[b00]

mcgregor 7/30 - 7/31/2015

how could the north cascades national park fire us when we don't even work there? sometimes getting fired is a goode thing! mcgregor mt is not goode, not goode at all(but it is fun). everything is perfectly set our climb of goode mt - recent route information, gps track, a great plan, all the equipment, plenty of time, so we don't have to rush. this is going to be goode we thought! even before we got on the ferry, the air was thick with smoke. ah, no worries. there is no fire where we are going. on the ferry ride over, jb and i listened to the national park guy update all aboard about the fires. we asked about two mile camp and the trails near it - no problemo, he replied there is no fire where you are going. you the reader, are probably already guessing about what happens next :>) the boat drops us off at stehekin and we have only a couple minutes before the bus leaves, to go to ranger's office to see which camp we can get and to obtain our permits. we were hoping to get a permit for two mile camp. the ranger goes "you can't camp there." why? "the goode fire." the what? "the goode fire." never heard of it, when did it start? "yesterday and it is directly on the climber's path" now what? the bus was about to leave, what do we do? do we go home or climb something else? what? we have all the gear, but no route info. i don't want to do anything challenging blind. what about mcgregor? jb quickly agrees. we get a camping permit for heaton camp, 7000' up just below the summit of mcgregor. the rangers tell us a little about the route and that there is water a half hour above and below camp. the ranger's kindly let us quickly leave all our climbing gear so we don't have to haul it all up there. we then run to catch the bus. on the bus, we ran into a pct through hiker who had reported to us he was averaging 35-40 miles a day. that is a lot of miles. hew was only a few days away from finishing and looked happy. it was lucky he was going so fast, as not that many days later, the section of the pct near stehekin would close. we all went into bakery. credit cards were flying. our hike began about as good as it could have considering that it was 12:30pm, 95+ degrees out, the air was so thick with smoke you could hardly see, we had four days of food(we should have left two days worth with the rangers), plus our overnight gear. hey, only 5800' of elevation gain to camp, no problemo. the well groomed trail soon took us to by lake with a racist name that looked like a cesspool. i began to worry about water up high. i sure hoped the rangers were right. the heat, the smoke and the weight of our packs was oppressive. every time we came to a shady spot, we took a break. we needed to get to camp before dark and preferably, climb the mountain the first day too. why didn't we get a permit to camp below and do this trip with day packs? we trudged on. before we knew it, we were gaining elevation and with the elevation gain, the smoke would lessen and the temperature decreased a little.

we reached this trickle of water below camp and decided to bypass it, make camp, grab water above camp where the rangers told us there would be water and then climb to the summit. after the summit, we could fill water for camp. great plan. but like our planning for this whole trip ... while walking to camp, we could see the smoke in all directions, but the air and visibility was far better than in the valley. we could see the plume of smoke from the goode fire. what would have happened had we have been climbing goode and the fire broke out below us? later we would ask the rangers that question and they replied they would helicopters us off of there. heaton camp was much better than camping in the valley. we were well above the smoke and the temperature was warm, but nice. after setting up camp, we dropped most of our stuff, took our water bottles and platypus' and headed up. we were low on water, but would soon be filling up. or so we thought. yep, you are right. the rangers were wrong about the water above camp. the creek was dry :<( choice time: climb to the summit without enough water then walk back to camp then descend another half hour down to the trickle of water(would that trickle still be going, if we got there later in the day, jb asked?) or walk back to camp and descend to water and then climb to the summit in the morning. we both hated the idea of re-doing the elevation gain from camp, but without water... we returned to camp. jb offered to go with me to get water, but he looked beat and it really only needed on person. ah, bonus elevation gain for me, what a treat :>) we enjoyed a nice camp and sleep, got up, enjoyed a pleasant time on the summit

and then hiked back down to the heat and smoke of the valley. took the probable dismay of fellow hikers(hey, i did ask if it was ok), i partook in relief of a few dips in the stehekin river while waited for the bus. we went and thanked the rangers for storing our stuff. we enjoyed mcgregor, but waiting for the boat, we sure wished we had done goode instead. on the boat out, the air was filled with smoke. the fire was down to the lake. a few minutes into our ride, the captain announces that the holden is being evactuated, the boat will and extra stop at lucern to pick 200 evacuees. i looked over at the corner of the boat and saw a sign that said 30 something life vests inside. i guess we could all share. the group orderly got on board and we got to visit with a couple of them. i'd never seen a camo iphone case before, but they seemed to be standard issue to all those who worked cleaning the holden mine's site :>) anyway, i am seeking a labor lawyer. wrongful termination :>) day one 8.85mi 5815' gain 5:36 bus to camp 0:34 set up camp 0:57 camp to check out route and back to camp 0:32 fetch water day two 8.70mi 1352' gain 1:20 camp to summit 0:12 summit stay 0:59 summit to camp 0:26 break camp 3:08 camp to bus equipment: stored climbing gear at ranger station in stehekin

[iron]

i thought you (repeatedly) said heat didn't affect you......

[b00]

[iron]

wow. you're really good at pretend sweating that saturates your clothes (and others within a 5ft radius)!

[b00]

[iron]

no.

[Bernardo]

Thanks for posting an interesting report.

[Magellan]

Always happy when no helos are in involved. Making lemonade.

[ree]

You are funny. So no water in that cirque just below camp? Are you sure you just didn't want that bit of extra gain? I thought Heaton camp looked nice. Great views but you gotta pay for it.

[b00]

[raising3hikers]

too bad about the goode climber route being on fire. goode:) for you guys to make a back up plan within minutes. mcgregor looks like a nice trip