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Matt Lemke
High on the Outdoors



Joined: 15 Jul 2010
Posts: 2052 | TRs | Pics
Location: Grand Junction
Matt Lemke
High on the Outdoors
PostWed Sep 23, 2015 6:51 pm 
This is the first installment of a 4 part trip report I will be writing throughout the rest of this afternoon. My friend John Peterson met up with Josh and I along Highway 20 on the night of July 22nd (he came over from Montana) and we didn't end up planning for the first few days of the trip until the next morning as we were all so tired. I probably should mention that this trip was created because we had to bail on our trip to Mount Waddington due to poor weather in the BC coast range, so our backup plan was spending lots of time in the North Cascades...not bad if you ask me! Since the weather wasn't going to be perfect for a few days (same storm that was dumping 2 feet of snow on Waddington), we decided to wait off on anything west of the Cascade Crest and we drove out to the West Buttermilk Creek Trailhead to hike up Oval Peak, since I hadn't yet done it. We got a casual noon start and headed up the nice trail for a few miles at which point we decided to head straight up the east slopes. We were the only ones on the trail and it was quite peaceful under a slight layer of thin clouds. Bushwhacking up the steep slopes above the trail proved to be somewhat challenging due to the deep duff and copious amounts of blowdown, but at around 6,400 feet we reached a large flat bench offering some disorientation, and marshlands but we eventually got to the long east ridge of Oval Peak and continued up to treeline at about 7,500 feet.
Continuing up the now narrow ridge it was a fairly easy hike, with the steep north face dropping vertically down on our right. Upon reaching the summit we were able to relax at the top enjoying views of most of the Chelan Sawtooth Peaks including Star, Hoodoo, Raven Ridge and Courtney. Glacier Peak and the surrounding wilderness was visible to the west, and what appeared to be a small fire loomed near Holden. Josh was contemplating making a run over to both Courtney and Star Peaks but it was already getting late, however he went anyway. John and I ate some lunch on the summit and I pointed out the surrounding Peaks while Josh took off. About 20 minutes later, we started down the south ridge and saw Josh resting at the saddle. He decided against it and we all began descending together towards a couple small ponds at around the 7,000 foot level in the trees.
The rest of the descent down the southeast slopes was bushy and steep but we made it back to the trail and had an uneventful hike out. We then went back to Winthrop where we had large burritos and proceeded to drive to the Wolf Creek Trailhead where we would crash for the night. The next morning we got a fairly casual start and began hiking up the long 10 miles up the Wolf Creek Trail around 9am. Our goal was to hike to the Gardner Meadows, climb both Gardner and North Gardner then camp. The following day we would hike out. So beginning up the trail, it was breezy and somewhat cloudy. The trail wasn't particularly scenic but the views began opening up at about 4,800 feet when the thicker forest transitioned into a huge burn area covered in smaller shrubs and hitchhiker plants that got all over your socks. We had to wait out a brief rainstorm that kept us huddled under trees for 30 minutes or so but it quickly cleared back up and we continued to the meadow where we set up camp. After a quick lunch, it was about 2pm when we started heading directly up the south slopes of Gardner Mountain. It was quite loose in spots where your step would slide down every time, but some occasional solid rock provided some reprieve. The wildflowers were beautiful throughout both the meadow and the lower slopes of Gardner with Lupine, Indian Paintbrush and others in full bloom. Higher up on Gardner we were forced onto a large scree slope and the wind picked up dramatically and at times blew me off balance. Josh and John were a fair bit behind me so I found shelter near the summit out of the wind and relaxed until they arrived.
Due to the fierce wind, and incoming clouds John decided to head back down to camp while Josh and I continued to North Gardner. The traverse actually had a couple gendarmes to hike around near the low saddle between the two peaks so we dropped on the south side as we traversed west and reached a low point of about 8,150 feet, then bypassed the unnamed Point 8,493 on the right (east) side. The remainder of the ascent up the south ridge was done on or just east of the crest. At one point we got ourselves onto some Class 4 terrain on the west side though which we found out on the return wasn't necessary.
The wind continued to pick up and it started to get foggy/drizzly shortly before we reached the summit. Once we reached the top, the view to the west was completely blocked off with the exception of an occasional peak-a-boo view. By this point it was after 6pm and we were getting cold so we quickly had a bite to eat and started down. We returned over the unnamed peak and skid down the big south facing scree slope which took us directly back to the meadow. Just before dark we reached the tents again where John was waiting but we actually walked right into another group of 3 who had arrived since we left the meadow. Josh and I thought it was our camp initially but quickly realized we were further down. It was nice chatting with them as we gave them some beta and returned. Turns out they were on a long trek. The 4 sausage pieces I had for dinner was amazing.
The next morning we made the hike out in great time and we all decided to return to Bellingham and have a rest day before starting towards the Chilliwacks. John went his own way and we agreed to meet back up at the Bellingham Fred Meyer the morning of the 27th, giving us the 26th to have a rest day. Well, that didn't really go as planned, as Josh and I decided to work hard on our "rest day". Tune in to part 2 for more about that!

The Pacific coast to the Great Plains = my playground!!! SummitPost Profile See my website at: http://www.lemkeclimbs.com
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Bernardo
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Joined: 08 Feb 2010
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Bernardo
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PostWed Sep 23, 2015 9:16 pm 
Good to see Josh in the mountains.

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Michael Lewis
Taking a nap



Joined: 27 Apr 2009
Posts: 629 | TRs | Pics
Location: Lynnwood, WA (for now)
Michael Lewis
Taking a nap
PostThu Sep 24, 2015 9:38 pm 
Oh boy part 2, I can hardly wait! XD

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