Forum Index > Trip Reports > McMillan Creek - Bushwhacking Hell? 8/25/2007
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Mark Griffith
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Mark Griffith
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 7:25 am 
McMillan Creek Bushwhacking Hell The key to making your way up McMillan Creek is not to walk in the woods, but to actually walk along the bank and in the water crossing back and forth as you hit the high banks as the river turns. Otherwise you end up crawling through red alder and devils club so thick you can walk across the branches and never touch the ground. I still have thrashed legs from the thorns and one stuck in each thumb. Ever since I heard of the Pickets and did a bit of research and saw pictures, I have dreamed of doing a Pickets traverse. There are no established or maintained trails approaching or through the region, only climbers approaches and routes. I didn't brush up on any background reading prior to going to Ross Lake with the family, but I planned on camping at Big Beaver and did a little bit of prep with the Topo! software and decided on McMillan Creek. Saturday morning I woke at 4:30 am and got dressed. As I headed through Big Beaver campground there was 4 or 5 people wandering around on the trail, I guess thats the time of the morning when bladders are full and can't wait till morning. I ended up coming across one lady who was squatting on the trail doing her business. I mumbled an apology and hurried to get to the trail. I hustled along in the dark, my head lamp illuminating the rooty path and the giant silhouettes of the huge cedars. Miles passed as the sky slowly lightened, gray sky was lined with patches of blue and it was unclear which way the weather was going to break. I passed 39 mile camp and never did see 10 mile shelter. I got to the point on the map where I knew I was approaching the confluence of McMillan and Big Beaver creek. I could hear Big Beaver get louder as the walls of the canyon narrowed and the trail began climbing. I decided to cross the creek above the entry of McMillan creek and at some point I turned left and headed down the hillside towards Big Beaver Creek. I was surprised to find still a lot of water coming down, at least 3 foot plus, it was a little too narrow and too swift so I made my way down stream looking for a place where the creek bed widens, the water spreads is not quite so deep. A couple hundred yards I found such a place with large rocks that I could grab onto. I debated crossing in wet shoes with traction or carrying my shoes which would end with dry feet but hurt as I cross the rocks. I opted to leave my shoes on and I made my way across anchoring each foot in a stable place before taking the next step. Safely on the other side I found an smallish cedar around 9 inches in diameter and cut a blaze with my knife on the opposite side so that when I returned I'd be able to re-find my crossing point. At this point I was on the west side of Big Beaver Creek and the north side of McMillan. I made my way southwest towards McMillan creek. The forest at this point was fairly wide open with only downed logs and huckleberry bushes in the undergrowth, no devil's club or pricklys to deal with yet, so it was easy going. 500 yards or so and I came to the bank of McMillan Creek. At this point I was still thinking that the best route was to walk in the woods following the creek up. I waded through McMillan to the far side and made my way up a dry side channel that paralleled the main creek. I quickly ran into a briar of devils club, so named because its 1/2 inch stalk is covered in thorns as are its huge leaves. Its weed like in that the stalks snake in and out of adjacent vegetation forming an impenetrable barrier of pain. This drove me back to McMillan Creek where I hit up on the strategy of walking along the banks of the creek and crossing when I ran into a high bank where the creek turned. While this kept my feet wet it worked well as the fastest way to travel up the creek. Unfortunately several natural barriers made it impossible to always follow this strategy. There were a couple of humongous log jams and one very large boulder cluster with fast rapids that required me to head off trail and make my war around. Each time I did I regretted it as I pawed my way through thick red alder intermixed with devils club that scratched and tore at my skin and poked me (I still have thorns in my thumbs). Finally I came upon an unnamed creek, the first inlet into McMillan Creek on the western side, flowing from a steep gully on the south side of Elephant Butte. I scrambled up the dry jumble of rocks left over from the melt, hoping to get high enough to get above the trees and brush so that I could get a glimpse up into McMillan cirque. I was surprised to see a big pile of dusty snow partway up, and could see all the way up the gully to the ridge line pass below Elephant Butte. As wall of brush still obstructed my view up McMillan so I climbed through some very thorny shrubs and finally could peer back up in the valley carved by McMillan Creek. The views were gorgeous, though not spectacular because after examining the map it was clear that there was a lot more creek left to get up into the real foothills of the Pickets. After returning and reading more and studying the map you definitely don't want to attempt traveling very far up creeks or valleys, but want to gain a high ridge line as soon as possible. While I do think that McMillan Creek would be viable if you went up the first creek that flows in on the south (the one I scrambled up), you could make it all the way to the ridge line and then on up to Elephant Butte and approach from there. The only difficulty would be crossing Big Beaver, as any other time would require a log to get safely across. After reading a lot of trip reports the standard route people take to the Pickets up Big Beaver is to continue on up Big Beaver Creek past McMillan Creek to the next western creek, called Access Creek, but not named on any map I've seen. Though the crossing of Big Beaver is still not clear in my head. Next year I am hankering on doing a Pickets traverse up Big Beaver and out Whatcom Pass. I can hardly wait. Lessons Learned * Bring some leather gloves for going through Devils Club * Possibly bring a pair of loppers smile.gif * wear tear resistant long sleeve shirt * wear long pants, which is a bummer since your spending so much time in the water as well. I liked being in shorts for wading but the Devils Club thrashed my legs * bring poles, duh * bring some flaggers tape for marking the return path * wear a pair of Keen sandals for walking in the river Pics after I post them.

