24 Apr 2003 Posts: 3520 | TRs | Pics Location: north cascades!! |
Has anybody gone to Gold or big snow lake from Myrtle?
Big snow looks doable from Myrtle....Yes the route from Gold onward to
toward chetwoot looks good .....anybody care to comment / isn't there a high alpine traverse all the way to iron cap and over to the Necklace ?
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plain old dan Member
Joined: 24 Aug 2005 Posts: 276 | TRs | Pics Location: Tualatin Oregon |
I've been from Neckless valley up to Iron Cap Peak (not too difficult), but haven't been from Gold lake over to Iron Cap so I couldn't comment on that. I did get up on the ridge directly west of 6305 and could see getting to the pass just north of the point involved some mild talus slopes. No idea what the pass looks like on the other side... On the ridge directly south of 6305 there is one 30 foot section to downclimb onto gentle terrain to the east which I assume would provide access to crawford/chetwoot area. I have heard of people doing it so perhaps someone will chime in.
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Kat Turtle Hiker
Joined: 05 Oct 2003 Posts: 2560 | TRs | Pics
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Kat
Turtle Hiker
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Sun Oct 01, 2006 1:06 am
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Boy, were we all out there on Friday or what! We drove by Hardscrabbles on the way to DMG TH, and noted all the vehicles - including H. Hound's. Only one car there on Saturday
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Hiking Tuque Member
Joined: 26 Dec 2003 Posts: 129 | TRs | Pics Location: Ketchum, ID |
forest gnome wrote: | Has anybody gone to Gold or big snow lake from Myrtle? |
Yes - turn right at Myrtle, go up some talus, and you'll hit Big Snow Lake in about 45 minutes to an hour.
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Mtn Dog Technohiker
Joined: 01 Aug 2004 Posts: 3336 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellevue, WA |
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Mtn Dog
Technohiker
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Sun Oct 01, 2006 1:24 pm
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Kat:
It was great to hear you're out hiking again. The blue Escape was mine. In fact I joked with H. Hound about stopping for someone with a flat tire again on the way out and it turns out my own right rear tire was a bit low! No worries, I reinflated it in North Bend.
Footprints on the sands of time will never be made sitting down.
Footprints on the sands of time will never be made sitting down.
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