[Slugman]

The tragedy will go unmentioned through the TR, and will only be mentioned in the paragraph after the pictures at the end. If you don't want to read something sad, stop after the pictures. I left home at 7:30 Sunday morning, leaving Daisy behind due to a sore paw. I started hiking at noon, after a long but very scenic and leisurely drive to Rainy pass on Highway 20. The trail head was jam-packed with cars, but I knew this did not mean I would have company that night. Sure enough, everyone I saw on Sunday was leaving. The hike up to Heather pass was better than I expected. Nice trail, some pocket meadows, views down to scenic Lake Ann with it's cute island, vistas opening up to mountains near and far at Heather pass, very pleasant, and it went by quickly by my standards. Then the real hike starts, with steep downhill trail, boulder fields, rock fields, etc, all the way to Lewis lake. I loved Lewis lake. It has that opaque teal color from being fed by a real glacier, and is set amidst a huge boulder field. I got there at 3 pm, and took a break until 4 pm, watching a huge cinnamon-colored bear feed on berries and splash around in the shallows. I could have sworn I saw a couple of cubs, but can't really be sure. I was on the opposite end of the lake, looking through my monocular, with the bear several hundred yards away. When I left Lewis, I realized that following the trail to the campsite by the lake had been a mistake. I had to cross over a gratuitous boulder field to get back to the correct side of the lake, so I could cross a non-gratuitous boulder field to the trail up to Wing lake. Just remember one thing if you go there for the first time: don't cross the outlet of Lewis lake. Turn left and follow the stream (more or less) up to the shore of the lake. This gives you access to the shore of Lewis for a nice view of the lake, and puts you on the correct side to get to the trail to Wing. The trail up to Wing is easy to find and follow. It starts out at the very edge of meadow/forest and boulder fields at the far end of Lewis lake, and follows that edge for much of the early going. There are some very nice views along the trail, down to Lewis lake, out across the valley of Granite creek, and up towards Wing lake and Black peak. I love the whole area. It is a mixture of peaks, glaciers, lakes, polished granite slabs, and rocks, rocks, rocks. All of those rocks made of that white granite that I find so much more appealing than dark granite, with lots of cool quartz in various colors as well. These quartz rocks are much prized by cairn makers, apparently. It took me until 6 pm to haul my carcass up to the shore of Wing lake. Some of that was picture-taking delay, as the photo ops are endless there. The last people up there left just before I got there, so I had the whole place all to myself, nobody else even at Lewis, just me and that bear sharing the whole valley. I camped at the outlet stream campsite, partly because I liked it, partly from exhaustion. I set up camp before I lost all energy, had dinner, and watched a nice sunset color the sky above knife-edged peaks. Monday was a real joy. Nowhere to go, nothing to do, just enjoy being in such a wonderful place. I took a dip in the lake (cold!), explored around a bit, sat and looked at the waterfall coming off the shoulder of Black peak, imagined all the larch trees were blazing yellow instead of boring old green, found a few berries to pick, sat in the shade when the sun got a bit hot, sat in the sun when the breeze got a bit cool, took a nap, read a book, drank a few cold beverages, the whole sluggish enchilada. I made a comfortable nest for myself to watch another sunset Monday evening, then promptly fell asleep about 7 pm and didn't wake up until 11 pm. It was pretty spooky, waking up in the dark, not even any moon, a little disoriented, no flashlight handy, shivering with the cold. So I made some Irish coffee, and stayed up to do some star-gazing. I was up until 4 am, huddled in my sleeping bag, watching satellites sail their stately way across the sky. The warmth of the sun chased me out of the tent at about 9:30 am on Tuesday. Normally I would hang around half the day at such a nice destination as Wing lake, but I had my fill of that on Monday, so I packed up after breakfast and coffee, and headed down towards Lewis lake at 11 am. I wanted to enjoy the hike out and stop at every picture-taking opportunity, something I really didn't do on the way in due to the time needed for the actual hike in. I spent 6 hours getting to Wing lake, and 7 hours going out, the difference being the 7 hours out was at least 50% break time. I spent almost two hours at Lewis lake, and took about 50 pictures of that fabulous glacial lake color. I reached Heather pass at 5 pm, and made the parking lot just after 6. This gave me plenty of time to enjoy the awesome drive back on Highway 20, which I did, the Highway 20 part, anyway. Well, that ends the trip narrative, now for the pictures. Those who desire can read on after the pictures to hear about the unhappiness on the drive home.

