Forum Index > Trip Reports > Gee Point 9/28/08
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
NikonHiker
Member
Member


Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 628 | TRs | Pics
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
NikonHiker
Member
PostMon Sep 29, 2008 10:45 pm 
First of all hat tip to Quark for the heads up on the road being open again! I'm sure that many people who read the WTA Endangered Trails Report saw Gee Point on the list and thought to themselves, 'where the heck is Gee Point and why isn't my super awesome endangered hike on this flippin' list?!' I don't know why it isn't but I do know that my super awesome endangered hike is on the list and it desperately needs some more boot traffic! So here we go.
I started the day over on Leonards Ridge with a dawn photo shoot.
We've got some Baker, some Shuksan, some fog spilling down from Lake Shannon and Baker Lake, some Dock Butte, some Lenny shadow and some WADOT repeater station action.
I shot for about an hour before packing up and heading over to the trailhead.
Upon hearing that the road was hit by a massive avalanche and blocked by all the debris it left behind I thought for sure this summer was shot. It wasn't until I saw it in person that I started to think it would be much longer before it was repaired. The forces involved were truly incredible. And you really have to appreciate the strategic placement of that monster log.
A few shots from the Finney Peak side of the valley.
The avalanche started all the way up at the top of the ridge and had a good 3000 foot vertical run passing over three sections of the road.
I recall a slide blocking the road in late 2006 in just about the same place. A pile of alders decided to come crashing down during the first major storm. So it's a problematic spot.
Thankfully the road itself didn't appear to be too damaged and a whole lot of chainsawin' and front end loadin' later we're back in business.
On the way to the trailhead you pass Little Gee Lake. Shot in 2004.
The trail starts out on a decommissioned road. It's a brushwhack / swamp slog for about an eigth of a mile before it begins to climb through the old clear cut. At this point the trail is more of a rough path of switchbacks. It's not until you enter the old growth that you link up with the original trail which is in manageable shape.
Continuing on the trail levels out and you come upon this nice field.
The trail leaves the field and continues north along the ridgeline heading towards the point. Above is Gee Point shot from Iron Mountain. The last bit of the trail is very steep and spirals upward to the summit from the right to left. Here it is very narrow, very steep itself and hacked into a very steep slope.
It was 57 minutes from the trailhead to the summit maintaining a leisurely pace and only stopping for a few pictures.
The sky was as clear as I've ever seen it. On the left is the Arlington Airport some 24 miles away and on the right is the north end of Camano Island and Skagit Bay.
Panorama to the west with Big Deer and Little Deer Peaks.
Panorama to the south west of Marysville, Everett and Mukilteo.
Big Gee Lake and the tarns down in the bottom of the valley. I'll cover those more later. The snow still down by the lake was surprising.
A few more shots and a sweet 270 degree panorama.
Two from October 2007. A decommissioned road to the west with some nice fall colors. And a ridgeline on the edge of the earth or so the camera thinks so.
Here's a close up on Big Gee Lake from 2005. I spent a few years trying to find an easy route down but ultimately had to take it head on. I started out from the back side of Little Gee Lake. Coincidently a 'sportsman' I ran into on the way down mentioned he'd found a decent trail down to the lake somewhere around the big field. I've also heard a few others say the same thing but never found any kind of path I wanted to take. A fishing guide book published many years ago suggested simply following the trail along the ridgeline and going past the turn-off that takes you to the lookout until you break out into an open talus field. Then, hang a right and descend via the rocks. It seems doable. However going up and over the ridgeline from the south is quicker and in some ways easier.
There's a gully that skirts around the left side of the rocky outcropping in the center. It's pretty steep but easily negotiated and once over the ridge it's a quick descent down to a beautiful lake. Sure, it's not your awesome alpine lake with the crazy blue and green colors but it's good enough. There was no garbage that I could see. And certainly no signs of logging activity. It's untouched When you're down in that valley it feels like you're a million miles away. There's only scant reminder that the world is just over the ridge and it's in the form of an echoing rumble as the airliners streak overhead every few minutes.
I could have sworn the ground was landscaped. I half expected some guy with a lawn mower to run out from behind the bushes and yell at me to get off his lawn. It actually looked better than my lawn. A cautionary tale: Running through the area are several foot wide canal like streams. Strangely enough they run straight as arrows. They're also cut into the bed rock and if you're not careful (like I wasn't) you can trip and fall into them. They're hidden by greenery. So that was Leonards Ridge, Gee Point and Big Gee Lake all in one. The trail really does need some more use. Luckily it must have been just the day before when a seeming herd of hikers were at the lookout. I recall something involving the WTA scheduled to go down then. Anyway, their prints were all fresh and they did a fantastic job of roughing up the encroaching underbrush. Things to watchout for: unfortunately the cairns which were placed at strategic points along the first section of the trail were pretty much all knocked over. They were stacked last October but somehow now they aren't. Still, the trail isn't too hard to follow so get on out there!

