Mount Forgotten Pond

I returned from my trip up Pearsall Creek on Monday, the 19^th. On Tuesday, we started working ten hour days at work. This necessitated me getting out of bed at 4:30 a.m. every day when I could have used all of the rest and sleep I could get to recover from the trip.

I had planned to do a four day trip the following weekend from the 23^rd to the 26^th. The weather forecast was a little sketchy for that weekend. Possible showers both days. I don’t mind getting wet every now and then but quite often, when there are wet weather systems moving through, the clouds are so low that they obscure the landscape.

I have read in several photography books that, under these conditions, you can get some of your best dramatic photos. This is true but sometimes you don’t see anything but a fog bank.  I don’t mind getting wet every now and again but I don’t like getting wet and not being able to see anything. A fog bank looks like a fog bank and I have gotten past the point in my life where I want to invest a lot of time and effort just to look at a white out.

At the beginning of every hiking season, I look at the calendar and figure out how many potential weekends I have to do trips into the mountains. This year, I figured it to be about 13 weekends. Several weekends were used to do hay and then several more for day trips to get in shape and one burned trip to Upper Noisy Creek.

I was hoping to get a lot done in August but ended up with one aborted trip up Sonny Boy Creek and the trip up Pearsall Creek that was an unsuccessful attempt. So I was nearing the end of August without having gotten into any lakes or ponds that I had not already been to. And it looked like this weekend was going to be iffy or an outright washout.

In addition, at work, we were supposed to work overtime over the weekend and Sunday was Sacha’s birthday. As a compromise I decided to take Friday off work and do a day hike into a little pond at about 5500 feet in elevation on the east side of Mount Forgotten. This way I would be available for work on the weekend and I would be around for Sacha’s birthday.

The little pond on the east side of Mount Forgotten drains to the Sauk River and it was one of the few remaining day hikes remaining where I could somewhere that I hadn’t already been. I had hoped to combine it over several days with a trip into South Lake which is nearby, below Stillaguamish Peak but this wasn’t possible at this point. The day was kind of cloudy but the nice thing about this area is that it isn’t too remote. So I figured that if everything was socked in, I could come back under nicer conditions some other day.

I took the Mountain Loop Highway over Barlow Pass and hiked up the Perry Creek trail. Trail walking is quite easy compare to off-trail walking with one exception. I find it hard to pace myself. Off trail, you have to stop frequently to figure out where you want to go or how you will deal with some obstacle. On a trail, the way is already figured out for you and most of the obstacles have been cleared so you, or at least I, end up resting less.

Sacha had mentioned something about a climber’s route up Mount Forgotten and a sign at the trailhead made mention of the area’s use by climbers and, sure enough, when I got to the point where the map said the trail officially ended, a trail continued on through some small meadows and on toward Mount Forgotten.

I assumed that this was the climbing route but I didn’t know where it started up the mountain to the summit. I didn’t really want to go all the way to the top of the mountain and have to double back to get to the pond so I cut off the climber’s route and went around the west and north sides of the mountain. I figured that if the climber’s route did go past the pond I could always follow it back. The off-trail route I took was fairly easy going but required going almost all the way around the mountain from where I cut off the climber’s route.

Sure enough, when I go to the pond, there was the climber’s route. I followed this back and easily cut an hour off my travel time.

I didn’t see any amphibians at the pond. I did see lots rock rabbits starting at about 2000 feet along the new section of trail all the way up to 5400 feet on Mount Forgotten. I also saw what I thought were goat wallows on the west side of the mountain on the off trail route.

The views were pretty good but the clouds were pretty low, hiding a lot of what I could have seen. Glacier Peak is supposed to be visible from the meadows near Mount Forgotten but it was hidden from view the whole time I was there.

The rock in this area is interesting. It looks like the rock one finds around old volcano craters. Two such craters that I know about off the top of my head are Round Lake over by Mount Pugh and the area around Hannegan Pass and the head of the Chilliwack River.

I’m not really good with identifying most rocks so I don’t know if this stuff is basalt, breccia or volcanic tuff or maybe a little bit of each. A lot of this rock has an interesting erosion pattern. The eroded rock is very angular but its edges are not usually sharp. There is also a lot of what looked like pumice lower on trail, very porous rock that looks like swiss cheese. This rock is quite heavy though as compared to some pumice which is so light that it will float. I am sure there has been something written about the geology of this area. I may have even read it once but, if I did, I don’t remember it.

On another note of interest, the new section of the Perry Creek trail goes through a burn 80 to 100 years old. In some spots there are a number of surviving large old growth Douglas-firs, some probably 6 foot or more dbh with fire blackened bark mixed in with the second growth trees many of which are around 3 foot dbh. The are also a couple of old logging units about 50 to 60 years old near the section of road that is now blocked off from the Mountain Loop Highway and where the trail takes off from this abandoned road.