Morning stillness

Mirror mirror

Wing shore

Reflections

More reflections

Ripples

Close up of Black peak

Trail to Wing

Lewis lake, Heather pass

Lewis lake

Lewis close-up

Lewis shore

I can almost see my car

The Great Marmot Conspiracy revealed as a hoax!

As I turned onto Highway 530 in Rockport, to take me to Darrington then Arlington, I crossed the bridge over the river, and noticed a bunch of people fishing off the bridge and at the end of the bridge, or maybe it was just teenagers drinking beer, I couldn't really tell in the dark. As I drove past the guardrails that come after the bridge, something leaped over the railing and practically landed on the hood of may car, hitting pretty hard, and rolling up onto my windshield before being flung off and across the road. At first I thought it was a person, maybe a child, and I almost had a heart attack, but as it rolled off my car, actually screaming as it went, I saw it was a young deer. I never knew deer could scream like that. I stopped immediately, as I was only going maybe 30 to begin with, and did a u-turn. A car that had been coming the other way stopped in front of the stricken deer, and I pulled in behind him. I was in total shock, almost disbelief, horrified for the deer but thanking God that it wasn't a person. The other driver, his wife, and I all tried to figure out what to do, as the deer was still very much alive. He was a hunter, so he was willing to put it out of it's misery if need be, by cutting it's throat, but his wife and I weren't certain the deer was mortally wounded. We finally agreed to move the deer off the road, and the other guy was going to report the injured deer to the NCNP rangers in Marblemount. He was going there anyway and seemed to know how to contact the ranger after hours. It sounds like a dumb plan now, but at the time no one could think of a better one. When we moved the deer, it started screaming again, a hideous sound I hope to never hear again, but probably will someday in a nightmare. The deer leaped away from us, over the guardrail, and tumbled down a short slope into some blackberry bushes, where it lay, making more pitiful noises. I didn't see it clearly, but the man and his wife were certain the deer had a broken hip or some such and was a goner. But who would climb down a steep embankment in the dark, and fight through dense pricker bushes, to then kill a wounded and desperate animal? Not me. So we decided the only thing to do was report the deer to the proper authorities, or in this case to the park rangers, who would at least know who to call, the state maybe, since it happened on a state highway. The other guy and his wife promised to report it, and they seemed like responsible people, so I just drove on home. I'm not quite sure why, but this event has left a deep impression on me. After all, it was just a deer, they are killed all the time, right? But the screaming, the leaving it wounded but alive, the feeling of helplessness, my first impression that I had hit a person, all left me pretty shaken up. I got home at 10:30, and I didn't tell Tanja about the deer, I didn't want to send her to bed with such an awful story. After a shower, I got into bed and just lay there, unable to get the vision of the deer's face against my windshield, and the horrible sounds it made, out of my mind.

[Backpacker Joe]

Nice pics. Sorry you had to do through that Sluggo. At the risk of sounding hyper critical, you really should not have left the animal there suffering. I know arm chair quarterbacking is easy, but Ive been where you were. I had to kill a deer with a knife once after I hit it. Let's hope the animal didnt suffer long.

[Jamin Smitchger]

I agree. Let's hope it didn't suffer long.

