[ree]

The trail is in need of work. There's a number of blow-downs and it needs brushing out in areas. There are sections were it could use some fill. The trail is pretty monotonous, following the south side of the canyon, with Wolf Creek down below, for miles - many miles. I liked it better than most river canyon walks because it was high up on the side of the canyon, out of a dark forest for most of it. Trail is snow free and there were no bugs. The elevation gain to the meadows is pretty easy, but we were pretty wiped by the mileage to get there - over 11 - so we nabbed the first best campsite near the stream. A couple hours later, 2 more in our party arrived.

By 8:30 am the next day, we were on our first peak of the day, Gardner Mtn. We were on our way up the west side of the west gully of the summit. It was a nice rib that gradually got steeper. Steve and Sandra took the rock while, while I kicked steps in the snow for Eileen and Fay with our crampons on. The snow was pretty good. Not icy, thank god. When it got too steep, I let Fay take over kicking steps. She led me and Eileen over to the rock where we took crampons off and joined the rest on the rock. Finally, the summit eased into a nice round top of a mountain, with a steep drop off on two sides. We sat down and ate. The views weren't that great. Lots of clouds and peakaboo views blocked a lot of the surrounding mountains. In and out of view was the Methow Valley, Abernathy, and our next objective, North Gardner. The sun kept us warm, though the clouds danced around us. The comfort and anticipation of a clearing kept us longer and we lost our ambition for going down 1,000 ft, crossing over the ridge to the west, and hauling ourselves up another 1,000' ft up to North Gardener. With no rush, we stayed up on the summit, lost in conversation for three hours. Thus, our trip to "the Gardeners" became "Gardner Mountain", saving North Gardner for another time. We took a different route down - more to the east, ending up on the east side of the gully we followed on the way up. The route was nice the first 1,000 ft, sandy gravel, but narrowed into the cliffy gully with the waterfall. We were east of the waterfall. (Thank god, because that looked dreadful on the west of the waterfall.) The cliffy benches worked out with Steve and Fay leading the way. Glad we did not come up that way, though. Maybe someday we'll go back and get N. Gardner, and visit that mine back near Abernathy. That sounded interesting. A nice lady, who was camped next to us with her dog, told us a little bit about it. We all agreed we enjoyed the prolonged summit visit. The next day, we started early hiking out. We managed to get to our cars just as it started to rain. This would be a good fall hike, with the aspen trees I saw.

[RichP]

Just going to the meadows is a worthy destination. I've always wanted to go back and explore them some more. That's a sweet camp spot.

[Fletcher]

I agree with Rich. Gardner Meadows is pretty sweet!

[wildernessed]

Good Stuff. Here is a shot up the drainage from over three weeks ago it's melting...

[cartman]

Amazing how little snow there is out east already. There is indeed some old mining equipment near Abernathy. In July 2004 we scrambled Abernathy from Gardner Meadows and saw the rusted equipment near the top of Abernathy's North Ridge. Not a recommended route, as there are hundreds of fallen trees to negotiate to get up there. We did Abernathy the day we hiked in, and were so bushed the next day we only did North Gardner and came back for Gardner on another trip (so that day was sort of yours in reverse). And Gardner Meadows is where I've seen my one and only marten. Nice area for wildlife.

[Galadriel]

Wildflowers were in bloom along the Wolf Creek trail and the creek waterfalls were raging. What a fun trip with amazing friends who are always challenging me to greater heights.

[Brushbuffalo]

[Mike Collins]

[Brushbuffalo]

[monty]

Great trip report, Ree. It's good to know the trail is snow-free now, as I'm hoping to go up there soon. Thanks!

[Brucester]

Thanks for the beta! One of these days....