In all, I probably did about 12 miles Friday. I didn’t get much of a rest when I got back. We were working overtime and the weekend on a ten hour day schedule. This meant I needed to get up at 4:30 a.m. when I would have rather been sleeping. To make things worse, the second night I was back, a bunch of coyotes started howling right next to house at about 2:00 a.m., making it pretty much impossible to sleep until it was time to get up. I wrote first draft of this post that evening in a foggy mental haze even worse than my normal summertime foggy mental haze.  

I don’t know if cancelling the long trip this last weekend was the right call. There was no real rain on Saturday but the clouds were very low everywhere, obscuring much of what one would see in the mountains. Most of Sunday was nice but it clouded up and rained hard at night and again on Monday. I spent a lot of Saturday and Sunday grumbling because the sun was shining, thinking I could have been out. Of course I didn’t grumble as much when I saw how low the clouds were and I grumbled even less when it started raining.

P. S. Another sign of the season. I saw the first humpy or pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in Diobsud Creek while walking the dog on Monday night. There is more rain in the forecast. Often if the rain increases stream flow, the salmon really start to move in to spawn. In a few more weeks and I will have to keep a very close eye on Skyeball because she loves to roll in rotten salmon carcasses.

Why I try to avoid going out if it is likely to be socked in. This is King Lake in up near Illabot Creek. I took this on my way out from a trip into the head of Illabot Creek and Buck Creek in 2010. I was on my way out.  

This was taken while I was on my way into Ninety-nine Basin up near Hart's Pass also in 2010. Doesn't look much different from King Lake, at least according to this photo. 

New section of the Perry Creek trail. This is an old burn probably 80-100 years old. 

New section of the Perry Creek trail. Two Douglas-firs 4 to 5 foot in diameter that survived the fire as evidenced by the fire blackened bark. 

New section of the Perry Creek trail. More fire survivors. These Douglas-firs are also 4 to 5 feet or more in diameter. 

New section of the Perry Creek trail. Two fire killed western red cedar snags. 

New section of the Perry Creek trail. Second growth forest in the old burn. Note all (4) of the fire killed Douglas-firs snags. 

New section of the Perry Creek trail. Second growth forest in the old burn with a fire killed old growth western red cedar snag. 

New section of the Perry Creek trail in the old burn. This is a second growth Douglas-fir snag.  Not every tree that germinates reaches a large size. Natural thinning processes kill trees in forests of all ages. This tree may have been killed by a number of causes including pathogenic fungi, insects, drought and being shaded out by larger trees. This snag has a number of woodpecker holes made as the woodpecker searched for insects that were eating the dead wood of the snag. I am not sure which species of woodpecker made these holes. The holes that pileated woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) make that I am familiar with are usually larger and rectangular with corners that look square. These hole may have been made by one of our medium sized species like the hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus) or the northern flicker (Colaptes auratus). I think each species makes a unique hole so any relatively sharp birder would know what made these holes at a glance. 

New section of the Perry Creek trail in the old burn.  This is a patch of second growth Douglas-fir that has been killed by some agent. Patches like this let more light into the forest floor encouraging forbs, shrubs and seedling shade tolerant trees to grow, eventually creating a multi layered canopy typical of old growth forests. 

New section of the Perry Creek trail near where it connects to the recently abandoned road. Second growth forest in an old logging unit 50 to 60 years old. 

Perry Creek trail beyond the recently abandoned road. Second growth forest in an old logging unit 50 to 60 years old. 

Perry Creek trail beyond the recently abandoned road. Second growth forest in an old logging unit 50 to 60 years old. The Douglas-fir stump near the center of this frame has been notched probably for a guy line for a spar tree or a logging tower. 

Perry Creek trail beyond the first talus slope the trail goes through. The last logging unit ended at the first talus slope in the valley. 

Perry Creek Falls. I had to get off the trail and walk down a bit to get his photo. This is the upper falls. I was standing at the top of another waterfall as I was taking this photo. 

Old growth Douglas-fir snag with shrubs growing in its broken top. 

Close up of previous photo. I think these shrubs may be fool's huckleberry (Menziesia ferruginea) or some other member of the family Ericaceae which includes blueberries and huckleberries. Many or most members of this family have mutualistic relationships with fungi that allow them to grow on very nutrient poor substrates like dead wood. 

Mount Forgotten from the area where maps indicate the trail end. The trail continues on all the way to the mountain from here. 

Lewis Peak shedding clouds. This photo was taken from meadows near Mount Forgotten. 

Wildflowers in meadows near Mount Forgotten. The blues are arctic lupine (Lupinus arcticus), the yellows are probably Arnica, an aster or sunflower and the whites are American bistort (Polygonum bistortoides).

The north twin of Twin Peaks with Bedal Peak in the clouds in the background. 

