Forum Index > Trip Reports > Rattlesnake and Wildlife on Talus, Boulder and Splawn 7/21-24/17
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cartman
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Location: Fremont
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PostWed Aug 09, 2017 8:51 pm 
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake
Wildlife seen: 2 Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes 1 unidentified snake 3 lizards Several hoary marmots Ground squirrels 1 Pika 1 very focused chipmunk 2 Red-tailed hawks (light phase) 2 Ptarmigan hens with chicks 2 Sooty grouse hens with chicks Numerous other birds Ed (Jetlag) and I decided to spend four days above Stehekin tagging peaks and checking out an area neither of us had been to before. The most outstanding characteristics of this trip wasn't the peaks; it was the abundant wildlife and the spectacular flowers covering the slopes and meadows. Day 1: Stehekin to Juanita Lake It will forever remain a mystery why I thought dealing with ferry logistics and taking the Purple Pass Trail which gains 5700' in 7 miles with full packs the first day to Juanita Lake was a good idea, when we could have driven a bit farther to the just logged out War Creek Trail which gains only 3700' in 11 miles to the lake. However, on the ferry we did see Karen Daubert, Barry (Middle E) and Barb E going in for a week to do trail maintenance as part of a WTA crew to fix up the trail running from Holden west to Hart Lake and Cloudy Pass. Thanks for all the trail work, everyone! The Purple Creek Trail was in fine condition, but goes up uninteresting forest, some burned, with limited shade. Fortunately this Friday was mostly cloudy, so we were spared the hot sun for the most part.
Ed and Castle Rock above Lake Chelan
Ed and Castle Rock above Lake Chelan
Good trail leads from Purple Pass down a few hundred feet past the Boulder Peak Trail junction down to meadows and several good campsites on the west side of the small lake. We chose an out of the way established site on a small ridge about 100' down ridge from the solar toilet and fifty feet up the ridge from a nice brook for a water source. Day 2: Talus and Boulder In the morning I investigated the water source with a fascinating larch tree just above it:
Larch nurse log
Larch nurse log
Larch nurse log
Larch nurse log
Initially I thought this was several trees growing out of a nurse log, but it's more likely a single tree growing in a very unusual way, as the more horizontal portion shows no rot, and is suspended up to 20' above the small running water source just fifty feet away from our campsite. We also had several marmots for neighbors, who did not seem too perturbed by our presence.
Hoary marmot
Hoary marmot
Tandem watchers
Tandem watchers
We had other wildlife nearby, including this ground squirrel
Ground squirrel
Ground squirrel
and a very focused chipmunk who found the lid of my pack to be very fascinating. Ed and I decided to go for Talus Mtn as our first peak of the day with lingering morning clouds. Walking past Juanita Lake,
Juanita Lake
Juanita Lake
we took the good trail over War Creek Pass then followed below the ridge on the nice Lone Mtn Trail above the Butte Creek Valley until leaving it SW of Talus. A short off-trail hike to the top of the ridge and good views of Talus.
Up Talus
Up Talus
Though there is a lot of its namesake rock on this peak, most of it can be avoided by staying near the green on the South Ridge to the summit of Talus, 7484'.
Almost to summit
Almost to summit
Many fine views of the northern Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness from here.
Ridge leading to Camels Hump
Ridge leading to Camels Hump
Reynolds and Camels Hump
Reynolds and Camels Hump
Bench Mtn and McAlester
Bench Mtn and McAlester
I topped out thinking "Great! Now off to do the route to Lone Moun--! Waitaminnit. Where is it?"
Lone "Mountain"
Lone "Mountain"
Turns out Lone Mtn is nothing more than a blip on the ridge, barely even distinguishable as a bump let alone a mountain. Well, now I know why others in their trip reports never bothered going there. But there were good views of the next peaks on the agenda.
Boulder to Purple
Boulder to Purple
Boulder
Boulder
Beginning our descent,
Route to Talus
Route to Talus
Descending Talus
Descending Talus
Looking back
Looking back
we stayed on the ridge for longer and found a nice bootpath leading back to the Lone Mtn Trail,
Boulder
Boulder
and back to War Creek Pass.
War Creek Pass
War Creek Pass
Arriving back at camp for a break, Ed decided to wait for evening to do Boulder. As my tent was more exposed to the sun and was too hot to nap in, and there were too many bugs for a comfortable break, I eventually watered up and headed out to do Boulder. Hiking the trail from the evening before up to the Boulder Trail junction, I hung a right and walked up the great trail traversing the east side of the ridge leading to Boulder.
Boulder
Boulder
Just outside of camp I startled a ptarmigan hen and her chicks. She proceeded to distract me while the chicks scattered into the underbrush, very cooperatively strutting through the flowers for photos.
Ptarmigan hen
Ptarmigan hen
Ptarmigan hen in the flowers
Ptarmigan hen in the flowers
The Boulder Peak Trail is in excellent condition all the way to the summit of Boulder, 7350'.
Higher
Higher
Reynolds and Camels Hump
Reynolds and Camels Hump
Butte Creek drainage and Gibbs
Butte Creek drainage and Gibbs
Splawn to Moore, Oval and Star behind
Splawn to Moore, Oval and Star behind
Splawn
Splawn
I was interested in continuing on to Purple Mtn until I looked at the route,
Route to Purple
Route to Purple
and added this one to the list of "peaks not worth the effort". On the way back to camp encountered yet another ptarmigan hen.
Ptarmigan
Ptarmigan
Ptarmigan
Ptarmigan
Ed waited till evening as planned to hike up to Boulder and took some very nice sunset shots. Day 3: Splawn and exit This Sunday dawned sunny and bright as Ed and I walked up our little ridge to the Summit Trail to begin our traverse over to Splawn Mtn.
Looking back to Boulder Butte
Looking back to Boulder Butte
Splawn from the trail
Splawn from the trail
Moore
Moore
Looking west
Looking west
Flora and Castle Rock
Flora and Castle Rock
More than anywhere else the slopes here were strewn with generous amounts of lupine, valerian, yellow daisies, paintbrush and more; but the area gets its name from the tens of thousands of purple asters which dominate the slopes.
Purple Asters
Purple Asters
Paintbrush
Paintbrush
At the last significant divide before the trail traverses under Splawn we left the trail up an easy meadow rib and then up and right to the top of the ridge between the true summit on the left and the false summit to the right, where yet another denizen waited to greet us.
