Location : 20 miles North of Winthrop, Wa. off West Chewuck Rd.
Access / Maps : GTM - Doe Mtn and Coleman Peak
Stats : 12.5 mi, 4600' r/t
We had planned on driving up the night before and camping at Camp Four then hitting the trail early, but that didn't happen, so as we drove beyond Twisp we looked through the binoculars at the peak and while there was some snow on top it was very patchy. I remember looking over at it about a week ago and it looked open through my zoom lens across the long N-S ridge at the top. My main concern was the drainage below, but most drainages are opening at that elevation and Steve thought it might have been burnt out from the Tripod Fire awhile back.
We arrived at the access, the TH is actually .75 miles and 300' lower than what is shown on TOPO or the GTM. The road is bermed, but a sign points in the direction and a small parking lot exists.
The skies were blue, the sun was out, and hot, and we were heading on a steady uphill grade directly into it. The fire had indeed come through here and burned quite a bit of the forest out and though there were plenty of healthy trees left, we were left unshaded. There were maybe 4 very small side streams that will be gone in time and this will be a hot and dry trip.
We did have some breeze blowing up the drainage at times and down lower the open slopes made for some nice wildflower habitat, there was a section we came upon that had quite a few Rock Roses along it.
We eventually made our way up the trail which is in decent shape with an occasional blowdown and appears not to get much traffic to the upper plateauish ridge where we had to put on some gaiters and negotiate some remaining soft snow at times, but not much and finally up to the summit.
There are two Lookouts the original from the early 1920's and the taller one from the 1940's, the benchmak recognizes two distinct summits an East and West near each Lookout. The number of June bugs was incredible on each summit, so we had lunch between them on some large flat rocks. The spot was somewhat recessed and gave us some cover from the growing wind speed.
We went up to the top of the lookout which was open and walked around the sides getting unobscured views, it was incredible, then headed back down and just looked around and took our time. I don't think I have ever spent 1.5 hours on a summit on a dayhike, but it was just that nice, and the views were incredible.
Eventually we made the return and once in the drainage the clouds moved in and the winds picked up, so good timing. Great day and trip.
-------------- I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent_Gandhi
Those are quite a bit North and West of Tower, we are some 24 miles North of Winthrop, they are some big guys for sure. The zoom lens makes Cathedral look like an early morning dayhike with time to hit Apex, Andrew, Remmel, and Three Finger Jacks for lunch. Nice to get out and get some altitude.
-------------- I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent_Gandhi
Sorry I could not give you any help with the road and trail conditions. Looks like you did just fine without my help.
Great day and great shots. Looks like rain and snow moving in here tonight so you made it there at just the right time.
I need to get up there before it gets too hot.
-------------- "If you rest you rust." Helen Hayes
"I would rather wear out then rust out." Helen Klein
Joined: 21 Oct 2002 Posts: 2011 | TRs | Pics Location: Tukwila International Boulevard
Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:41 pm
Nice TR. Any chance for a pic of the old lookout?
-------------- "Rock is also the only of the three that exists in nature naturally. Next time some climber above you yells, "ROCK!" hold up a piece of paper, or thousands of papers, and see whether or not paper beats rock."
I actually had half of the old lookout in a pano, Steve is going to send me some pics of the June bugs which were on both summit areas like a swarm of bee's, I'll have him forward a pic of the old lookout, it might be one of the oldest, maybe the oldest still standing.
-------------- I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent_Gandhi
actually, the oldest standing lookouts in washington are on mt. bonaparte and columbia mountain. both were built in 1914 but the one on bonaparte is in better shape....
the d6 cupola lookout on north twentymile was built in 1923.
Joined: 21 Oct 2002 Posts: 2011 | TRs | Pics Location: Tukwila International Boulevard
Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:45 am
The ones on Columbia and Bonaparte may be older but to me they are far less interesting pyramid structures that look more like a shed or a cabin than a lookout. The North Twentymile cupola has got character.
-------------- "Rock is also the only of the three that exists in nature naturally. Next time some climber above you yells, "ROCK!" hold up a piece of paper, or thousands of papers, and see whether or not paper beats rock."
I may be inaccurate again, but I have used the two terms interchangeably, there were so many that when you came close they flew off and onto you, so instead of picking a dozen at a time off we found the middle ground for lunch.
-------------- I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent_Gandhi
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