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Sadie's Driver Sadie's Driver
Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 1763 | TRs | Pics Location: Welcome Pass |
Timing is everything! Barry and I have been to the Star Lake/Star Peak area several times - mainly to peak-bag. So, this trip was purely to soak up what Mother Nature had to offer. We couldn't have picked better timing. It was smoky/hazy when we left Wenatchee on Thursday - but by Friday Noon, it began to clear up and was crystal clear the rest of our stay. The temperatures were amazingly mild as well.
There were two cars in the parking lot when we arrived; and we saw a couple on their way out as we were headed in. Never saw the other people - but we did see their tent quite a ways from our campsite near Star Lake. We used Star Lake as our base camp and did daily explorations from there. Matt and Carla joined us around dinner time on Friday night and left Sunday morning. We left Monday morning.
In all - 40 miles of wandering; 15,000' of gain and so much gold and red brightness we needed TWO pair of sunglasses!
Day One - Thursday, Oct., 1
West Buttermilk Creek Trailhead to Star Lake.
Crossing West Fork of Buttermilk Creek Heading up the West Buttermilk Creek Trail to Fish Creek Pass Starting to see lots of color ahead More color on the way to Fish Creek Pass Star Peak to the south Reaching Fish Creek Pass Hazy/smoky when we get to Star Lake on Thursday afternoon Star Lake - Fish Creek Pass & Courtney in the distance Sunset Thursday night
Day Two - Friday, Oct. 2
Star Lake to Gray Peak -then Tuckaway Lake - two scrambles and back to Star Lake.
Met two women on the summit - twins from Whidbey Island. Two of the four people we would encounter on our whole trip (other than those who were camped at Star Lake during the weekend - but we never saw any of them on the trail/cross country we did). Headed from Gray down to Tuckaway Lake; then scrambled up to Pts. 7925 and 7968 to the north above Tuckaway. Had lunch on Pt. 7968 and saw Matt & Carla's tent at Eagle Creek Pass. We went cross country and connected back with the Chelan Summit Trail back to Star Lake. Carla and Matt appeared right at dinner time (they had to fix their own dinner! )
Gray Peak ahead Oval Peak in the distance The twins heading from Gray to Courtney Descending from Gray Peak to Tuckaway Lake Pt. 7968 above Tuckaway Lake as seen from Gray Peak On top of Gray Peak - Cooper eyeing Oval Peak Looking up at Pt. 7925 from Tuckaway Lake (we would scramble up it) Tuckaway Lake Dog in Tuckaway Lake Looking north from above Tuckaway Lake Tuckaway Lake Point 7925 above Tuckaway Lake - one of the two "bumps" we would scramble up From Pt. 7968 - our lunch spot -looking down on Tuckaway Lake Still some snow from two weeks ago Crooked Larch Looking back at our lunch spot above Tuckaway Lake Cross country Looking up towards the Tuckaway Lake Basin and on of the peaks we summited earlier A lovely trail - part of the Chelan Summit Trail Just because Old burn area on the traverse from the shoulder of Gray Peak back to camp Star Peak Looking up at Star Peak from our campsite Star Lake Larch Home for four nights (it's "ok"!)
Day Three - Saturday, Oct. 3
Star Lake to Baldy Saddle - ridge walk to Baldy Summit. Then to Indianhead Pass and Finney Lakes and back to Star Lake.
Matt left us at Baldy to go try and find Scaffold Peak (and ended up not getting back to camp until 10:15 p.m.!) Barry, Carla, Cooper and I headed down from Baldy to connect to the Chelan Summit Trail to the junction with the Indianhead Pass trail. We hoofed it up to Indianhead Pass; then dropped down to Lower Finney Lake, then Upper Finney Lake and made up our own route to get to the basin below the Pass and the Lakes to get back onto the trail to hike back to camp. At the junction with the Indianhead Pass/Chelan Summit trail, we ran into two women - of course, Carla knew them. The only two other people we would see in our wanderings. They were headed into Finney Lakes.