The off trail route I took along the west side of Mount Forgotten. 

Close up of some of the rock of Mount Forgotten. 

Rock eroded from Mount Forgotten.

A patch of granite amidst the other rock eroded from Mount Forgotten. I don't know if granite is considered volcanic in nature by geologists. It is formed by magma that is not erupted and cools very slowly over millions of years when the source of new magma is cut off. 

The very tip of Stillaguamish Peak just visible over a ridge from the west side of Mount Forgotten. 

Mountain goat wallows on the west side of Mount Forgotten. 

Close up of rock eroded from Mount Forgotten. The lighter rock I think might be breccia or welded tuff. It is a kind of conglomerate with larger rock particles (black and white) in a matrix of fine particles. Note the surrounding reddish brown rock is very angular but it edges are not sharp. This looks very similar to me to rock that I have seen around old volcano craters in other areas.

The Sauk River from the east side of Mount Forgotten. Mount Pugh is hiding in the clouds just to the right of the center of the frame. Whitechuck Mountain is in the clouds to the left side of the frame. 

My destination pond at about 5500 feet on the east side of Mount Forgotten. 

The climber's route goes up the draw at the left side of this frame. 

Whitechuck Mountain in one of the few moments it was cloud free. 

Mount Pugh still hiding in the clouds. I never did get a photo with the clouds relatively free of Mount Pugh. 

Sloan Peak hiding in the clouds. The view of Sloan Peak is probably quite nice from here. Glacier Peak is also supposed to be visible from Mount Forgotten (I am sure it is because it dominates the landscape in these parts) but I didn't see any sign of it. 

Natural bonsai tree on cliff edge along climber's route. Bedal and Sloan Peaks in background. 

Mount Forgotten from nearby meadows. 

Dickerman Mountain to the right and Lewis Peak in the clouds in the background from the meadows near Mount Forgotten. 

Pearsall Creek

Sunday and Monday, August 18^th and 19^th I made an attempt to get into a couple of small ponds perched at about 5040 feet in elevation and draining to the South Fork of the Sauk River.

I had been looking at these ponds or tarns on a map for a number of years. Any route into them was going to be tough. They are surrounded by steep ground on all sides. A likely route that I had chosen involved going up Pearsall Creek which drains to Elliot Creek on the South Fork of the Sauk River. Elliot Creek drains Goat Lake, site of an old mining camp and hotel and a popular hike off the Mountain Loop Highway.

I was a bit dubious about the route up Pearsall Creek. The USGS 7.5 minute quad indicated that the Pearsall valley would probably be pretty brushy, starting at about 2600 feet. It definitely looked like an overnighter. I had to take care of some other things Saturday so I started out Sunday and took Monday off from work.

I was right about the brush. This wasn’t the worst brush bash I have ever been on but it was pretty bad. I went up the east side of the creek valley where there are almost continuous talus slopes or rock slides interspersed with avalanche chutes.

In the places where the talus was bare, the going was relatively easy although I believe I encountered more large rocks that shifted under my weight than I ever have anywhere else. I probably stepped on four or five rocks that looked solid only to have them roll over in an instant. These rocks were weathered gray and had been in the same position for years, long enough that a thick covering of moss and lichen had grown on them just like the surrounding rocks. It happens occasionally that such large rocks are balanced so well that your weight can shift them but this is usually quite rare. I was lucky not to have a leg pinned or crushed.

In the places where the talus was grown over, the going was pretty miserable. Vine maples were the most common type of brush growing in the avalanche chutes. In my opinion, vine maple is the worst kind of brush to deal with. The way it grows and branches especially after being hammered by avalanches makes a nearly impenetrable mass. In areas not covered with vine maples, there were thick ferns mixed with salmonberry and devil’s club. This made it hard to see where I was putting my feet on ground that was always uneven with rocks and logs. I frequently fell after putting my foot in a hole between some rocks or sliding off unseen rocks or logs while at the same time grabbing something that put thorns in my hands or fingers. Then I would have to laboriously right myself like some turtle that had been flipped over onto its back. 

It took me 5 hours to cover a distance of a little more than a mile and a half, sweating profusely all the while. This was true wilderness walking, no trail, no sure footing where you have to choose almost every single step and figure out what route to take around various obstacles. The Goat Lake hike is very popular and there were 14 vehicles at the trailhead when I left. It didn’t look like anyone had been up this valley, which is just off the Goat Lake Trail, in years.  

There were rock rabbits or pikas all over the place. I saw dozens and their calls were almost constant on my way up the valley. I saw seven mountain goats  on a large snowfield at about 3800 feet and a small black bear just ten minutes later. I also saw several toads and some tailed frog tadpoles. There were a number of goat wallows and trails and goat wool on brush in the area. I think this spot might be attractive to them because there is a constant cool breeze blowing off the snowfield that would keep temperatures and biting insects down.