Pika
Pika
Splawn is an easy walk from here,
Splawn summit ridge
Splawn summit ridge
with more great views from its summit, 7450'.
Talus from Splawn
Talus from Splawn
Reynolds
Reynolds
I was set on one more peak for this trip,
Looking back, War Peak on the right
Looking back, War Peak on the right
so Ed and I walked down the meadows
Meadows on Splawn
Meadows on Splawn
Looking back up Splawn
Looking back up Splawn
where we parted ways a few hundred feet above the trail. I took a cross-country route across a rib or two and then had to drop a steep talus/grass slope to continue over toward War Peak. It would have been easier to simply have taken the trail back to the southwest route up to its summit, since I ended up back on the trail anyway. Stashing a few items I pushed my tired legs with no break up the 500' to the top, always finding a way up avenues near the SW Ridge to avoid brush to the summit at 7252'.
War Peak summit from the west
War Peak summit from the west
Splawn from War Peak summit
Splawn from War Peak summit
Finding no evidence of prior occupation, I built a small cairn at the top and hustled down to the trail.
War Peak summit from the east, now with cairn
War Peak summit from the east, now with cairn
Boulder and Juanita Lake basin
Boulder and Juanita Lake basin
Talus and Reynolds
Talus and Reynolds
Boulder Butte and rib to camp
Boulder Butte and rib to camp
Ed and I had decided to pack camp and lose the 5700' down to Stehekin this day, so we wouldn't feel squeezed to make the fast boat back in the morning. One last look at our area from Purple Pass:
War Peak and Splawn
War Peak and Splawn
Ed was out ahead of me as he'd packed as soon as he'd returned from Splawn while I had taken a break before leaving at ~3pm. On the way down I saw first a ghost tree,
Possessed tree
Possessed tree
and then encountered something I'd always wanted to but had never seen. At 5600', my first rattlesnake!
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake
I had no idea rattlers would go above or even near a mile high in Washington. The rangers when we asked at the visitor's center had said to watch out for them "below 4000 feet". It was just crossing the trail heading downhill as I approached; the first I saw was its tail and rattle disappearing into light brush. I kept a respectful distance and followed it to take photos, though it was a bit challenging as it kept winding its way in either shade or brush.
Snake in the grass
Snake in the grass
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake
It didn't seem much bothered by my presence, though it did stop once and formed an "S" with its head and neck when it may have felt I'd gotten a little too close, but soon continued on its way. Healthy looking snake, a good three feet long. Very cool encounter. Turns out Ed had encountered his own rattlesnake a few hundred feet lower, so between us we'd seen two rattlers above a mile high. The consistently warm weather must have allowed them to roam high this summer. We reached Stehekin in the evening and a ranger allowed us to camp by some picnic benches below the visitor's center as all the campsites were full. After setting up camp and hanging out for a bit, we wandered our separate ways to enjoy the evening. As I was crossing the deck in front of the general store, Ed pointed out another healthy rattlesnake that had just come out from under the recycling bins. It was almost dark and I didn't have my headlamp or camera with me, but a visiting gal and I watched it for a bit as it moved up the path to the visitor's center before finally diving off into the brush. Turns out it was her first encounter with a rattler too. Returning to my tent, I found this to be a fine time for the netting zipper to fail... Day 4: A short hike and out With plenty of time before the fast boat was to leave around noon, we had a good breakfast with great service at the local restaurant. I decided to walk up the road a half mile just to check out the environs, and noticed a sign for the Imus Creek Loop, so decided to hike that. This is a fine trail up through the forest just a few hundred feet above Stehekin, and exits near the campground above the visitor's center. Here I happened upon yet more wildlife--a Sooty Grouse hen and three chicks.
Sooty Grouse hen and chick
Sooty Grouse hen and chick
Bold chick
Bold chick
The hen seemed unconcerned by my presence, as I had stopped and stood still a good forty feet away. As I remained still right at the end of the trail before the campground, I was both amused and enchanted as the hen and one of her chicks made a beeline right for me.
Approaching
Approaching
Chick at my feet
Chick at my feet
Apparently mom had decided that the trail I was standing on was just where she wanted to go. I stood still except to take photos as the hen and the chick walked right up to me and then around me on the trail. The two other chicks followed, passing by in the brush just off the trail. I then walked around the campground where I spied yet another sooty grouse hen and one chick. This hen chose to make herself stand out while the chick slowly meandered off into the brush.
Another sooty grouse hen
Another sooty grouse hen
Sooty grouse
Sooty grouse
Back in Stehekin,
Stehekin
Stehekin
Ed and I got in line to upgrade our tickets from the slow boat to the fast boat. They announced several times they were not likely to have any space, but as it turned out our patience was rewarded; turned out they had seven spaces not filled, so we were able to get home three hours earlier. This was an area I'd wanted to see for several years now. Having hiked on the west side of the lake from Holden and Stehekin, I'd always wanted to hike up a trail on the east side. Wasn't impressed by the forest going up, but going this way did allow my first sightings of the rattlesnakes I always knew inhabited the eastern side of the Cascades. As the rangers had mentioned, though these vipers are venomous they are actually mild mannered and no danger to people unless threatened. Both of my encounters with them confirmed this, as they were only interested in going on their way. The flower show here is outstanding. I've never seen an area with so many of one type of flower as we saw of the purple asters strewn on the east side of Purple Pass, and it was also one of the best trips I've ever had for viewing smaller wildlife. Curiously, we never saw a deer or goat or any larger fauna, not even fresh scat. This would also be a great area to backpack to in larch season, as there are a lot of larches around the lake and along the trails, especially to Boulder Peak. Many thanks to Ed for the driving and good company. A very rewarding trip! 25 miles, ~11,000' gain Eric J. Johnson

