[Get Out and Go]

Left the Top Lake TH up the Little Wenatchee at 7:00 and cruised up the trail, with a perfect combination of grade and distance....Cruised, that is, until I met company at the big open swath just before the descent to Top Lake.

It's bear time.

What are YOU looking at?

I only spotted the smaller fellow browsing up above when the bigger mom (?) appeared crashing downhill about 20 yards out from me. I started yelling and waving with no effect. I now had one bear above the trail and the other below in a standoff. This was the only area around that had any ripe berries, so they were reluctant to leave. Finally, the lower bear descended a bit more and I managed to get the other guy to move up into the woods. I made haste and dropped to Top, hit the PCT,

GP, Indian Head, and East Cady Ridge

and arrived at nearby Pear.

Pear Lake

I heard there was a "route" to Pear over the ridge saddle. What I found was steep wet moss on the Pear side but easier going down to Peach.

Dropping down to Peach Lake

Peach Lake and Peach/Pear Ridge

Peach Lake and Fortune Mt.

I brush-bashed around the upper end and enjoyed a bug-free lunch at the lower end. Now to return was a different story. I took a look at a a trail dropping down from the lake but it quickly disappeared below in cliffy stuff. Wishing to avoid the wet mossy descent back to Pear I made a poor decision in following another trace that appeared as if it would go around the butt end of the ridge. DON'T do this! Mindful of the wicked cliffs below I finally threaded some smallish benches back to the Pear outlet and headed back to Top. My off-trail adventure behind me and knowing I was just 2 hours from the TH, I enjoyed the afternoon sun at Top "Pond." It really is a beautiful serene pond without the glitz of a high-mountain lake. Think dragonflies, reeds and grassy banks.

Top Lake

Finally, it was time to climb the "bump" out of Top, arriving at the meadow with my whistle and yells, lest I startle any more bears.

Labyrinth and Jove

A long day but a fine trail for access to a nice area. A return in a couple weeks might be in order.

[Bad Dog]

What a treat to see a bear. Especially a good, honest, hardworking bear (unlike those rogues in the Sierras!!!).

[Get Out and Go]

Wenatchee Pass

Imagine if the railroad and present-day "Stevens Pass" had been laid through here, one of the East-West passages of the Wenatchi tribe. PCT drops through the low point coming off Grizzly Peak above Heather Lake.

[Backpacker Joe]

Great pics GOG. I need to get into this area.

[Tom]

Thanks for the pics. For lakes in the 100 hikes books you don't see many reports. Do the shorelines look like they get much visitation?

[Get Out and Go]

Pear Lake receives a lot of traffic, being at the junction of the PCT and the Meadow Creek Trail. Peach, however, has no official, nor really any kind of trail. Typically, one would expect "ye olde fisherman's trail" around a lake. I could only discern bits and pieces around Peach from years gone by. In other words, some brush bashin' on the upper end.

[Movenhike]

Nice, I miss home