I camped for the night near the snowfield and made an attempt to get into the ponds the next day which was Monday. After breakfast, I made my way to the pass at the head of Pearsall Creek only to find that my way was blocked only about 400 feet in elevation and a quarter of mile from my goal.

The ground was too steep. There was a goat trail that led up in the direction I wanted to go but it was a nearly vertical climb. I think it would have been pretty easy for someone skilled in rock climbing but I am not a climber and this spot was beyond my capabilities.

It was really discouraging to have to turn back after getting so close. This is not an uncommon experience for me. Last year I finally made it into one lake after five attempts over many years and two more after three attempts over three separate weekends. So I headed back to regroup. So far 2013 looks to be a pretty inauspicious year, two failed trips in two weeks. The year isn’t over yet but it looks bleak from this point in time.

Tuesday we started working ten hour overtime days. So I had to get up at about 4:30 a.m. I spent a lot of that day in an exhausted haze.  

Small western toad (Bufo boreas) that I saw at the beginning of the trip. Overall I saw three toads on this trip. 

Pearsall Creek at its confluence with Elliiot Creek. 

Pearsall Creek in its lower, timbered end. 

The first of the overgrown talus slopes I encountered in the Pearsall Creek valley. The ferns and brush don't look like much here but they were chest high or higher, hiding lots of holes between rocks and making the footing treacherous. It took me about 45 minutes to reach the patch of trees just up the valley at the center of this frame. The small tree in the foreground to the left of center of the frame is a subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa). The elevation here is about 2600 feet, much lower than you would ordinarily find this species except in talus slopes where it often occurs at much lower elevations. 

The view from inside a vine maple patch. I saw a lot of this on my way up Pearsall Creek valley. The brush is not only hard to move through, but it obstructs your view and makes it hard to navigate. 

A patch of open talus. More treacherous footing. Several large rocks in this slope kicked out from under me. If I had been pinned, these rocks would have been too big for me to move. My destination at the head of the valley is visible here but still several hours away.  

View down Pearsall Creek valley from about the halfway point. Vine maples, lady ferns and devil's club. 

View up Pearsall Creek valley from about the halfway point. 

View down Pearsall Creek valley from near the top. Whitechuck Mountain in the distance. 

The tail end of the last of seven mountain goats (Oreamnus americanus) that I saw. I only had a chance to make a quick count while fumbling for my camera. By the time it was out they had all disappeared up a side ravine. 

Enlarged view of previous photo. The goat's rump is more visible here. 

I went quickly upslope and managed to see the goats again in the timber above the ravine. Again, a goat's rump in the center of the frame. 

Enlarged view of previous photo. 

Finally, a glimpse of the front end of a goat, though not a very good one I admit. 

I saw this black bear (Ursus americanus) not ten minutes after the goats. It was pretty small, I guessed 150 pounds or so. I was upwind of it and it walked almost right into me, within 30 yards. As soon as it figured out I was there, it took off which suited me just fine. 

Whitechuck Mountain shedding clouds just before sunset from my camp. 

The view up the valley from my camp. My goal was the low saddle to the right of the rock point. 

Shed mountain goat wool caught on a small subalpine fir. 

The view down Pearsall Creek valley from the saddle at the top. Whitechuck Mountain is in the distance to the left of center frame, Mount Pugh is to the right of center frame. 

My stopping point. The ponds or tarns I was trying to get into were only about one quarter to one half mile away and 400 feet higher up. The lighter area on the rock is a goat trail. This is probably child's play for a rock climber but it was beyond my nerves and capabilities to keep going. Some of this is nearly vertical. 

Western rattlesnake root (Prenanthes alata). This member of the Aster family is interesting to me. It is not rare but, then again, you just don't see it everywhere like some other species. I ran into some copperbrush (Cladothamnus pyroliflorus) further down the valley and it is the same way. 

Mountain goat wallow or dust bath. At least I assume that is what this is. I have seen a lot of these with shed wool and hair and goat tracks. Evidently mountain goats have penchant for dust baths like buffalo and cattle do. I have heard this helps keep the biting insects down. 

Tailed frog (Ascaphus truei) tadpole in tributary stream to Pearsall Creek mid-valley in the talus and avalanche chute area. This stream was only watered at the valley wall and went dry several hundred feet below. The main stem of Pearsall Creek was dry in this area as well. By the time I had packed my camera, this tadpole had worked its way completely out of the water while eating the algae on the rock. 

Butterfly or moth. I think this might be a butterfly known as a Parnassian but I haven't had a chance to try to identify it. 

My right forearm after getting out. This is why I always wear heavy long-sleeved shirts and long pants. You still get scratched but not as much. I will end up packing around several salmonberry thorns in several of my fingers for weeks. 

My shoes at the end of the trip. They were retired from hiking service after being worn for several months.