[MangyMarmot]

I took Monday off work to enjoy the nice fall weather in the mountains. The destination was Chikamin. I headed out early to maximize the daylight hours. Things did not start out well. I took a wrong turn on the way to the trailhead, and ended up on some deteriorating forest service roads way up in the hills. After wasting some time, I backtracked and found my error. Off to the trailhead! Not so fast. Less than a mile later, I got a flat.

Really?

I put on the spare and got to the trailhead. I grabbed my stuff and headed up the Mineral Creek trail already behind schedule. About half of the trail was brushed out. Once I got into the overgrown section, I quickly got soaked by the wet foliage. As I approached Park Lakes, the rain started along with some thunder. The forecast only had a 10% chance of rain and no mention of thunder.

Fall colors by Park Lakes

Onward and upward. After a short stretch on the PCT, I turned off toward Glacier Lake. Here, I finally ran out of bad luck. Much to my surprise, the rain stopped and the sky began to clear.

Leman 1, 2, and 3

On the way to Glacier Lake

Glacier Lake

I lost the boot path not far above Glacier Lake, and headed for Chikamin Lake cross-country. I ended up on a ridge overlooking the lake. Not wanting to descend, I turned toward Chikamin Peak. I was off route, so there was a bit of scrambling to get over a minor ridge before I got on to the ridge that runs from the Four Brothers to Chikamin. I just followed the ridge to the top. Searched around, but found no summit register.

Some birds on Chikamin. Perhaps grouse?

Looking East from Chikamin toward Glacier and Spectacle Lakes and Three Queens.

Lemah and Chikamin Lake from Chikamin

Thomson and Huckleberry from Chikamin

Spectacle and Glacier Lakes from Chikamin

Chikamin Lake from Chikamin

Chikamin Pano

I wanted to get down to Chikamin Lake. I didn't see a great way to get there, so I took a gully just to the East of the summit. This turned out to be more sketchy than it looked from the top. I ended up in the moat between the cliffs and the snowfield. The moat was wide enough that I could make my way down it. It was muddy scree though, so it wasn't too pleasant. Eventually I got down to the lake, but used up more time than I wanted to. It looked like I still had enough time, so I headed up Lemah-1. The way was straight forward up until about 20 ft from the top. Things get a bit scrambly there. I looked around and found the best way up. The summit register was in the summit cairn. I was only the second one to sign it this year. Doesn't look like this peak has many visitors.

Lemah 1

Chikamin Lake

Lemah 2 and 3 from Lemah 1

Chikamin and Chikamin Lake from Lemah 1. Thomson on the right.

Summit Register.

The summit was windy, and it was getting late so I didn't stay long. Downclimbing the top section was a bit tricky, but I managed it. Then I headed back to Chikamin Lake, Glacier Lake, Park Lakes and finally the trailhead. As it became clear I was running out of daylight, I went faster and faster. I got to the car with barely enough light to see where I was stepping. A few more minutes and I would have had to pull out the headlamp.

Chikamin from Chikamin Lake

Three queens in the evening light.

The only people I saw all day were a couple of hunters who got to the trailhead at the same time I did. Due to my flat tire in the morning, I had to limp back home on my mini-spare. Despite some bad luck early in the day, it turned out to be a very nice trip to some spectacular high country.

[mehitabel]

nice! is that the shortest approach to chikamin?

[puzzlr]

Good to hear that you were able to do both in a single day. Probably more than I could manage. Congrats on doing the top of Lemah 1 solo -- I hear it's a bit of a challenge. Someday soon I'll see it for myself.

[lopper]

Ptarmigans. Thanks for the pics. A good day in the mtns.

[iron]

nice shot of the lake and red foliage!

[Mikey]

Nice photo of the ptarmigans on the snow. Note that their feather color is changing from summer gray to winter white.

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Nice TR. Way to overcome some early adversity in the day.

[Matt]

And who was the first one to sign in this year?!

[MangyMarmot]

Yes, Mineral Creek Trail is the shortest approach to Chikamin. It's 6 miles to Park Lakes, which are on the PCT near the trail to Glacier Lake. I don't remember who signed the register earlier this year. The register was placed in 2012 by Franklin Bradshaw. I also saw that Iron signed on page 1.

[Magellan]

That is a lot of ground to cover late in the year. Nice work!

[Matt]