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RichP
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PostWed Aug 09, 2017 9:36 pm 
Cool critter sitings. That's an area of the Sawtooths i have yet to visit. Looks very nice.

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wildernessed
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PostThu Aug 10, 2017 5:04 am 
up.gif Those blue skies look awesome some nice angles on the terrain.

Living in the Anthropocene
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Brushbuffalo
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PostThu Aug 10, 2017 2:11 pm 
[quote="cartman" ]I had no idea rattlers would go above or even near a mile high in Washington. The rangers when we asked at the visitor's center had said to watch out for them "below 4000 feet[/quote] Long ago I heard from some Chelan locals that rattlers are found " as high up as aspens thrive." As you know from your many "aspenated" wanderings, Eric, that can be quite a bit above 4,000'. At least you didn't step over your snake on a trail without realizing it until just after, as I did once in the Salmon River area of Idaho. Or maybe you did with another snake! eek.gif Only the snake knows for sure....

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
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Jetlag
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PostThu Aug 10, 2017 4:07 pm 
Excellent TR, Eric! The flower fields near the tops of those Chelan peaks surprised me - wonderful to wander up and across. Who could guess that a peak named Splawn would provide so much enjoyment! Next time I visit I'm bringing a tripod and a small tent for that Boulder Butte summit.

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ree
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ree
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PostThu Aug 10, 2017 4:11 pm 
That is a nice shot of the snake. Nice plump one. Supposedly the PNW rattler is pretty shy and not aggressive. I would expect to see any rattlesnakes below 11k' on any dry slope. That is just me. paranoid.gif paranoid.gif

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