[iron]

quick summary: late start (11:30a) at west fork buttermilk TH. hiked and set up camp at star lake (2:30p). took very obvious and visible route to star peak. summit ~1 hr up. great views.

first site of star lake

courtney peak and fish creek pass while heading up star peak

back to camp (4:30p). filtered water. headed out to gray peak via trail 1259. somewhat confusing to find, but as long as you understand the general direction to head, you'll get there. crossed gentle gully between gray and courtney and headed uphill ~3 mins later via subtle rib. summit of gray (6:15p). more good views.

heading to gray, looking back at star

not sure when this fire happened

red grasses

obvious drainage from gray/courtney saddle, gray on left

gentle ridge and courtney

what? there's loose rock in the chelan sawtooths?

ridge from gray to courtney (R), buttermilk ridge summit on L

oval, buttermilk ridge, and middle oval lake

followed ridge via discernible trail 'til it petered out. stayed just south of true ridge up to summit of courtney (7:00p). nice spot to scope out buttermilk and oval route.

oval and buttermilk from courtney

silhouettes

silhouettes

YES! peak

star lake basin from courtney, fish creek pass middle left

glacier cut lines across star's faces???

i can imagine the beauty when these larches turn golden

headed back to camp (7:45p) descending the SE ridge via trail to fish creek pass and then down to camp via trail. enjoyable, mostly bug-free evening. used my alcohol stove for the first time this year and really missed my MSR reactor. forgot spoon. boo next day, at the early alpine start time of 8:45p, pack up and head for courtney/buttermilk saddle. easy travel with some scree, but not bad. reach saddle, head up easy class 2 ridge. up to this point, everything is class 2 or less. summit views the best yet, probably because of morning sun instead of evening light. nice views of YES! peak and my memories from 2 weeks ago come to the forefront. (10:10a)

at courtney/buttermilk saddle looking towards gray

middle oval lake

all three oval lakes

continued mostly along buttermilk ridge, occasionally dropping below true ridge. at pt 7978, faced with exposed ridge descent on somewhat loose talus and boulders, or heading down more gentle east ridge. opted for direct route with less drop in elevation. pretty exposed spots here. i flipped back and forth over the ridge several times, hoping to find easier terrain. definite class 4. wish i hadn't forgotten my 7.5 minute map, but at least i had a 15 minute GT map. once at the saddle, i was happily, though slowly ascending the long ridge with big boulder hops to the summit of oval. more good views and was happy to see the entire localized area i had just roamed. (2:00p)

ridge coming from buttermilk summit (R) while heading towards oval

glaciers and dryness together

along buttermilk ridge from pt7978'

so close to oval now, just a steep, exposed ridge to follow

hmm...

hmm... x 2

hmm... x 3

ahh, much easier, though tedious

followed the broad east ridge from oval's summit to a sandy gravel and scree descent. i highly recommend this route. took about 30 minutes from summit to pond 6936' whereas retracing the route back to the buttermilk/oval saddle and down would have been at least an hour. the basin was cool. few bugs here too. found the upper pond. followed a faint boot path that i lost and found again. eventually reached pond 6936', followed the shore to the outlet, did a 180*, and found the unmaintained trail 436 that i didn't see on my way in the day before. i wanted to follow it just to see where it connected to the buttermilk trail. alternatively, one could descend the forest to intersect it, but there appears to be a good deal of downfall, everywhere, that makes that option seem less appealing.

took the sandy descent route

sandy descent route, lowest point of ridge

upper pond, sandy descent in background

pond 6936'

pond 6936'

boot path on SW side of pond 6936'

oval and pond 6936'

pond 6936' outlet

turn 180* from pond 6936' outlet for trail and follow blazed trees

keep your eyes open and attention paid to the trees as there are hundreds of blazes, a lot of them sapped-over which looks more like spray paint than sap. i lost the trail once, but otherwise, smooth sailing. plenty of downed trees, but the path has been beaten enough times to form workarounds. in general, you want to stay at the margin between the white boulder/talus field and the forest. retrace your steps if you find yourself on anything other than an obvious, unmaintained trail. after considerable, and somewhat challenging ups and downs, i regained the buttermilk trail. phew. time to fly (3:45p). pushed it into overdrive and made it back to the TH by 5:45p, which is think is roughly 8 miles.

you can even follow the sappy arrows

back on west fork buttermilk trail at junction with trail 436 (R)

trail junction

cut logs at trail junction at ~7100'

destroyed trail in parts

back at empty trailhead, minus me

overall, a very enjoyable trip. peaceful too. didn't see anyone. heard a group of two down at west oval lake while i was on the summit of gray. that was it. just me and the mice and the soft buzzing hum at the lake. plenty of larches to make late september the ideal time to do this trip. my new tennis shoes held up okay too, though i did tear off parts of both soles (but i did have 8 miles of boulder hopping). day 1: 16 mi, 8000', 8 hrs day 2: 14 mi, 3500', 9 hrs will post summit panos soon...

[b00]

i wish i would have joined you, but with 8k gain and a late start, you would still be waiting for me :>) nice work and i appreciate the route info. :>)

[Backpacker Joe]

Ironski youre an animal. Great work and wonderful pics.

[raising3hikers]

Great TR and pics! You covered a lot of ground

[Backpacker Joe]

[Get Out and Go]

Congrats on a more ambitious trek in the area than my time up there this past week but probably equally satisfying. (Oh, and to you and your partner's future as well ). I talked to another teacher with whom I work, who just spent 5 days roaming the area between Tuckaway and Star. What a great place to hang out. Here's your Buttermilk and Courtney!

West Oval Lake

[Nietzsche's Horse]

Excellent TR with lots of useful beta and wonderful photos. Thanks! I have been to areas nearby during October, and felt irrepressibly giddy in the presence of the gold-turned larches. There is something almost mystical about that tree. Did you happen to notice where they were densest on your trip? Star Lake looks like a hot spot, in your photos, but were there any others?

[gray matter]

Great TR, Iron. I did Star, Courtney, and Oval in June, and was never able to find where that old trail 436 intersected with the main trail, namely because it was all under snow. The bushwhack from about 7000' to Pond 6936 was a miserable experience without the benefit of the old trail. However, I decided to follow the outlet of the pond and hiked east southeasterly and easily intersected with the main trail on the way out. It was really pretty easy, and saved a lot of time. It sure would be great to go up and do a bit of trail maintenance up there. -Gray

[HitTheTrail]

Thanks for sharing your great TR. I have looked at that area a couple of times and almost went up the east fork of Fish Creek from Moore Point last summer. It is still somewhere on my list of maybe's.