[cascadetraverser]

Text: Cascade Traverser Photos: Tshletshy Dreamer I had originally planned for a more rigorous traverse, but weather and partner wishes opted for a trail hike, so to the east side we went... Day One Got a really early start from Seattle but still only managed to depart the Slate Peak trailhead at 12:30.

Getting ready on the Slate Peak Road

Lovely meadows and easy travel with nice views back to Robinson Pass and down the the Middle Fork Pasayten river; up north the big burn is visible.

Looking north to Gold and Buckskin Ridges

Made pretty quick time to Silver lake and ran into several parties of hunters along the way. A fierce cool wind blew down valley all day long. Silver lake is nice but shallow and I doubt much for fish (didn`t try though). Onto to the trail to Buckskin Lake. For those heading on, don`t try to find the trail from the lake but rather backtrack on the trail 50-100 yards or so to an obvious unmarked intersection. This section is a whole different ballgame from the easy breeze trail to that point. First you drop down into the forest and through some wet boggy muddy trails and then head back up (a reoccurring theme on this trail) to Silver Pass. Then you drop down again another 500 feet or so and then make your way back on the west side of Buckskin ridge up a small steep gravely trail back to about the level you lost and passing one nice stream begin a long traverse on a narrow caliper trail over a very steep slope (nice views somewhat hampered by what smelled and looked like forest fire smoke; we couldn`t quite place where that was coming from??) which eventually a mile or two later widened and the slope became more gentle until dropping briefly through a dry basin and then switchbacked up to a pass at 7200 feet.

Late season bloom, Buckskin Ridge

Afternoon light on Buckskin Ridge

View of Cascade Crest from Buckskin Ridge

Time was waning and the breeze was cold and we immediately dropped down into a wet basin with a small tarn and then climbed back up another mile or so in the dark by now finally arriving at Buckskin Lake. Whew! A pretty tiring day I suspect would best be broken up into two. Had dinner and happily slept... Day 2 Next morning woke to clear skies and beautiful Buckskin Lake.

Buckskin Lake in the morning

Very nice place. Would have liked to have tried fishing as it looked promising but needed to get going early so without much ado, headed down the surprising nice trail down to the Middle Fork Pasayten.

On Buckskin Ridge descending to the Middle Fork Pasayten

Looking towards Point Defiance

Mushrooms everywhere!

Mushrooms at Buckskin Lake

Took the right at the junction and then crossed the ankle deep waters to the other side and hiked the burn followed by lodgepole forest to the junction with Shellrock pass trail.

Middle Fork Pasayten River

Burn zone, Middle Fork Pasayten

The next generation of Lodgepole Pines

Aspen grove, Middle Fork Pasayten River

Up we headed and in 1500 feet found ourselves at the shore of Fred`s Lake. Cool place. Made a big fire, relaxed and caught up on life`s tales until the stars came out.

Afternoon light on Fred's Lake

Cooking fire at Fred's Lake

Day 3 Slept in, made a nice fire and boiled up some cowboy coffee and decided we wanted to check out the old Point Defiance trail so headed down 500 feet to the junction.

Spruce Grouse near Fred's Lake

This is a really nice path skirting a lovely ridge and is easy to follow to a nice little lake.

Middle Fork Pasayten valley from Point Defiance Trail

Panorama of Buckskin Ridge from Point Defiance trail

From there the trail continued to the nice meadows of Pleasant Valley and then petered out.

Lake at Pleasant Valley, Point Defiance trail

My sense was it wouldn't be too hard to traverse the forest up to the ridge and run the ridge back to the north trailhead (anybody out there done it??). Back to camp where I thought I would give fishing a try and surprised myself with a nice first cast sizable trout.

Teal crocs increase the bite rate

Dinner @ Fred's Lake

Caught 2 more for Bruce and Will and then decided to hike up the ridge above the lake.

Pika, Fred's Lake

Ran into Will on the way up who commented on the beauty and quietude of the land above. Got up there and was wowed.

Monument Peak from trail to Lake Doris

Osceola, Carru, Lago, and Shellrock Pass

Osceola Peak

Will and I had done the whole loop from here to Shellrock pass and onto Lake of the woods and Pistol pass 20 years prior and it was very eerie looking down to all that territory long ago traveled. I felt very nostalgic and simultaneously wished I was heading onwards not back....

Doris Lake

Pasayten 028

Got back to the fire and cooked the trout with garlic and oil over some coals and relaxed. Day 4 Woke up to big snowflakes as the long promised inclement weather had arrived. Bundled up our gear after coffee and breakfast and headed down to the Middle Fork trail and headed south and ran into a very amiable horseman Steve (of Nooksack I believe) and shared some conversation and headed on to the Slate Pass connector trail. Some really nice camps near the river there with beautiful valley views (will have to go back someday with the family) and then made the stiff 1500 foot climb to Slate peak, initially in rain and in snow on arrival!

Middle Fork Pasayten mushrooms

Middle Fork Pasayten fungus

Middle Fork Pasayten fungus

The upper reaches of the Middle Fork Pasayten River

Really nice to share company with Will and great to get Bruce back out! Fall is definitely here and it feels like a cold and wet one...Sure was nice to be back in the Pasayten after quite a while.

