Prior to our trip, I had asked if we should take an extra day to account for all the distance and elevation. Her response is that with an extra day, she'd bag 2 more Bulgers (#46 Monument, #84 Lake). I'm so glad that I didn't go for the 5 day grand slam.
Time wise, now is perfect, mainly due to the long daylight, also more water source (some seasonal creeks are not yet dried). Not much snow to deal with (less gear). Everything is still green, quite some flowers. Another time to come to this area is late fall for golden larches. But daylight would be too short for the long approach and difficult terrain.
6/30, Friday. OK arrived ~9:30pm. This weekend is expected to be dry and warm (almost hot, in the 80°Fs). Near full moon, so no stars. We decided not to bring any snow gear, but forgot to bring helmet (a mistake). O.K. didn't even bring her tent fly so to lessen the load.
7/1, Saturday, we left Seattle before 6am. It's a 4 hour drive. We made a gas stop.
The road to Harts Pass is not as bad as I thought. Beyond that, the road is worse, but not terrible.
Large parking lots at Harts Pass. Plenty cars already.
We pulled into the small parking area at Buckskin Ridge TH. Elevation ~6900' (~2100m).
Beautiful mountain views to the west, open meadow, no shade.
Had an early lunch at TH.
- Buckskin Ridge TH to camp (Lake Doris): 2800' gain, 2700' loss. All on trail.
- Camp to Osceola Peak and back: 2 miles RT, 1500' up/down. No trail.
From the TH, we walked up a short ridge to Slate Pass (almost 7000'), there we entered Pasayten Wilderness.
0.9 miles on Buckskin Ridge trail meandering in flower strewn meadows, turn right on Whistler Cutoff trail, and started descending into the trees.
3 miles later, we changed into sandals and crossed the ankle-deep Middle Fork Pasayten River (5200').
A break here to dry our feet and sandals.
Soon, we caught (turn left/north) on Robinson Creek Trail.
The next ~5 miles are mostly flat (dropped another ~200') with occasional down logs to climb over.
A large pile of dead logs obscured our turn to Eureka Creek Trail.
OK missed it and marched on.
I called out to her, and blew the whistle. Then, sat and waited.
It took awhile.
The next 1600' is unpleasant. Less and less shade, the afternoon sun was cooking.
We reached Freds Lake ~3:20pm. Its outlet was a bit swampy.
We continued on its left shore to gain another 500'.
Reached the pass above (7120'). I was happy to see snow, and put some into my water bottle.
Minor descent to Lake Doris (7000'), ~4pm.
There was a site with bivy and gears on the ground, and another site with a tarp tent. Nobody was around.
After setting up camp, we headed towards Osceola (8587') with an empty pack. ~5pm.
The approach is a bit confusing, needing to detour around a cliff. No boot track to follow.
Once reached the mountain's base, it became more straightforward.
Just scramble over boulders upon boulders. Nothing too loose or too steep.
On the way down, we kept to its west edge. There is a faint trail here.
We ran into, yes, 2 groups of climbers.
The view on the summit is always fabulous. ~6:30pm.
Found 2 "memorial pebble"s.
Coming down, I lost O.K. for quite awhile, until near the camp. Also took ~1.5 hours. Ate late dinner. Bug wasn't a problem here. I was cold at night.
7/2, Sunday.
Packed up early (~6am), due to the long day ahead. The tent was still wet. It's surprising for such a dry area.
Hiking down east on Eureka Creek Trail, for over 2 miles, until ~6000'.
At some point, we caught up with one group (of 4) camping at Lake Doris.
We were staggering with each other throughout today.
Abruptly at a dry creek bed, they headed uphill, more or less bushwacking.
We followed.
The slope got quite steep. Tree thinned as we went up.
At around 7200', we stashed our backpacks. I marked the location on my Gaia map.
Very optimistic, we didn't carry anything (no food or water) to Carru!
A lot of rocks. Loose at times.
By the time I made to the summit of Carru (8595'), it was almost 11am.
3 of the other group arrived shortly after me.
On our way down, we wasted some time looking for our packs, , despite of the waypoint I saved on the app.
To get to Lago (8745'), I dropped down further than O.K., because I found the terrain more gentle there across the creek. The other group of 4 regrouped even lower than me. The track I downloaded doesn't make too much sense to me, judging by what I saw.
I trudged up (with a full pack), grass/mossy slope turned to endless rocks.
The 2 girls from the other group overtook me near the summit.
There, we also met 2 guys coming down Lago with an empty backpack. They came up from east.
By the time I made it, it was almost 3:20pm. Much slower than we anticipated.
Then the guy made it here. Only then, I saw that he was carrying a large shopping (canvas) bag, tied to the outside of his pack.
To continue, we need to traverse Lago, and drop down its north flank (we came from the west), quite some exposure on the top.
At least rocks here are more or less solid. Just move slowly.
Stashed poles, need both hands here.
The other 3 descended first. We followed.
Below the ridge, it was a large scree field.
Very steep the higher half.
At times, large boulders, and other times, smaller rocks even sand.
A stretch of snow that we could detour around.
We reached the saddle (regained the ridge line) around 5pm, refilled our bottles with some snow. Now the ridge line isn't hard to walk. After going over one hump, I saw Peak 8165 looming ahead. I realized that I wouldn't be able make it to Ptarmigan and get down (supposed to be steep) in the remaining daylight. Bailed out here, and told O.K. and we agreed to meet at the upper Dot Lake. The 4 of them continued.
Here's where I scrambled off the ridge.
This bit is quite sketchy. Very steep, without good hand hold.
Once down, it is easier.
But there's no trail whatsoever, so the travel is not fast.
The area was somewhat burnt, plenty down black logs.
Went over the east flank of Peak 8165 to the Dot Lakes.
Saw a runner in blue at the lower lake. Continued up (fairly close) to the upper lake.
At the outlet, some flat area to pitch tents. Saw a guy and a woman (in mosquito net).
I asked them where did they come down from Dot. They didn't like chit-chat, just told me it was very bad.
The slope on both sides looked bad to me too.
By the time I pitched my tent, it was already 8pm. O.K. didn't arrive until 9:30, and it was getting dark. Bugs also died down. She sat in her tent, not eating, motionless for awhile, apparently tired.
Warmer tonight.
7/3, Monday.
I headed out to Ptarmigan (8619') while O.K. was waiting for her tent to dry.
First, I need to find a way up the ridge other than what they did (also what's on the GPS track I downloaded).
O.K. told me it was too steep and sandy to go up. She saw that the slope is less steep further out.
So, I walked more east, to attain a lower point of the eastern flank of Dot.
On the way, Dot Lakes shining below me.
Once reached the ridge, it was easy scramble, and I could see a track.
I scrambled up Dot Mountain (8220') first, since it's just right there.
Maybe ~30 minute RT, fairly easy. I reached the summit ~8:10am.
Because Dot is not on Bulger List, no one seems to bother.
Great view from the top (actually couldn't see upper Dot Lake), especially looking out clearly the way towards Ptarmigan.
On the long (flat-ish) saddle between these two, I ran into the 3 from yesterday.
They said they camped at this lovely pond (probably would disappear in 2 weeks), and climbed Ptarmigan this morning.
I shared with them how I got up the ridge from my GPS app.
Ptarmigan is an easy walk. Very gradual. Quite some flowers. Took 1 hour from Dot.
Instead of summit registry, I saw this geocache canister.
I scrambled down more east than I came up, this time, at the actual lowest point of the east ridge of Dot.
Back at camp ~11am, packed up, now dry tent. It was getting hotter. I was to meet O.K. at Shellrock Pass, after she climbs Lost which is a long way east. I figured that it would take me 3 hours, so 3pm at the pass. It turned out it took me 6.5 hours to get there. The rest of today is the worst of this trip.
Retraced my steps of yesterday over the eastern flank of Peak 8165.
Then, it's a long scramble to go over the eastern ridge of Lago. No track to follow at all. Lots of boulders.
At ~6850', at the pass of the ridge (already at 1:20pm), I need to drop down into a mess of burnt trees and more boulders (see photo to the left).
There's faint track here down. Then I had to go up on the other side to Butte Pass. From here, I could see a semblance of track halfway down, traversing the rocks and then go up on the other side of the steep valley. But there is a "trail" on my Gaia map, descending all the way down to Ptarmigan Creek, and detour more gently to Butte Pass. It's part of the Monument Creek Trail, marked yellow on the above map I drew later. By then, I was so tired of the obstacle course, decided to follow the "trail", despite of extra elevation loss. It also gave me a chance to refill water. Getting hot.
At the bottom of the valley, I filtered 1L water. Worried about water source later, I filled my squeeze bag with another 1L of water. It took me a lot of time looking for the "trail". The bottom is more bushy. I fell on some boulder, broke my only pole. Found the "trail" at times, and soon lost it again and again, and eventually I gave up on the trail, and scrambled upwards. When I next need to drink, I realized that I lost my water bottle! Now I had only 1L of unfiltered water.
Near Butte Pass, I heard a voice, and then a guy, cowboy camping, asked me if I were lost. No, just tired. By then, there's again a trail to follow, even though faint, and I lost it from time to time.
From Butte Pass, no more scrambling.
Below (south of) Butte Pass, there's this lovely pond at the headwater of this seasonal creek that flows into Monument Creek.
Filled my water. It was already 5:30pm. Way past my estimated 3pm rendezvous time.
About an hour later, I reached Shellrock Pass.
There's a patch of snow just by the trail (well engineered trail here).
I sat here, cooked dinner with snow. Then, I read my book, waiting for O.K.
By the progress of my afternoon, I could imagine her getting delayed by the trail condition.
My phone died. I didn't want to turn on the other phone until tomorrow morning. I don't know exactly when O.K. showed up, but the sun was getting quite low. We discussed about tomorrow. I told her that I'd skip Blackcap, because it's still ~15 miles to get to TH, and it's a long drive home. We could see Blackcap from here very well, and it doesn't look easy. She was reluctant, but finally decided to lower her ambition, and go out with me. We hiked down and camped at the headwater of Eureka Creek. It was a bit swampy in the meadow. We pitched tent in the bushes. The ground is rocky, not the best. But it is very pretty.
7/4, Tuesday.
Very pretty in the morning, but lots of bugs.
I now have an empty 0.5L container (finished my food for dinner), which I can now store filtered water.
I packed up and started hiking ~7:20am, because I want to avoid afternoon heat as much as possible (it's supposed to be hotter still).
But not too early, so my tent was dry.
O.K. wanted to enjoy her time here, and leave later.
The trail is on the other side of the pond. Faint at time.
Nothing interesting to log for the rest of the hike. All on trail, even though quite a few of these down trees blocking the trail.
I ran into a couple going towards Lost (their 3rd attempt).
Also talked to one guy camping by the trail (in the shade).
He looks familiar. I met him at Dot Lake.
He said his climbing partners (a couple) are doing Lago today. He climbed it 20 some years ago, and didn't want to repeat it.
He packed up quickly and we hiked together to the pass near Doris Lake, where he'd go for a swim and then wait for his friends.
I took a long break at the junction where O.K. missed on the way in. She caught up with me there.
At the river crossing, while we were drying our feet and sandals, a family of 4 came in. A teenage girl and a younger brother. The girl found a crossing lower, without taking her shoes off. They all carried helmets.
By the time we reached the car, it was almost 5pm. Dusty and tired. O.K. wanted to go to Playa Bonita in Allington. My phone doesn't have enough signal in Mazama to make a call. Called from Newhalem. The restaurant would be closed when we arrive (7/4 holiday). She ate at Mundo in Marblemount. I drove to Arlington for gas. I was feeling sleepy, and it was getting dark. So she drove the rest. We didn't get home until well past 10pm.
7/5, Tuesday. O.K. didn't leave until ~9am, and she had to pay for the meter. She went to climb Lundi today before going home.
