Forum Index > Trip Reports > HardScramble, BigSnow, GoldLake, IceTarns, Sept 5-11, 2011
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alpinelakes
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alpinelakes
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PostWed Sep 14, 2011 2:21 pm 
I loaded a weeks worth of food onto my bike and rode up the Middle Fork. Sort of. I crammed as much gear as I could in the rear panniers and left the rest in my pack. Then I pushed my bike up the road. It was an exhausting trip getting the bike up the road. Twice as hard as just carrying a full pack. With fifty pounds of gear strapped on the back, it did not roll uphill very well at all. The road is mostly made of cobbles the size of watermellons. I dragged the bike up the road- a thousand vertical feet from Dingford to the old parking lot at Hardscrabble Creek, now converted into a horse camp. Like, as if horsey people would actually camp there. They've got some big round metal fire pits from Cherokee, Iowa at the camp, but I didn't bring any horses to cook, so I didn't use them:
Horse Camp Cooker.
Horse Camp Cooker.
The black flies were horrendous along the river. Mosquitos were in a frenzy along Hardscrabble Creek, at both lakes, on the pass, on the ridge and all the way to the summit. Clouds of mosquitos came and went. Only the occasional breeze would drive them off- at my camp on the ridge, they were active late into the night... There was a beatnik kid camped there at the horse camp, who told me about his grandfather's ghastly misadventures in the 1960s, and offered me gps headings for Hardscrabble Lake. I saw Fletcher and his team at the camp, but they left early the next morning, and I never saw them on the trail. I never saw anybody on the trail, for seven days. Never really found the trail until day seven, either. I didn't really know where the trail was, so I just charged up the hill all shins-be-damned and blood leakin' everywhere. I found the old outhouse, the road, and several trails which I promptly lost. I found some old, rusted cans, nearly buried in the moss, then a mossy old campsite perched above the creek. I climbed the talus instead of crossing it, then I downclimbed at the cliffs and flailed in the bushes for an eternity. I walked right around the campsite at the lake without ever seeing it and ended up camping on a flat rock in the inlet stream.
Flat rock at Lower Hardscrabble
Flat rock at Lower Hardscrabble
Curious Rocks
Curious Rocks
The streams gurgled continuously all around my tent. It was like being in a live-aboard, at a pricey. high-end marina.
The streams gurgled continuously all around my tent. It was like being in a live-aboard, at a pricey. high-end marina.
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...
Purple Spidery Cottonball.
Purple Spidery Cottonball.
Small waterfall and pool near inlet
Small waterfall and pool near inlet
The next morning I continued to the upper lake, climbing up the waterfall, the trail and a number of considerable detours...
Hardscrabble Waterfall
Hardscrabble Waterfall
Pass above Hardscrabble
Pass above Hardscrabble
Looking back toward The Middle Fork
Looking back toward The Middle Fork
Lots of snow north of the Pass
Lots of snow north of the Pass
Camp on Ridge below Big Snow
Camp on Ridge below Big Snow
Crest from Ridge Camp
Crest from Ridge Camp
Big Snow Summit
Big Snow Summit
Same picture with different clouds
Same picture with different clouds
Lakes to the west of Big Snow