[iron]

looks beautiful. glad you got 3 days of good weather!

[Magellan]

Looks like big mileage in big country. Half of your routes aren't even showing up on my topo as trails. Gonna have to check an actual map.

[RichP]

[Ancient Ambler]

Excellent trip and TR. You and your photographer, Tshletshy Dreamer (great user name!), have portrayed that country in a very appealing way that makes me want to head up there. But given the weather this weekend, looks like that'll have to wait for next summer. I'm glad you guys were able to work this trip into one of the few windows of mostly decent weather we've had this September.

[cascadetraverser]

Thanks for the kind words... Magellan: Green trails has em all. Lots of cool old trails around. The Buckskin ridge trail was easy to follow and with few blowdowns and the part of the Point Defiance trail we did was pretty clear as well. RichP: Agreed; gotta do that one again from start to finish. Its a bummer about the state of alot of the Pasayten trails presently. Another of my favorites is the Three Fools trail to Elbow Basin and beyond. Amazing place but at risk of being lost for good. "Ancient" Ambler: I think you might have to change your moniker after your last post! I know you are an Olympics guy, but the Pasayten is really worth an extended trip. It is very different from the wild rough grandeur of the North Cascades and the intricate beauty of the Olympics. Its big, wide and wonderful...Don`t hesitate to PM me with any trip suggestions!

[It's the water]

I'm always a little hesitant to backpack this area in September because of the high hunt. I like solitude. How was your experience as far as number of hunters? Any outfitters on the river? Did you feel you wanted to avoid any area because there were hunters nearby? Thanks for the report. I really want to go to Freds and Ferguson someday.

[cascadetraverser]

ITW: Very reasonable concern; generally I avoid the wildernesses as well this time of year, but the weather pointed us east. We ran into two hunting parties between Slate and Silver lake and one group of horsers in the valley. All very affable I might add. The more remote sections were lonely. Silver lake to Buckskin Lake and above the river on the east side of the valley, it was quiet. Heading east from Fred`s is, I suspect, pretty much always lonely....The loop from Freds to Shellrock Pass to Lake of the woods and over to Pistol pass and out the lost river is verrry lonely.

[Tshletshy Dreamer]

Yep, the hunters that we met were cool, and we didn't hear any gunshots (the bucks were doing a good job of hiding). We also ran into one NOLS group that was headed for Ferguson Lake, but we still got our share of solitude. As cascadetraverser pointed out the trail over to Shellrock Pass would be even quieter. Agree with RichP that the loss of trails in the Pasayten needs to be addressed. When we hiked in the area twenty years ago, we ran into a trail maintenance crew. They had large two man saws and plenty of provisions for a multiweek stay in the woods. Sigh - back then the 3 Fools trail was probably still open. Steve, the horsepacker that we met, was doing his part, but would be great if hikers got in on the act as well.

[mdk]

"I often think of getting a few people together with some tools to do some rogue trail work along Monument and Ptarmigan Cks, some of the best of the Pasayten IMO" Have had similar thoughts myself after going into Lake of the Woods solo a couple of years ago via Monument Creek trail. That's an amazing bit of trail work up the ridge and especially across the steep slopes below Pistol Peaks. Well built too, most of the tread is intact, just getting lost under blowdowns and brush. Water is a problem up the ridge, but I've considered camping just across Eureka Creek and day tripping up, with saws and loppers. Getting across Eureka early in the season can be hazardous though. Any idea what the FS reaction would be to finding someone(s) "brushing and limbing" on one of those abandoned trails would be?

[cascadetraverser]

Hmm; what they don`t know won`t hurt them.

[hikermike]

I've frequently wondered about what the regulations re: "unscheduled" maintainance is. Obviously, for "official" reasons they would discourage it but .....

[hikermike]

What would the reqs. re: making a "use" trail in a rarely visited area be. I'm sorry, but I'm not like those in the Audubon or North Cascades Council (right group?) that anything that smells like man should be banned. I don't think trails are devastating to the environment. Ever been in the back country and come across an elk trail up a hill? Much worse than even our despised horses leave! Matter of fact, the one I came across in MRNP was worse than most ATV trails!

[cascadetraverser]

Hiker Mike: When I ran into the horse outfit out there on the Middle Fork Pasayten, they had a saw and Polaski along. My sense is they cut the downfall and moved it out of the way. Somehow I don`t think anyone minds if you move the blowdown out of the way. Rerouting or changing the trail entirely is another matter. I suspect you are right about the USFS saying no to any sort of maintenience, likely for legal reasons. I suspect contacting the Horse associations on their take on this could be helpful. You`re right about the messy trails Elk make. But lets be honest, horses make a mess of trails (especially muddy ones). That said, I think it is counterproductive to pit horsers against hikers. We all love the wilderness and should be allies in its preservation. I should add, I love using the cool camps you make. This might be best moved to the Trail talk thread too!

[tommytownsend]

Way to squeeze one last trip out of a spectacular season. Choosing to spend the weekend on the wet side instead of joining you was a decision I wish I could make again.