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Go Jo
of the lykkens



Joined: 08 Jun 2003
Posts: 2248 | TRs | Pics
Location: Around The Bend
Go Jo
of the lykkens
PostMon Sep 29, 2008 10:50 pm 
Lenny wrote:
This photo is absolutely amazing. You have a gift, Mother Nature never looked better!

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Magellan
Brutally Handsome



Joined: 26 Jul 2006
Posts: 13116 | TRs | Pics
Location: Inexorable descent
Magellan
Brutally Handsome
PostMon Sep 29, 2008 10:55 pm 
That photo is incredible! Photo of the year, perhaps. up.gif up.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker



Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics
Location: Cle Elum
Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker
PostMon Sep 29, 2008 11:14 pm 
Well done.

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
GeoTom
Member
Member


Joined: 19 May 2005
Posts: 3215 | TRs | Pics
Location: Earth
GeoTom
Member
PostMon Sep 29, 2008 11:15 pm 
Magellan wrote:
Photo of the year, perhaps.
ditto.gif

Knows literally nothing
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Magellan
Brutally Handsome



Joined: 26 Jul 2006
Posts: 13116 | TRs | Pics
Location: Inexorable descent
Magellan
Brutally Handsome
PostMon Sep 29, 2008 11:19 pm 
Too stunned to remember to post that this is an excellent trip report. Thanks for all the details. up.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore



Joined: 15 May 2003
Posts: 14152 | TRs | Pics
Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore
PostTue Sep 30, 2008 8:54 am 
Lenny you lucky bastard. What a great trip. WTA did have Gee Point on their Wildland Discovery hikes scheduled for the 27th. But I screwed that up and said, "hey, the roads blocked 5 miles from the trailhead." The roads guy indicated that it wasn't likely to be repaired this season. Of course the road was fixed ahead of schedule - but by then the WTA hike had already been moved to some other place that doesn't need more boots. So if this trail is lost because no one is interested in it, it's because of me. hockeygrin.gif

"...Other than that, the post was more or less accurate." Bernardo, NW Hikers' Bureau Chief of Reporting
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
RichP
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 5628 | TRs | Pics
Location: here
RichP
Member
PostTue Sep 30, 2008 9:15 am 
I have non-hiking friend with the last name "Gee," and I've been wanting to take him here for years. Thanks for the report. It just might still happen.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Andy D.
Member
Member


Joined: 19 Apr 2004
Posts: 209 | TRs | Pics
Location: Bow, WA
Andy D.
Member
PostTue Sep 30, 2008 11:01 am 
Wow, awesome shots (especially that Baker shot)! up.gif up.gif Nice work. Now we can go do Big Gee right? wink.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Dayhike Mike
Bad MFKer



Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Posts: 10958 | TRs | Pics
Location: Going to Tukwila
Dayhike Mike
Bad MFKer
PostTue Sep 30, 2008 1:50 pm 
Agree with the above comments re: your photos! Beautiful work...many of the shots are absolutely stunning. agree.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
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
NikonHiker
Member
Member


Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 628 | TRs | Pics
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
NikonHiker
Member
PostTue Sep 30, 2008 2:09 pm 
Thanks for all the compliments! I'll have to see if I can sneak some more in. There are some other decent ones floating around.
cdrbond007 wrote:
Wow, awesome shots (especially that Baker shot)! up.gif up.gif Nice work. Now we can go do Big Gee right? wink.gif
Hey we had a pact: you'd do Big Gee, I'd do Gee Point and we'd waive at each other from our respective summits.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Trip Reports > Gee Point 9/28/08
  Happy Birthday speyguy, Bandanabraids!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum