[mossbackmax]

Hello! This is my first trip report on nwhikers, so please forgive any technical/formatting fumbling.

"I wear a Devils Club crown, I sit upon a Slide Alder throne"

Enough alpine scenery to fill three Switzerlands

"this way looks as good as any"

Peek a Boo

Trip Summary & TLDR: Fri Aug 11 - Boulder River trailhead to Saddle Lake

• 10.2 mi, 3800’ gain
• 0.0 - 4.2 mi - Boulder River trail to Boulder Ford Camp, begin traveling upriver
• 4.2 - 5.1 - XC on riverbanks (we crossed back and forth ~6 times) until big logjam
• 5.1 - 6.4 mi - 1300’ vertical feet of classic “sub-alpinism.” I’d estimate grade II with the lower half BW2 and the upper half BW3+, according to the bushwack rating scale.
• 6.4 - 10.2 - Join normal Three Fingers approach. FS-4160 to Saddle Lake Camp.

Sat Aug 12 - Saddle Lake to Goat Flat, Three Fingers Summit

• 7.5 mi 3500’ gain
• 0.0 - 2.2 - Move camp to Goat Flats. Yellowjacket nest next to trail around ~4700’. Pit toilet in great shape, water source just below toilet trail.
• 2.2 - 4.8 - Three Fingers summit trail. Snow crossings are trivial (didn’t need traction or ice axes), abundant water at 6350’
• 4.8 - 7.5 - Return to Goat Flat, spectacular sunset with meteor shower afterwards.

Sun Aug 13 - Goat Flat to Three Fingers Trailhead, Meadow Mountain Trail

• 10 mi 1000’ gain
• 0.0 - 3.7 - GF camp to Meadow Mountain’s eponymous meadows (beautiful!). No water between Saddle Lake and 3400’ on Meadow Mtn switchbacks. Terrible yellowjacket nest at first switchback above Saddle Lk around
• 4020’ (deadfall makes trail difficult to find here, we walked right into the nest).
• 3.7 - 7.3 - Descend Meadow Mtn switchbacks through gorgeous old growth. Meadow Mtn trail has significant blowdowns but is in much better shape than Tupso Pass to Saddle Lk trail.
• 7.3 - 9.7 - Mellow roadwalk on FS-41. The concrete bridge over S Fk Canyon Ck is not long for this world, but still easily passable on bicycles and motorcycles.

Total - 27.7 mi 8300’ gain Trip Description/Background: (note: This report got away from me, and is definitely too long and self indulgent. But since there seems to be some interest in this route I’ll leave it “as is” in the hope that the extra detail might someday be helpful to someone, somewhere.) A few months ago during a Father’s Day celebration at my uncle’s house in the N Fk Stillaguamish Valley he and I got to talking about obscure hikes in the area. He told me about meeting a woman while hiking the Boulder River trail who told him that as a girl in the 50’s she had hiked beyond Boulder Ford up to Tupso Pass and on to Three Fingers. She said that for many decades the Boulder River was the preferred access to Three Fingers, and it wasn’t until the 60’s or 70’s that logging roads were punched far enough up Canyon Creek to justify changing the trailhead location. My uncle wondered aloud if we might be able to piece together enough scraps of that old trail to make it from Boulder Ford to Tupso Pass, and perhaps be the first people in many decades to summit Three Fingers from the Boulder River. My interest was piqued and I told him I’d do some research into the feasibility of the route. Personally, I was skeptical. I’ve spent enough time thrashing up and down the valleys of the North Cascades to know that without maintenance (and sometimes even despite maintenance) trails do not last long in those temperate jungles. Regardless, since the route from Boulder River to Three Fingers is a logical and compelling one I fully expected to find a couple trip reports of intrepid souls who’d decided to ‘schwack their way along the route of the old trail. But to my surprise I couldn’t. All I could find was a couple of folks (link1, link2) who had set out with our same intention but upon failing to find more than a hint of the old trail, and nothing beyond Ditney Creek, had turned around. Another promising thread (link) made mention of some remnant trail near Tupso Pass. Additionally I was able to find the trail on some historic maps (link1, link2) and by adding them as mapsheets in caltopo was able to roughly trace where the trail might have been. My interest was building. The idea of a route without recent documentation, climbing from an old growth valley floor to the summit of a glacially sculpted pinnacle (like a miniature version of Mt Olympus from the Hoh, with a bonus fire lookout), connecting the lowest and highest points of a beautiful wilderness, with an interesting historical aspect, was intensely compelling. I told my uncle we should go for a day hike to look around. Reconnaissance Day Trip - July 17 A few weeks later we did just that. Entering from Boulder River we followed the route laid out in “C P’s” WTA trip report, linked above, looking for flagging, rusted telephone wire, and orange reflective trail blazes. For several hundred yards we followed flagging and used mental gymnastics to convince ourselves that minor changes in forest floor topography were actually old trail grade. At Ditney Creek the brush became so miserable (the pouring rain didn’t help) we changed tactics and ‘shwhacked back down to the river to reconsider, using the creek as a handrail. From the confluence of Ditney Creek and Boulder River we decided to work our way up the river, skirting along the bank with equal parts wading and cobble hopping, until we were directly below Tupso Pass. About a mile up the river from Boulder Ford we were stopped by an enormous logjam (visible on google satellite on the south end of a large oxbow) and decided that we’d done enough scouting. We’d return in a few weeks with overnight packs and plan on a three day/two night out-and-back, but with a backup plan of exiting via the normal S Fk Canyon Creek approach if the brush proved too nasty to ‘shwhack back down. Overnight Trip - Aug 11-13 Aug 11 - Boulder River to Saddle Lake After an unintentionally late start we left the Boulder River trailhead around 12:30 pm. We hiked the four miles to Boulder Ford at a leisurely pace, saving energy for the bushwhack and enjoying the enormous old growth and mostly sunny skies. From Boulder Ford we hopped in the river and worked our way up the banks, crossing back and forth six or seven times, to the large floodbar on the south side of the river below the logjam and about a mile upriver from Boulder Ford Camp (side note - great camping potential on this floodbar). At 4:30 pm we dove into the brush, roughly following a broad rib between two seasonal creeks, heading South towards Tupso. As the saying goes “if you’re gonna be dumb, you’ve gotta be tough” and that sentiment perfectly encapsulates bushwhacking. While not the most difficult or lengthy bushwack, our route had a little bit of everything and was definitely “full on.” Comparing it to other bushwhacks I’ve done I’d say it’s easier than Beaver Pass to Eiley Wiley (though I got badly off route there) and definitely harder than Bachelor Creek. It’s about equal, perhaps a bit harder, than Access Creek from Big Beaver Trail to Access Ck Basin (assuming you’re able to stay on route). At about 1800’ we began to contour “climber’s left” knowing that to continue straight up the fall line would land us in overly steep terrain and cause us to overshoot the pass. This lower section, up to around 1900’, was not too bad and I’d grade it BW2 according to the Bushwhack Rating Scale on Lowell Skoog’s Alpenglow site. Above this the terrain steepens, and becomes solidly BW3, perhaps BW3+ in places. After a particularly strenuous section we were taking a breather on a fallen log at around 2300’ when I spotted an orange reflector trail blaze. I exclaimed “reflector!!” and although there was no other trailsign whatsoever it gave us a much needed morale boost. Just enough boost, in fact, to send me ‘shwhacking right into a yellowjacket nest. It’s remarkable how no matter how exhausted, how “pegged at redline” I might feel, hiking into a wasp nest unlocks a previously unknown reserve of energy. I crashed through the brush, zooming uphill a few hundred feet, and managed to only get stung seven times. At 2600’ we began to contour SE, “climber’s left, hard,” to avoid the very steep area below pt 3071. As we worked our way across several swampy draws, over and under enormous old growth deadfall, I recited to myself my bushwack mantra, “I wear a Devil’s Club crown, I sit upon a Slide Alder throne.” Interestingly, the flatish area between the 2800’ contour and the spur “road” along Tupso Pass was some of the worst brush of the entire trip, and the subjective sense was that the bushwhack was progressively clamping down harder on us the closer we got to the finish. Finally we reached the spur, badly choked with Red Alder and Vine Maple. Ratty pink flagging was a wonderful sight, and we followed the spur to FS-41 arriving just after last light. We were quite tired (I could feel all that yellowjacket venom working inside me) and intended to camp on the road at the old trailhead where most folks lock up their bikes, but since we had consumed the last of our water we slogged in the dark to Saddle Lake and camped there, arriving around half past midnight.

strange balanced log in Boulder River, you could move it with a finger

beginning the shwhack

going up

reflector at 2300'

old blaze?