Lakes to the west of Big Snow
Lower Hardscrabble
Lower Hardscrabble
Dangerous Flowers
Dangerous Flowers
Big Snow
Big Snow
Sunset and Moonrise
Sunset and Moonrise
Gold Lake and Ice Tarn
Gold Lake and Ice Tarn
Ice Tarn below Ridge Camp
Ice Tarn below Ridge Camp
Another Ice Tarn is further west. Dorothy looks close from here...
Another Ice Tarn is further west. Dorothy looks close from here...
Icy Blue Tarn with Gold Ridges
Icy Blue Tarn with Gold Ridges
Heading down to the Ice Tarns
Heading down to the Ice Tarns
Stay off crack. Crack is dangerous.
Stay off crack. Crack is dangerous.
Runner-up in the Kozmik Blue Eyeball Tarn Competition.
Runner-up in the Kozmik Blue Eyeball Tarn Competition.
Big Snow and Blue Ice
Big Snow and Blue Ice
A second, larger ice tarn further west
A second, larger ice tarn further west
Ice Tarn 2
Ice Tarn 2
Ice2
Ice2
Ice Tarn 2 with gold ridges
Ice Tarn 2 with gold ridges
Third Ice Tarn, below the Pass
Third Ice Tarn, below the Pass
Third Ice Tarn
Third Ice Tarn
Further down the mountain there are dozens of tarns melted out.
Big Tarn above Gold Lake
Big Tarn above Gold Lake
Big Tarn 2
Big Tarn 2
Gully Tarn
Gully Tarn
Grassy Tarn near Gold Lake
Grassy Tarn near Gold Lake
Gold Lake Lagoon. GT shows this as a tarn, but it's currently connected to the lake and functioning as a second outlet.
Gold Lake Lagoon. GT shows this as a tarn, but it's currently connected to the lake and functioning as a second outlet.
Camp at Gold Lake Lagoon
Camp at Gold Lake Lagoon
Gold Lake Outlet
Gold Lake Outlet
Gold Lake
Gold Lake
Gold Lake Reflection
Gold Lake Reflection
Ring of flowers on the heather.
Ring of flowers on the heather.
Ptarmigan, Grouse, Snafflepecker? What is this guy?
Ptarmigan, Grouse, Snafflepecker? What is this guy?
Really old tile work
Really old tile work
When I left Gold Lake I climbed back up and camped at the ice tarns. It was then that I heard, but did not see, another camper. He was coming up to Gold Lake from somewhere below- Myrtle or Dorothy maybe. I heard him shouting and cursing for hours. Sounded like he was getting close to Gold about the time I arrived at the tarns. He was really shrieking and cursing in a most colorful fashion by then. The sunset bugs at Gold are pretty darn ruthless... The next morning I heard the guy pass within a few hundred feet of my camp, still hurling colorful invectives at the bugs. Never saw the guy...
Blue and Gold 1
Blue and Gold 1
Blue and Gold 2
Blue and Gold 2
There's an excellent trail to Hardscrabble. It begins about half a mile before the Horse Camp/Road End. There's a small parking spot on the right as you come up the road. The trail is an obvious gash in the hillside on the left. The trail is brushy and indistinct in a few spots. It's worth finding and following, however. I bushwhacked all the way to the lower lake- it took me all day. Most of the trail, especially above the talus section, is flagged with orange tape. Looks like it used to be flagged with blue tape, but somebody pulled the blue tape down and put up orange tape. Summer and winter tape colors? There are also a lot of small cairns along the way, which I actually found to be quite helpful. (I managed to follow the trail all the way back, overshooting the parking lot,and my bike, by half a mile...) It's a beautiful time to climb Big Snow. Early September, but it's still springtime here- the tarns are still melting out. Tons of new flowers were blooming around the lakes as I made my way out...