Looking west across the meadow below Star Lake Meadow below Star Lake - Baldy summit the peak on the left Heading up to Baldy saddle Cold morning . . . Gray Peak in the distance with faint snow trail on the shoulder On our way up the trail to Baldy saddle Reaching Baldy Saddle Star Peak in the distance Leaving Baldy saddle to cross-country to Baldy summit Morning haze Heading to the round knob of Baldy (which we determined is NOT the summit - so we did the real summit instead! Matt at Baldy saddle to run the ridge to Baldy summit Early morning traverse to Baldy saddle On our way to Baldy - Star Peak prominent Baldy saddle below - looking north to Star and Courtney Looking south to Finney Peak From Baldy summit Selfies on Baldy summit Summit dog On summit of Baldy looking west Looking back up at Baldy Connecting with the trail to Indianhead Pass Ho-hum Heading to more Larch Along the trail to Indianhead Pass Too bad the colors are so blah Looking northeast - back across the first basin/meadow we traversed On our way to Indianhead Pass Surprise Lake below Basin/meadow below the trail to Indianhead Pass Looking across from trail to Finney Peak The meadow below Indianhead Pass Looking east from Indianhead Pass towards Bigelow - Surprise Lake below in foreground Looking west from Indianhead Pass Lower Finney Lake as we are coming down from Indianhead Pass Seasons are changing Larch Thru the Larch wonderland Gentian Carla heading to Lower Finney Lake Colors everywhere Simply gorgeous Carla & Barry with a dog in the water at Lower Finney Colors Colors Colors Lower Finney and reflection Heading to Upper Finney Lake - lower Finney below us - Indianhead Pass behind Upper Finney Lake (a bit shallower than Lower Finney) Bonus Phinney tarn The photo-bomb photo (Carla was hungry) The artsy photo Dried up Finney tarn Looking down on Surprise Lake Broad meadow below Finney Lakes Looking back towards Finney across the basin/meadow Traversing one of many basins today Summit Wilderness Trail that goes from Stehekin to a junction to Prince Creek
Day Four - Sunday, Oct. 4
(Matt and Carla left in the morning to head to Tuckaway Lake and then out)
Star Lake to Baldy Saddle - traverse over several basins to reach the ridge above Bernice Lake. We stayed too high on the way over and got into some nasty side-hilling - but found a much more agreeable route on the way back. this was one of the prettiest, most Larch-intense areas I have seen. Lots of BIG old Larch, too. An area that hasn't seen a fire in a long, long time - fortunately. It was so pretty. On our way back, we could tell the weather was changing. It got windy and chilly. A lot fewer people back at Star Lake by the time we returned. The winds died down and the temperature moderated overnight.
Glacier Peak in the distance to the west The saddle ahead of us that we will climb (above Bernice Lake) More of our traverse Part of our traverse Barry below me - at the edge of the basin below Bernice The steep slope we had just traversed down Red and gold Lots of shutter delay - with a contrail above Coming into the basin west of Bernice A huge ol' Larch Entering perhaps the most spectacular Larch basin below the west ridge above Bernice Lake Bernice Basin Bernice Basin More of the Basin below Bernice Ridge Basin below the Bernice Lake ridge Looking across the basin below Bernice to Baldy (on the right) and Finney (on the left) Bernice Lake below Oval peeking over the top of the ridge Really cool-looking clouds above Star Peak Heading back to camp Quack
Day Five - Monday, Oct. 5
Star Lake to trailhead
A bit nippy in the morning - but not terrible. We were on the trail a little before 9 a.m. and made it back to the car by a little after Noon. We saw two solo hikers on their way in. Just as we were coming to the parking lot, we heard this loud rustling in the brush - thinking it must be a huge creature - it actually was THREE huge creatures! Not exactly the wildlife we were expecting to see - Cooper went nutz.