[Slugman]

The problem is that I had no way to be sure the deer was mortally wounded. I once hit a deer with a motorcycle, about 30 years ago, and after five minutes or so, the deer got up and ran off. And what the heck do I know about cutting the throat of a deer? Nothing. But the other guy offered to cut the deer's throat, so squeamishness on my part didn't enter into it. I was hoping that the relatively slow speed of my car, coupled with the fact that the deer rolled up onto my hood instead of just being nailed by the front of my car, meant that the deer might be just stunned. Once again, what do I know about such things? Nothing. I do know that there wasn't a mark on my car except for deer spit all over my windshield, so the impact was not that great. Had there been no one else there, I would have driven into Rockport or Marblemount and used a payphone to call the state patrol. I mean, what is the standard thing a motorist is supposed to do when they injure a wild animal?

[Ruhkr2]

Mr. Slugman...most people just continue on and don't even blink when they have hit an animal. You were kind enough to stop and that in itself was a huge gesture of human kindness. Had you climbed down that bank into the blackbery bushes then you might have been hurt and that would not have done anyone any good. You showed you cared and I don't think I could have put a knife to any animal no matter how much it was crying. Mother nature puts our woodland critters through worst things and when it is their time to go it is their time to go. I am glad your trip was otherwise enjoyable. Take care!

[Backpacker Joe]

I didn't mean to insinuate that you acted other than responsibly. You did. I just would have liked to have seen the animal taken care of that's all. Thanks for doing all that you did. Nice trip too.

[Slugman]

Ruhkr2: thanks for the kind words. Joe: no problem. I didn't think anyone was being critical. I really didn't know what to do, so any advice is appreciated. I figure someone else reading the report might also learn from any responses I get. And yes, it was other wise a great trip.

[Backpacker Joe]

How'd you like that long talus hike over to Lewis lake? That's something. Any color pics of Heather Pass? How were the temps during the night?

[Slugman]

For such a long report, I did leave out a few things, huh? Talus hiking: I found it to be much easier than I thought it would be when I first saw it. Except for a few short stretches of large boulders, most of the rocks are the perfect size for stepping from one to the next. I soon found there was little reason to angle over to the dirt sections where a primitive trail exists. On the way out, going slow because of the uphill grade, I don't think the rocks slowed me down one bit. Overall I really loved Lewis lake and when I go back to this hike someday to see the golden larches in "bloom", I will likely stay the first night at Lewis. Heather pass: really no colors out yet. My pics of the area look just like any plain, old meadow. Temps: warm but not hot during the day, cool but not cold at night. A nice breeze, but not windy. Perfect, really. Bugs: there were some. I had a few biting gnats bother me once or twice, and I was actually bothered by mosquitoes on Monday morning, enough that I sprayed some DEET on my clothing. That was my only use of bug spray during the three days, though I did kill a few rogue mosquitoes at other times.

[Backpacker Joe]

Heather Pass 9-13-05.(ha ha, today)

Heather Pass in September.....

I camped at Lewis lake and I liked it too.

Virga at Lewis lake

[Slugman]

Nice pic of the colors. I saw just plain, green bushes. I didn't get over to Maple pass on this trip. Figured I should save something for the next time.

[Backpacker Joe]

Oops, picture labeled wrong. That's actually Heather Pass. Sorry bout that. Might have to go back there mid October.

[Joecreek]

Sorry to hear about the deer Sluggo. Bottom line on "mortally wounded".. if the animal won't/can't rise and flee in the presence of people it's all but certain to be dead. Maybe not soon from bleeding but the injury insures death either by predation or starvation in relatively short order (days). It's a sticky point though because there's technically no permisible killing of a game animal no matter it's condition so if you do have the willingness, and I completely understand if killing the deer was not something you were able/willing to do, don't then report the matter. It's an either-or situation report or dispatch, no good deed going unpunished if you get what I mean.

[SlowWalker]

Been there, loved that! Mid Oct:

some of my favorite colors

Wing Lake (7,000ft) outlet

[Spotly]

Nice report..other than the crappy drive home part. I've had to put a few injured deer out of their misery and it was torture each time. I also took the talus to the left and found it wasn't too bad at all other than those few large boulders you mention. It's obviously more direct than a trail around the right side would be, but I've often wondered if the trail to the right goes all the way around then up the ridge to meet the talus.