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Guiran
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 8:16 am 
The Access Creek approach is relatively "well-established". There is a logjam crossing Big Beaver just south of the confluence of Access Creek and Big Beaver. I would strongly discourage you from trying to lop and flag a route up McMillian Creek. I'm fairly certainly the Park Service would agree.

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Tazz
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 8:22 am 
ditto.gif

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Dayhike Mike
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 8:26 am 
BTW - What did Sid, Himanshu and Reena think of the brush? hockeygrin.gif

"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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marionthegoat
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marionthegoat
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 11:05 am 
Whacking
In my recent Silesia Creek foray I found that a well-honed 20" machete makes easy work of most devils club, as well as willows and slide alder up to about 1 1/4" dia. At least until your arm is too tired to swing it. I carried a brush axe, but didn't use it much. I used the tools on an established but unmaintained (and practically disappeared trail), which I presume is permissible within accepted wilderness ethics. Chopping a new route into virgin brush is another matter. Luna and McMillan cirques are some of the wildest places on the planet and should stay that way. The climbing crowd has established adequate access routes to all the peaks, no need for new ones. Conversely, if the goal is to whack the cirque for its own sake, the devils' club is a big part of the fun! biggrin.gif

The world is not round
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Malachai Constant
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 1:40 pm 
McMillan Creek along with Luna is one of the legendary bushwacks of the North Cascades. Beckey recommends against it and he knows what of he speaks as he went out Luna and never returned. If you try a machete you will drop down exhausted in less than a 100 yards. Perhaps a platoon of Marines with machetes could force a route but I think more would be required. The route over Elephant is much easier and more scenic.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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Mark Griffith
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Mark Griffith
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 2:07 pm 
Guiran wrote:
I would strongly discourage you from trying to lop and flag a route up McMillian Creek. I'm fairly certainly the Park Service would agree.
The note about the loppers has a smile.gif on it, tis a joke, settle down. And the flagging would only if I was going to follow the same path back and I'd remove them as I went. Cheers mbg

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Mark Griffith
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Mark Griffith
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 2:08 pm 
Malachai Constant wrote:
The route over Elephant is much easier and more scenic.
What is the access to Elephant?

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Mark Griffith
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Mark Griffith
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 2:08 pm 
Dayhike Mike wrote:
BTW - What did Sid, Himanshu and Reena think of the brush? hockeygrin.gif
They were not invited hockeygrin.gif

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Dayhike Mike
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 2:11 pm 
Malachai's talking about gaining Sourdough and running the ridgeline toward Elephant Butte. And I'd agree. It'd be a lot less time, energy, and effort to run the ridgeline with phenomenal views all along the way. I'll always take a ridge run over a valley slog.

"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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Mark Griffith
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Mark Griffith
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 2:19 pm 
Dayhike Mike wrote:
Malachai's talking about gaining Sourdough and running the ridgeline toward Elephant Butte.
Can you help the helpless wink.gif Here is Elephant Butte http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1278502 Where is Sourdough? (This is using Topozone data but has a nice scrollable G-map interface) And what is the benefit/preference of Sourdough to Elephant vs. Access Creek to Luna? Especially if your looking for a traverse? Also would scrambling up McMillan Creek (if you stay in the creek out of the brush its easy) and then up the small side creek to the ridge line below Elephant Butte would be easier than Sourdough? See photo here :
The bowl between Elephant Butte (on the right) and an un-named ridge.
The bowl between Elephant Butte (on the right) and an un-named ridge.
Thanks mbg

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Malachai Constant
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 2:43 pm 
There is a trail from Diablo to Sourdough that gains most of the elevation. From Elephant Butte you can run the ridge to Picket Pass at the head of McMillian Cirque. From Picket Pass you can access the Northern Pickets by following to Luna Col which has a route to Challenger Arm and then traverse The Challenger Glacier to Perfect Pass then out over Whatcom or Easy Ridge. Alternately, from Perfect Pass you can access the Southern Pickets climb the Barrier and exit Goddell Creek. Access Creek is probably the easiest way to Luna Cirque although people do ascend the Wiley Lakes Route. Note none of these are hikes and crampons (clamps) and a rope are required as a minimum.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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Dayhike Mike
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 2:54 pm 
Your link isn't working for me. Here's one to Topozone. Sourdough is east of Elephant Butte and runs to the SE. Long ridgeline, great views. You never mentioned Luna in your trip report. If you want to go to Luna, Access Creek is by far the best route. Re: a traverse? What would be your proposed route for the traverse?
Quote:
Safely on the other side I found an smallish cedar around 9 inches in diameter and cut a blaze with my knife on the opposite side so that when I returned I'd be able to re-find my crossing point.
Just noticed the above in your trip report. If you can't see where you crossed, you'll likely be unable to see your blaze. Please don't blaze trees unnecessarily. Edit: Totally agree with Malachai's post above.

"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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Mark Griffith
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Mark Griffith
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 2:59 pm 
Malachai Constant wrote:
Note none of these are hikes and crampons (clamps) and a rope are required as a minimum.
Understood, I think have a pair of those crampon things somewhere.

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Mark Griffith
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Mark Griffith
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PostFri Aug 31, 2007 3:23 pm 
Dayhike Mike wrote:
Quote:
Safely on the other side I found an smallish cedar around 9 inches in diameter and cut a blaze with my knife on the opposite side so that when I returned I'd be able to re-find my crossing point.
Just noticed the above in your trip report. If you can't see where you crossed, you'll likely be unable to see your blaze. Please don't blaze trees unnecessarily.
Agree, my bad. I really need to get some flagger tape, not to leave permanently but to make a return path and to be removed upon the return.

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