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Matt
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Matt
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PostWed Sep 14, 2011 2:40 pm 
You do a great job showing off the look of all the different tarns and lakes. It's one of the places I want to explore sometime, hopefully with less snow on the tarns.

“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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H. Hound
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PostWed Sep 14, 2011 4:20 pm 
Thanks for the trip down memory lane! That was a sweet area to dayhike before the gate at Dingford got put in.

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Fletcher
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PostWed Sep 14, 2011 4:30 pm 
Looks like a strong effort! And amazing pictures. Thanks for making me regret not getting up there myself even more! The swack up the creek must have been tough! The little bit of scouting up the creek when I was there had me thinking no way! Might try to convince a buddy of mine to day trip it up there next week if the weather is decent.

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Mtn Dog
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PostWed Sep 14, 2011 4:55 pm 
What a great area. Thanks for posting this. I know it's Big Snow but that still seems like a lot of snow for September up on the granite slabs. So the trail is OK between the lakes and still somewhat traceable between the road and Lower Hardscrabble Lake? That's good. It was a little brushy in 2006 so I'm a bit surprised it's not overgrown now.

Footprints on the sands of time will never be made sitting down.
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Mike Collins
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PostWed Sep 14, 2011 5:05 pm 
The bird is a female rock ptarmigan. She is changing into her winter plumage. Her feathered feet are barely visable. The male with have a red eyebrow.

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Stefan
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Stefan
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PostWed Sep 14, 2011 5:22 pm 
Mike Collins wrote:
The bird is a female rock ptarmigan. She is changing into her winter plumage. Her feathered feet are barely visable. The male with have a red eyebrow.
Which eye will the eyebrow be over Mike? Left or Right? Or do you mean a monobrow?

Art is an adventure.
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chiwakum
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chiwakum
not credible
PostWed Sep 14, 2011 7:31 pm 
OMG your TR cracked me up embarassedlaugh.gif I earlier this summer I tried to head up to the hard scrabbles on the wrong (East) side of hard scrabble creek and spent a horrendous day fighting slide alder, bugs and cliff bands trying to get to the Hardscrabbles. I had originally planned on heading up to the Dutch Miller but changed my mind at the last minute and decided to heads towards Big Snow. After the massive fail I actually researched the route and several weeks later had a very pleasant trip (apart from massive bugs and a torn MCL) to the hardscrabbles and Big Snow (I posted a TR). Beautiful pics. Much better than mine.

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Magellan
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Magellan
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PostWed Sep 14, 2011 8:12 pm 
Funny captions on the pictures. up.gif

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Allison
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PostWed Sep 14, 2011 8:19 pm 
Niiiice. I've been to all of those places, but not on one trip. I was up at Gold over a Labor Day (maybe 03) there was not one molecule of snow anywhere. Crazy snowpack this year.

www.allisonoutside.com follow me on Twitter! @AllisonLWoods
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Chief Joseph
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Chief Joseph
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PostWed Sep 14, 2011 8:23 pm 
Funny and nice pics, you must have heavy camera gear.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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hikerbiker
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PostWed Sep 14, 2011 8:40 pm 
Mtn Dog wrote:
What a great area. Thanks for posting this. I know it's Big Snow but that still seems like a lot of snow for September up on the granite slabs. So the trail is OK between the lakes and still somewhat traceable between the road and Lower Hardscrabble Lake? That's good. It was a little brushy in 2006 so I'm a bit surprised it's not overgrown now.
I've been up that valley a bunch of times; you want to find the trail from the road to the lower lake for sure (very brushy if off route) and travel from there is pretty obvious and easy even though there isn't really a trail beyond the lower lake. The route from the upper lake to the summit is pretty obvious too provided you can read a topo map and choose the best route. No trail there too but is not needed as the travel is all in the alpine zone from the lower lake on up. Besides we don't need any more trails in the alpine particularly in an pristine area like this.. Truly a beautiful area and one worth visiting for sure...

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hikerbiker
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PostWed Sep 14, 2011 8:46 pm 
Great report on a one of my favorite area in the entire range. Fantastic pics too; you've really got a good eye for composition. Good thing you didn't descend those slabs back to valley that you show in one of the pictures; we did that once after a climb of the East Buttress and it ended up being a lot more "interesting" than we had anticipated. Thanks for the report!

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puzzlr
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puzzlr
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PostWed Sep 14, 2011 9:17 pm 
Thanks for the great coverage of the whole area. My trip in the future will be easier because of it. Great pictures.

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alpinelakes
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alpinelakes
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PostWed Sep 14, 2011 10:42 pm 
Thanks for all the nice comments. Thanks, Mike for identifying the bird. I had figured that the bird pictured was a male. He stood high on a rock overlooking two other birds who looked slightly plainer. I figured they were females. They all seemed fairly unconcerned by my presence. It almost seemed like they wouldn't have moved away if I hadn't slowly pursued them with my beeping camera.
Two Ptarmigans on Big Snow
Two Ptarmigans on Big Snow

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Forum Index > Trip Reports > HardScramble, BigSnow, GoldLake, IceTarns, Sept 5-11, 2011
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