[Seracer]

Looking for a new area to go over Labor Day weekend, my friend Kevin, his son Chet and I elected to hike into the eastern Sawtooth area above Twisp. We selected Cooney Lake with it's nearby lakes as a good spot. We were hiking up the Foggy Dew Creek trail on Saturday morning (after making a quick return to pick up a parking permit). This trail is a joint use trail, with horses, mountain bikes, dirt bikes and hikers sharing it, but we met only a few of each all weekend. All the bikers and horse folks were friendly and social, which has been standard in my experience. The Foggy Dew Trail is a joy to hike. I was a bit apprehensive, but the dust was minimal and it was well graded and pleasant. We were soon at Foggy Dew Falls, a nice spot for a break. The remaining miles passed as we climbed gradually through open forest past a handful of ponds to emerge into open meadows prior to Cooney Lake.

The morning had been clear and warm, but just short of Cooney Lake we felt the air cooling as the promised cold front moved in for the weekend. The meadows east of Cooney are wonderful, with lots of stands of larch. It's easy to see how spectacular the fall colors will be here in late September and October. We pulled into Cooney with it's surprising eye-level first view. There were two other parties camped there, less than I had expected. Still, it's an open lake shore with many camp sites. We circled the lake looking at the sites and enjoying the impressive views of Sawtooth Ridge behind the lake. We decided on a scenic but rather exposed site just above the lake on the north side. I was hammocking and Kevin and Chet were tenting. I found a pair of suitable trees that I hoped would block the wind a bit while Chet setup his Half Dome nearby on a sandy spot. As we made camp, the breeze began to pick up. There was a high wind warning for Wenatchee (35 to 40 mph winds) but we were hopeful that it might be less on this side of the ridge. I put my tarp in it's winter setup and made it tight as I could. We had dinner in the fading light and rising wind then retired to our bags for the night as the temperature dropped.

It was not long before the wind turned nasty. I lay in my swaying hammock with the tarp flapping like a spinnaker. The wind would begin to howl far above us on the ridge and then crash against the tarp. Sometimes it would pass me by and barely ruffle the nylon. The next minute it would be pushing the tarp into my face. Sand was being picked up and blown under the tarp and my eyes and mouth soon had fine grit in them. I got up twice to check the stakes and tighten the lines, trying desperately to reduce the flapping. I had no way to measure the wind speed, but I would say it was all of 40 mph gusts. The wind would drop for a minute or so, and I would start to drift off to sleep, then it would hit with a new vengeance and I was startled awake. It was obvious I was not going to get any sleep soon. I started to think about finding a more sheltered spot on the ground when one of my grip clips came loose and that end of the tarp came completely free. I finally threw in the towel and begged Kevin and Chet for a spot in their tent. We transfered my pads and bag to the tent and pulled down the tarp and hammock. Chet's Half Dome is a two person tent (and snug at that as Chet is over 6 feet tall), but we were able to squeeze the three of us in. It was a wild night with the wind continuing to try and lift the three of us into orbit. More than once the side of the tent was in my face. Fortunately the stakes held and we stayed earthbound, with all of us getting at least a few hours sleep. Morning came with just a slight breeze again. The sky was cloudy but with patches of brilliant blue. We had breakfast (finding ice in our waterbottles) and discussed options. It had been our intention to move camp to Sunrise Lake via the high ridge route, but with the wind still howling above we decided to do a daytrip to Martin Lake and see what the weather had in store. The trail on the map to Martin looked gentle. Only a couple of miles long, with little elevation loss or gain. We passed through more small meadows and boulder fields from the flanks of Martin Peak. To the east lay the valley of Hunter Creek and way off in the distance the brown hills above Twisp. We were hiking at over 7000 feet for most of the day. Lupine were blooming everywhere and more larches, not yet turning gold, promised blazing colors later in the month. The trail began to drop unexpectedly. We lost elevation at an alarming rate in long switchbacks. This was not the trail on the topo map. We finally came to the trail junction between Martin Lake and Eagle Lakes several hundred feet lower than i had expected. Apparently it's been rerouted? We dutifully climbed back up to near 7000 feet and Martin Lake. Martin Lake is more wooded and less scenic than Cooney, but it appears that there is a nice basin higher up and behind Upper Martin Lake. The rocky and steep couliars of Martin Peak drop almost directly into Upper Martin Lake, which is otherwise just a large landlocked pond that was slowly evaporating away. We had lunch and began our return to Cooney as snowy hail began to fall from the darkening sky.

We made Cooney again just as more snow flakes were falling. They were not large and were more round like hail, with no danger of sticking, but it was obvious that the upper route to Sunrise might be tempting fate. We opted to retreat to lower elevations for the night as the wind was still fairly strong. We quickly packed and were soon in the calm confines of the open forest again heading back towards Foggy Dew Creek. We found a nice campsite at the junction of the Sunrise Lake and Navarre trails, with a wonderful water source perhaps a hundred yards down the Navarre trail. That night I slept in my hammock and my back thanked me in the morning. We even splurged with a small campfire and perhaps a bit too much whiskey. The night was calm and cold.

Monday morning dawned cloudy and cool again. We packed up and stashed our packs for a daytrip into Merchant Basin and Sunrise Lake. The well graded trails we had hiked the last two days gave way to a much steeper and rockier staircase climb to Merchant Basin. Amazingly, a group of horse packers passed us on their way out. I must say that I have new respect for them if they rode their mounts down that trail! We emerged into Merchant Basin and found another high open meadow area that again reminded me why I love the Sawtooth Wilderness. It's very similar to meadows I have seen in the Pasayten and reminiscent of pictures I have seen of the high Rockies. Here again, however, the wind was strong and very cold. Saturday night here would have been like a wind tunnel. We pushed on and pulled the short and sweet trail to Sunrise Lake. This lake, along with Merchant Basin, were really the jewels of the trip. Sunrise is a gorgeous lake, sitting in a deep bowl below rocky and bare mountains. More larches surround it along with open grassy hillsides. We had a bite to eat but the wind was rising again and it had a decidedly winter spice to it.

We dropped back down to our campsite and the waiting packs. It was drizzling as we pulled up to the trailhead. I had left a trio of homemade hefeweizen in a cooler in the truck and we all toasted our trip. A fine area and one that will see us visiting again for sure.

[Damian]

Was that your camp my daughter and I trapesed through on Sun?

[Seracer]

Well, I think it may have been! Did you have on a MH jacket and did your daughter have green wind pants?

[Damian]

Sounds like us...

Above Cooney2

Above Cooney

Cooney Site

[Get Out and Go]

[Slide Alder Slayer]

Thanks for the trip report, wonderful area!

[Sky Hiker]

I was up the Summer Blossom area last weekend. Definitely got cold and the wind blew all night Sat night. Then got a few flakes on Sunday afternoon. It's a sad sight to see all those dying pine beetle infested trees in the Grade Creek area.

[Backpacker Joe]

Hey Damian, what's that white stuff?