Forum Index > Trip Reports > Lake Augusta, Big Jim Mountain and Lakes 06-23-2019
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Bluebird
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Bluebird
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PostWed Dec 11, 2019 10:54 pm 
This one is a lil’ bit late, but it could come in handy to someone next summer biggrin.gif Our weekend plans revised by wet weather, Jake and I looked for some other interesting ideas. Big Jim is a Smoot Peak, weather would probably be better in the Chiwaukum and being nerds, we wanted another big hike in a row biggrin.gif (we ended up with 3 different big hikes in a row) So, we headed off to Hatchery Creek after downloading maps in Leavenworth. After a bizarre trailhead encounter with an aggressive grouse, we slept at the trailhead, which has enough room to camp, and we saw some (occupied) campsites with views along the way on the Hatchery Creek Road. We didn’t anticipate a super long day, so didn’t start hiking up the Hatchery Creek trail around 8am. It was reasonably brushy from mile 1-2ish but otherwise in okay shape with some blowdowns to keep you entertained. Near the junction with the Badlands trail the terrain opened up in burned forest to show views of Chiwaukum Creek Fire and the surrounding peaks.
Beautiful flower shows here!
We continued up/down through enchanting meadows with little streams and waterfalls
until the final ascent to Lake Augusta. Lake Augusta was very windy and cold, but quite lovely. We layered up, enjoyed lunch and took some photos. Jake even had phone reception and talked to Gimpilator about mountain things biggrin.gif (I was amused)
We continued back to the main trail and uphill to the saddle between Big Lou and Big Jim. We pondered Big Lou, but I was jazzed about the idea of some lake bagging and convinced Jake to try dropping from the Big Jim summit to the Big Jim Mountain lakes. I couldn’t promise that it would work, but that’s how I roll when there are some lakes down there. If It didn’t work, we could turn around & visit Big Lou. The ridgeline from the pass to Big Jim was a fun ridgeline wander with a few scramble moves.
The wind was very chilly so I layered into almost everything I’d brought in my lil’ daypack: my light fleece, light mittens, wind jacket, and pants. You know what they say, if you wear everything you brought on a day hike, you didn’t bring enough for an emergency… I resolved to not have an emergency. It didn’t take long to reach the summit, which has nice views… including of upper Big Jim Mountain Lake. I scrambled around and peered down to see if the route might work.
It wasn’t possible to rule out being cliffed out unless we backtracked all the way to the last saddle and then down some scree and steep snow. We were in trail runners and only had poles so we decided to try and avoid getting cliffed out instead of the steep snow. We backtracked slightly until we found a “good” scree slope to start descending on. Naturally, had some adventures avoiding getting cliffed out biggrin.gif Micro route finding, bushwhacking, annoyingly loose areas to downclimb, stream-crossings, slippery mossy places and veggie belays were enjoyed. As one does in not particularly rugged trail runners, i slid down on some loose scree. L
ong story short, we did make it down eventually and crossed a talus field towards the left side of the lake under the eyes of a watchful marmot. OBVIOUSLY: I needed to visit both lakes and whenever possible I must create a loop hike.
We knew people accessed the lakes from the Badlands trail so maybe there would be a boot path back to the trail from the lower Big Jim lake. I gave Jake privacy and offered to meet him at the lower lake inlet. Easy forested terrain down a wide gully and I found a nice sitting log near the lower lake inlet.
The upper lake is was definitely more scenic but this lake was nice too. Jake caught up to me and we explored towards the lake outlet where we were surprised to meet a party of 3 men (one a NWhiker named Randy!) setting up camp. We talked to them for a couple of minutes and they were kind enough to share route details with as there was no booth path. They suggested staying around 6400-6300 elevation until reaching the Badlands trail. We did this and it worked fine, the terrain wasn’t a problem. We hadn’t asked about the Badlands trail, but it follows a ridge and those guys made it, so we figured it would be okay. It was, although a decent amount of the way is more ash than tread. We found a few footprints in the ash here and there.
Burned, dead forest. We tagged the Badlands High Point on the way. The trail gradually fills in as you reach unburned forest descending about 1300 feet in just over a mile to a stream crossing, which was running a little high, I was creative/ambitious with a log crossing so of course one of my feet fell in. That’s always great in ashy trail. We needed to regain another 400ish feet back to the Badlands/Hatchery Creek junction, so we switchbacked up, climbing over blowdowns until the trail disappeared close to the junction. It was easy to figure out where to go, but FYI: the trail isn’t much close to that junction but 100+ feet from the sign, there is tread again.
The hike down the trail was just what we’d remembered from that morning, muddy with bushes and blowdowns. It was fine and over relatively quickly.
This route was about 17.5 miles, 6500 gain/loss and took just over 8.5 hours to hike.

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Nancyann
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PostThu Dec 12, 2019 11:49 pm 
Thanks for the TR, Bluebird. I was wondering if the Badlands Trail was worth trying, maybe we’ll wander up that way next summer, which seems a long way off right now. bawl.gif There is excellent larch viewing from the pass to Lake Augusta in October, and a good time not to go is during the High Hunt in September when the hunters are out en masse. We talked to a couple staying in a camper at the trailhead who said opening weekend was quite a circus.

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Sky Hiker
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PostFri Dec 13, 2019 6:31 am 
The Badlands trail is a mess. That is if you don't mind lots of burned downfalls. It will even be worse next spring after this winters burned, and rotten trees have fallen. The Chiwaukum trail is already a mess even after they spent so much time clearing it out this year but that is typical for an area so heavily burned as the trees continue to topple.

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Nancyann
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PostFri Dec 13, 2019 11:41 am 
Thanks for your input, Sky Hiker. I usually take a look at the wind predictions before going into a badly burned area. I know from experience how terrifying it can be when the wind picks up and dead trees are crashing down all around. The most frightening experience I had was when we were trying to get from Middle to Big Hidden Lake in the Pasayten and trees were coming down all around us for hours. I also know that if it is not your lucky day, a tree can come down on you even when there is no wind at all. clown.gif

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Bluebird
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Bluebird
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PostFri Dec 13, 2019 11:45 am 
Agree that the Badlands trail will need some TLC, a lot of the tread is missing on the Badlands ridgeline. Most of the blowdowns on the Badlands were step-overs, but on the way uphill to the Hatchery Creek junction a couple were more work to get over. Lots of burned trees still standing that I agree will eventually go down. The route itself isn't difficult to follow though, the switchbacks down lower are still mostly there, but there's little to no trail on the ridgeline. ...and the Hatchery Creek Trail could use some work, although it is less problematic)

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