[b00]

finney 7-3 - 7-5-2020

quick and dirty route description: drive to crater lake trailhead, hike to deadhorse pass, then down to boiling lake. from lake take (signed jct)(chelan) summit trail west, then north to nice camp in basin se of dry lake. then continue nw on summit trail then sw on surprise lake trail(signed jct). at ~6900', when trail starts down toward surprise lake, look and spot the broad saddle climber's right of finney. that is where you aim. drop s into and across basin, then ascend past the lower ~7100' finney tarn on climber's left, continue s, then ssw up to the aforementioned saddle. descend sw to ~7300 aim to gain the gentle, friendly finney west ridge at ~7400(or you can take the tedious, doable, but slower, gulley n of the west ridge) and on to the easy summit. class 2. some people prefer to struggle. the more pain the better. this trip was not for those people. i refuse to count our blessings, as i don't know if i can count that high! no bugs, great weather, very well mannered trails, nice camp, fun, happy companions, easy access to water, no scary creek crossings. it was just chill. we got a late start from seattle, then doubled down with a stop in cashmere at the anjou bakery and a stop in wenatchee for gas. no worries. there was a slight chance of rain and clouds made for pleasant temps for the approach. we passed a handful of people on the way to boiling lake and stepped aside for ~10 motorcyclists. after boiling lake, the world was ours. not even recent footprints. we had some thoughts, but were playing it by ear in picking our camp spot and passed numerous places that would have worked well. (although my original plan was to go farther and camp near the shelter just nw of where the bernice lake outlet crosses the summit trail) we hoped to find a place that looked flat on the topo and looked promising on google earth, in the basin se of dry lake. when got close to the dry lake area, it was clear everyone was ready to call it a day. t scouted out a knoll west of the trail that we saw before we turned into the dry lake basin and reported our original idea looked great. so on we went. t then located a very nice pre-existing spot .5mi from the trail, where we could have a wonderful and low-impact campsite se of dry lake ~6800'. this was t and kara's first trip in a while and they were happy for the mellow day. i too was ecstatic, as my body felt awesome!!! one of our original thoughts was to do a sunset peakbag of beefhide peak, but t was quick to inform me, that was not going to happen. no worries. in the morning we would decide if wanted a bigger day(finney) or a shorter day(beefhide and seance). we slept in, took a leisurely breakfast and did an unhurried 9:15am start from camp. the trail was freakin' nice. soon we had to cross the bernice lake outlet. although it might have been possible to cross without getting our feet wet - t and kara walked barefoot, i used my water shoes - easy crossing. a short time later we reached the shelter, which was a kind of a dark area to camp at, which made us all the more happy about the camp we chose. again in no hurry, we continued on over to catch the surprise lake trail. (wta has surprise lake as also called sunrise lake, but it looks like a mistake). again the surprise lake trail was wonderful and in no rush we found ourselves surveying our route, as we looked over at finney. like all fun trips, the way we thought we needed to go worked excellent. we dropped down into the basin on the trail and then from the basin, left the trail and headed up to the very pristine and inviting finney tarns. what a great spot to camp they would be. noticed some nice spots at the lower tarn and would be surprised if there were not great places at each of them. eventually we began the ascent to the saddle nw of finney. t and kara ascended snow that got steeper, but not difficult, while i ascended mostly what looked like loose dirt and scree, but ascended quite nicely. so far, so great. but time was really evaporating. descending from the saddle was fun and easy at first and then we got slowed by tedious boulders that led to finney's west gulley. the gulley itself was not absolutely awful, but we would later realize, was unnecessary. steep dirt, scree, loose rocks. your standard choss. t was ahead and when he got near the summit, he checked out the west ridge to see if it would be better for descent and reported not only that it went, but it was a walk in the park. a little pleasant scrambling at the top led us to a wonderful summit. we all were digging its vibe and its views, but were now aware that if we did not get going soon, we would be back to camp after dark. after too short a summit stay, we descended the charming, practically class 1 west ridge. should have taken it both ways!!! while reversing our route in, we ran into someone looking to camp at upper finney tarns and who asked us to tell his two partners, when we pass them below, to come up and camp with him. his two partners did not look exactly pleased with his suggestion. i never would have guessed we would have run into anyone on that day, let alone by the tarns and it worked out that they were planning to do finney the next day, especially since the summit register shows less than a party a year visits it. 17 miles with 5k gain is quite a lot in a day, when it is your first trip, but t and kara, although tired, cranked it out in fine fashion and not a surprise, to anyone who knows me, where much faster than i on the uphill. unfortunately the last couple miles back to camp had 1200' gain, so i sent them ahead so they could be sure to get to camp before it was dark and requested t, which he gladly did, get water for dinner for the group. on their way to camp, near where we saw scat and scratches on trees, they saw a young black bear! they said i was only 10 minutes slower than them, but my guess is, it was more like 20. no matter, it was a 12+ hour day which even with a late start, we got back to camp before darkness, enjoyed a nice meal and basked in the glow of a great day, was strenuous, but not overly so. out was just a cruise. at deadhorse pass, i offered an opportunity to scramble 1000' up to do bigelow. since i had done it years ago and they were uninterested, we boogied back to the car and in short order were driving to chelan to get some well received take-out at chulita antojo sabor y tradicion(no one other than us, customers nor employees, were wearing masks). so lucky be able to spend another great holiday weekend with t! even the traffic on the way home, could not deter our joy from our hearts as we returned from a great time together!

day 1 11.81mi 3632' gain 6:40 car to camp day 2 16.98mi 5261' gain 6:31 camp to summit 0:13 summit stay 5:32 summit to camp 12:16 total day 2 day 3 11.25mi 1540' gain 5:35 camp to car total 40.04mi 10433' gain

camps: tons. eagle lakes, boiling lake, buttermilk/summit trail jct is large camp, 6800' se of dry lake, shelter w.toilet just nw of where the bernice lake outlet crosses the summit trail, and many places in between... water: this time of year, pretty much all along the trails and at camp. references: t/r on nwhikers, fritz's t/r, john porter's website equipment: ice axe, water shoes equipment brought, but not used: crampons

[neek]

3 finney reports for the same weekend, what are the chances! i'll note your w ridge experience in mine.

[mtn.climber]

That was us you ran into at Finney lakes. We did find a great camp area on the ridge between the two lakes. The climb the next morning went easily...thanks for the bucket steps up the snow. We did the ascent/descent in the gully, but it went well.

[Matt]

Interesting to note Don Duncan's determination that the west summit is higher. I wasn't sure and did both, but the other summit took some class 3-4 moves to reach.

[rocknclimb]