lower section

mid section

upper section

peek a boo views

at the road in the nick of time

Aug 12 - Saddle Lake to Goat Flats, Three Fingers Summit After sleeping in the next morning we broke camp around 11:30 am and made our way towards Goat Flats. I got stung again by a couple of the little yellow bastards (“vicious vespula” I nicknamed them) who’d decided to build a nest just off the trail at ~4700’. Running water is minimal between Saddle Lake and the Flats, but there was a small stream about halfway. We set up camp at Goat Flats, dallied around for a few hours, and set off for the lookout around 4:30 pm with lightweight packs. We made slow but steady progress hiking up to the lookout, my uncle feeling the lingering effects of the previous day’s exertions, and topped out around 7:00. Below the final snowfield a gushing meltstream provides ample water, and compared to the silty pond at Goat Flats filled with water skimmers and tadpoles-big-as-your-finger it tasted like nectar. We had brought microspikes and ice axes for the final snowfield but they were completely unnecessary, the final snow slope was trivial. There’s not much I can say about the Three Fingers lookout that hasn’t already been said. Holy hell, what a place! I reveled in the view, looking down the Boulder River Valley’s deep parabola thinking “we started down there? really??” I thought about a podcast I’d listened to featuring Malcom Bates, the author of the definitive history of the Three Fingers Lookout (link), of Bedal and Engles packing crates of dynamite up in 30’s to explode off the mountain’s tip (link). Sacrilege? If done today, certainly. But back then? It’s contrary to all my LNT principles but I’m tempted to say it was worth it. The lookout was crowded with about a dozen folks planning on staying overnight, people from all over the country and all levels of experience, and it was fun to overhear comments like “I’ve never seen anything like this” and “there’s nothing like this back in Virginia.” We could see a huge swath of Whulge (the Salish Sea) from the Strait of Georgia to the South Sound, Vancouver Island, the Pacific beyond the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Olympics, Tahoma and Tacoma, Koma Kulshan, Dakobed, Pahto, Mt Stuart, the San Juans (especially Mt Constitution), the mushroom cloud of the Sourdough Fire, the glass towers of Seattle, and on and on. Forgive my pretensions, but it genuinely felt like standing on the regional axis mundi. We spent a few minutes on top snapping photos (I was grateful to have my 6x9 medium format), and set off onwards and downwards hiking through one of the best sunsets I’ve experienced in years. Upon arriving back at Goat Flats the Perseids began picking up, and I counted several shooting stars.

gorgeous goat flat

do you see it?

trivial (at this time of year) snowfield

ladder scramble

summit register

ladders

Mt Constitution, San Juans, Lk Cavanaugh

yowza

Aug 13 - Goat Flats to Three Fingers Trailhead at Canyon Creek We left the flats around 8:00 am, aiming to be at the trailhead around 3:00. The yellow jackets I had encountered above Saddle Lake the day before gave me another unwanted delivery, luckily just a single sting this time, bringing my trip total up to 10. Personally I felt like I had more than fulfilled my quota, and they should’ve saved it for someone else. Although originally we’d talked about doing an out-and-back neither of us had much desire to revisit the brush, and in anticipation of this feeling had arranged a backup plan with a friend to pick us up at the S Fk Canyon Creek trailhead. Perhaps some of the route’s purity was compromised this way, taking the easy way out, but our stated goal was “summit Three Fingers from the Boulder River” and in that we had succeeded. We notified him by inreach and went on our way. (In fact, there was sufficient spotty cell service around Goat Flats that we could have just called him, but we already had the inreach prepped.) We decided to take the Meadow Mountain trail back, cutting off ~6 miles of road walking, avoiding the low quality trail below Saddle Lake, and giving us a change of scenery. The Meadow Mountain trail has received a great deal of maintenance and is in significantly better shape than the alternative (though there’s still a good deal of deadfall and blowdowns). At the first switchback above Saddle Lake a large fallen tree obscured the trail, we overshot it and walked right into another yellowjacket nest. I picked up two more stings, creating a new personal record of 12 stings in a single trip. High score! It was a hot and windless day, and the bug pressure was between moderate and heavy depending on how close to water we were and how long we stopped to rest. The whole cast of bloodsuckers was out - black flies, deer flies, horse flies, mosquitos, no-see-ums. Also, there’s no water between Saddle Lake and ~3400’ on the Meadow Mtn switchbacks. Around 2:30pm we arrived at the trailhead, and shortly thereafter our friend rolled up with Rainiers on ice in a cooler. “Vitamin-R” has never tasted so good. I was surprised to see how badly the rest of FS-41 is deteriorating, one gulley even features an unrecoverable derelict 4x4 resembling a crushed can tossed into a campfire, and I wouldn't be surprised if in coming years the Three Fingers trailhead is pushed even further back by washouts. If that does happen, perhaps interest will renew in rebuilding the trail from Boulder River and the standard approach to Three Fingers will again be as it once was.