And, as we were packing up to leave, three hikers arrived back to the parking lot . . . what a surprise! Andy Dappen and his daughter Allison and friend Adam. You may know Andy from all his adventures and formerly owner of Wenatchee Outdoors. He lives in Wenatchee and is a good friend. Nice to see a familiar face.
So, we had five blissful days - off the grid and unaware of the craziness going on - thankfully. Thank you Mother Nature! Looks like the weather will turn by Friday. We couldn't have picked a better weather window and the Larch were either at peak or just past. Seems early this year.
Looking back from Fish Creek Pass Many colors of Fall Wildlife at the trailhead! The end
Four-paw buddy lets me tag along!
Four-paw buddy lets me tag along!
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triad Member
Joined: 20 Jun 2020 Posts: 29 | TRs | Pics
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triad
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Tue Oct 06, 2020 5:43 pm
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WOW those are some great larch views! I need to make it out there in the fall some time. The larches were all still lime green when I covered a lot of the same ground earlier this summer.
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kloria Member
Joined: 19 Aug 2019 Posts: 16 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle, WA |
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kloria
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Tue Oct 06, 2020 6:12 pm
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Looks like I was following in your footsteps. I was on Buttermilk Ridge and Courtney on Saturday, camping on the ridge between Courtney and Gray. Then did Gray and Baldy on Sunday. Your shots around Finney have me wishing I ventured more that way. Nice photos, it's cool to see others perspective in the same terrain. Here's my photo dump from this weeks episode of Larch Porn (larch enthusiasts only).
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Matt Lemke High on the Outdoors
Joined: 15 Jul 2010 Posts: 2052 | TRs | Pics Location: Grand Junction |
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Matt Lemke
High on the Outdoors
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Tue Oct 06, 2020 7:34 pm
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Wow, excellent photos. Looks like it's still smoky there too
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Sadie's Driver Sadie's Driver
Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 1763 | TRs | Pics Location: Welcome Pass |
Matt Lemke wrote: | Looks like it's still smoky there too |
Matt - we were getting the smoke from a new round of wildfires in California. It was pretty much gone on our second day in the afternoon. Beautiful blue skies after that.
Four-paw buddy lets me tag along!
Four-paw buddy lets me tag along!
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Matt Lemke High on the Outdoors
Joined: 15 Jul 2010 Posts: 2052 | TRs | Pics Location: Grand Junction |
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Matt Lemke
High on the Outdoors
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Tue Oct 06, 2020 9:26 pm
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Sadie's Driver wrote: | Matt Lemke wrote: | Looks like it's still smoky there too |
Matt - we were getting the smoke from a new round of wildfires in California. It was pretty much gone on our second day in the afternoon. Beautiful blue skies after that. |
Nice that's awesome. It's been lingering here in Colorado. I cut my long weekend last weekend short because of it.
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bobbi stillaGUAMish
Joined: 13 Jul 2006 Posts: 8012 | TRs | Pics Location: olympics! |
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bobbi
stillaGUAMish
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Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:12 am
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WOW! excellent! thanks for sharing your photos! someday, LOL
bobbi ૐ
"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!" - Oh, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Seuss
bobbi ૐ
"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!" - Oh, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Seuss
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Nancyann Member
Joined: 28 Jul 2013 Posts: 2319 | TRs | Pics Location: Sultan Basin |
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Nancyann
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Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:42 am
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That looks like a fun trip wandering through larches for 40 miles, away from the crowds. Beautiful pictures!
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BarbE Member
Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 1153 | TRs | Pics
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BarbE
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Wed Oct 07, 2020 9:32 am
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Sadie's Driver wrote: | Simply gorgeous |
That‘s downright indecent!
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Sadie's Driver Sadie's Driver
Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 1763 | TRs | Pics Location: Welcome Pass |
Four-paw buddy lets me tag along!
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