[tNguyen]

I had Jack Mountain via Nohokomeen Glacier in mind and needed an enjoyable conditioning hike. I thought of Whitehorse Mountain, but it did not workout due to poor weather the week before. That was alright because it would be my second time doing Whitehorse. All of a sudden the heat wave was coming. It seemed lots of folks were concerned about avalanche. I was concerned, too. But my approach has always been the same - getting out there and see how things look like. Let's do it bro, I told Alex. We set our expectation low. Let's just walk on USFS and see how mother nature puts things together instead of listening to all these experts. - The road was clear of snow. We drove up about a mile. A fallen tree blocked the road. Darn! I bought a chain saw last year but did not think of it. I did not have my axe either. We tried to break a small branch thinking my truck could make it, but the branch was so stubborn. We parked there and walked about 2 miles to the trailhead. - Climbing up with lots of fallen trees covered by snow was not fun. Every now and then I could hear my teeth clenching because of stepping into deep holes. Worse, I held onto some branches to pull myself up causing a rock sliding into me. I was able to avoid it but my trekking poles were chopped into four pieces.

Beautiful burnt forest. Alex blending in the burnt woods.

My pack felt heavy but having some views helped.

At 6200ft. Nice camping spot. Show time.

No audience but we kept playing because we were in good mood.

Dinner time.

First view from the ridge.

Sub-peaks center of Lake Augusta

View taken from right side of Lake Augusta.

Big Jim in full view

Fresh avalanche from the day before.

Picking a safe route.

Big Jim is in fact quite beautiful.

Summit celebrating.

View of Stewart Range.

Lake Augusta taken from the foot of Big Jim.

Another view

It was in fact a good trip. I never tracked but I think Alex said we got 22miles and 6k gain. After the trip we felt we were ready for Jack Mountain.

[Lazyhiker]

Did you go all the way to Augusta? The fresh slide pictures look like they were taken from the bench above the east shore of the lake.

[tNguyen]

Yes, we did. The slide is on the right of the lake so East. I think camping at 7k would be best given the condition then or even now. View of Stewart was good at 7k.

[Kim Brown]

[chiwakum]

Love that area this time of year. Hatchery ck is generally pretty quiet. Post holing while climbing up the newer burn must have sucked. But as you mentioned, it becomes much more satisfying when arrive at the old silver ghost forest. Did you visit Big Lou too?

[tNguyen]

No, we did not. Wished we had another night.

[timberghost]

It's a shame all those trees ate down and no plan this year for removal. Makes going tough with a backpack

[Lazyhiker]

Last year the trail was logged out from the trailhead to when you gained the ridge. There must have been an intense wind event because hundreds of trees from there until you climb into Falls Creek had been blown down. We counted something like 480 blow down in late September.