meadow mtn views

meadow mtn summit (not pictured: bugs)

meadow mtn deadfall

Useful Coordinates

• Logjam - 48.20956, -121.76802
• Bushwack entry point - 48.21043, -121.76832
• Broad rib, top of small knoll - 48.20992, -121.77096
• Reflector at 2300’ - 48.20565, -121.77532
• Gain spur road - 48.19916, -121.77420
• Delicious water below final snowfield - 48.16735, -121.68943
• Yellow jacket nest on Meadow Mtn trail - 48.18085, -121.75803
• Highest water on Meadow Mtn trail - 48.17247, -121.79760

Useful & Interesting Links

• Trailchick Three Fingers History
• Will Hite Boulder River Trail
• Will Hite Three Fingers Lookout
• Malcom Bates Interview
• Mind-Bending Whitehorse Three Fingers Loop
• Historic Maps of Boulder River Area Pg 1
• Historic Maps of Boulder River Area Pg 2
• Useful WTA Trip Report about Boulder Ford Area(Thank you C P!)
• Useful NW Hikers Thread (Thank you josephakendig and hulksmash!)
• NW Brush and Bushwhack Rating Scale
• Travels in the Enigma Range

Final Questions

1. Are there no fish in the Boulder River? I looked closely for any, even fry, and didn’t see any. Not even Suckers or Rainbows.
2. Whats the difference between NF-XX and FS-XX road designations? Seems like they’re used interchangeably.
3. In the nwhikers thread listed above, there’s mention of a shelter at the headwall of the Boulder River. Anyone have more info on this?
4. In the Bates interview he mentions accessing Three Fingers from the Squire Creek side, has anyone done this? Or attempted to do this?

If you've read this far, thanks! Best, M

[RichP]

Wow! That's an admirable approach to Three Fingers. I like the comparison to Olympus.

[mossbackmax]

Thanks RichP! It makes me wonder - what other feasible"lowest to highest" routes exist in WA wildernesses. Ohanapecosh to the summit of Tahoma would be one, Goodell Ck to Goode would be another - not quite sure how that route would work lol

[Gimpilator]

This is just awesome. Hope to see more from you in the future.

[Schroder]

One more reference for your historic files - the Nils Bruseth map showing the original trail https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8027459

[fourteen410]

Incredible first trip report here!

[mossbackmax]

Thanks for the encouraging comments y'all!

[Kim Brown]

I read every word! Great report; it's more interesting to be a half-crazy person than a sane one, no? Makes a great trip report, too. I have found 2 insulators on the Boulder River trail between the trail head & Feature Show Falls. I wonder how old the reflector is - can't be too old, so it seems someone, at some time, wanted to keep the original route alive. That seems to happen when trails close.

[Route Loser]

Sounds like a good time. Thanks for the report. There are fish. Walking over from Squire Creek Pass is fun with modest scrambling. There are good approaches further north on Squire Creek, depending on which summit you are aiming for. There are much more direct approaches from the S.

[mossbackmax]

I fully agree, Kim. Much more interesting. Are those insulators used for telephone or telegraph wires? I've heard about lookouts "calling in" fires, which makes me think telephone, but perhaps they used portable radios? I'll have to see if I can't find a book or two about the daily lives and protocols of fire lookouts. As for the reflectors, we were thinking the same thing. They looked old, but more on the order of decades than a century. There were also also occasional reflectors on trees and rocks between Tupso and Three Fingers, though most of those were red instead of orange. Route Loser thanks for the additional info. The route from Squire Ck Pass looks interesting, possibly could combine it with a traverse from Big Bear to Three Fingers. I'd imagine as well that Squire Ck is the approach for Craig and Bullon Lakes, correct? The direct South approach you mention, does that go up Baldy Ck? Or from Windy Pass? I really appreciate the info, looks like maybe Squire Ck might be next for me.

[Schroder]

Someone has done the ramp, shown snow covered here, from Squire Creek. I think they reported their trip on the forum.

A short approach to Goat Flats existed back in the 70's when the road was closed for several years. It went from the Canyon Creek bridge directly north up a ridge and took you straight to the middle of the flats. Approximately here

It wasn't too brushy as I remember

[Route Loser]

[Schroder]

[Kim Brown]

[Route Loser]