Converse in the North Cascades: 2019

2019 was a very bad year for me, possibly the worst in my memory at least as far as explorations in the mountains go. I only made it into seven lakes this year that counted for my project. I went into about twice that many total but these either didn’t drain to the Skagit or I had already been to them. The weather was extraordinarily bad. I think I only got one or two weekends where there wasn’t weather of some sort. And everything in general seemed to be a struggle this year. I could count on something going wrong on almost every endeavor I undertook. Fortunately nothing catastrophically bad happened so I really don’t have much to complain about. I was very disappointed with the progress on my high lake project though. Once again, the following posts are my largely unedited “wall of words”. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time or inclination to do much editing.

Break In Trip July 6^th

Summer starting off pretty badly. Only got one stretch of hay weather. Still waiting to get rest of hay in. Several loads of logs blew down last winter and need to get them out of the woods but waiting on machine. Don’t know when that is going to happen but might cut into time to do mountain trips later. Decided to walk Downey Creek to Bachelor Creek for break in trip. After taking kids fishing, walked from mom’s to Diobsud Creek trail and about a mile and a quarter up trail-probably about 5 plus miles total with no pack. Downey to Bachelor Creek 13.2 miles. Carried pack about 50 pounds. Made good time. Took about six and a half hours. Thighs started cramping last 2 miles. Kind of surprised. Had been working out hamstrings and these were okay. Knees hurt a little but not bad. Sound track in my head (I don’t wear ear buds): Chainsmokers and Phoebe Ryan, This Is All We Know and Chainsmokers and Coldplay, Something Just Like This and several others that I don’t remember as of this writing. Saw some camp robbers (gray jays) and a Cascades frog. Lots of birds, Swainson’s thrush, varied thrush, winter wren several woodpeckers.

Brushing Trip July 12^th

Wanted to try to get into ponds near head of Pearsall Creek again. Two previous attempts failed. Area incredibly brushy-took 5-6 hours to travel a mile or a little more in this country. Decided to take a day or two and brush out a route up Pearsall Creek in order to save some time and effort. Previous trip in 2013 physically exhausting and didn’t have mental resilience due to physical exhaustion when came to hardest part of trip and gave up pretty easily. Hoped brushed route would leave me in better shape mentally when it came to hard part. Had done break in trip weekend before so figured I should be in pretty good shape for this trip. Turned down about $640 dollars in overtime to do trip. Andy Z had told me he was interested in going and showed up at 6:00 a.m. right on time. Hope he didn’t turn down a bunch of overtime to help. I was starting to feel major effects of cold contracted from gaggle of young kids earlier in week. Started feeling sore at back of nose afternoon of day before. This day throat was getting sore and started feeling some sinus congestion and a bit of loss of concentration due to disorientation of plugged sinuses. Guts were pretty messed up too. Not much of an appetite and several bouts with diarrhea. First part of trip when I start to exert myself always feel bad, like there is no way I am going to make it. Today felt even worse, Hell warmed over. Finally got into decent rhythm. Got to first slide patch at about 9:30 a.m. and started brushing. At start not too bad, heavy ferns which are actually fairly easy to walk through except that you can’t see where your feet are and this makes it hard to walk, especially since the ground is always uneven under the vegetation and you step in holes that you can’t see occasionally. First patch of salmonberry and vine maple tougher. Small patch of timber after that and a short reprieve at about 10:30 a.m. Continued on after a short break. Now solid vine maples and very difficult. After hacking for over an hour reached spot where had to decide to go above or below large rock. Tried looking ahead but nothing in view in sea of vine maple. Decided to go below large rock and, fortunately, after a bit saw small patch of talus about 100 feet below. Took half hour or better to cut through to it. This talus connected to larger talus slope with fairly light brush between. Got to big talus patch at 1:00 p.m. and had lunch and rest. Whole time fairly uncomfortable with sinuses now well plugged and lots of pressure on them. Started back in at far side of large talus slope at 2:00 p.m. Mostly ferns again. Only got about 100 feet before forearm started cramping uncontrollably. Tried to push through it for a while but finally had to give up. Andy took over chopping duties and I took over swamping out path. Only got another 100 feet or so when left thigh cramped. Had to rest several minutes. Cramp finally let up and continued on, now paranoid that the damn thing would cramp again. In previous years had had issues with hamstrings cramping at start of season before I was fully in shape so made a point of working out hamstrings in off season this year and didn’t have any issues. Guess I have to work everything from now on. Brushed until about 3:00 p.m., through another small patch of vine maple to another talus slope. Still had several brush patches to go through to get to clear ground but all we had time for this day. Figured it would be good enough. About halfway in a little more than a mile probably. Would just have to bash through the remaining brush patches when came back in. Took about 45 minutes on the way out to cover ground that we had spent four and a half hours brushing. Stopped at creek for drink before heading rest of way out. Throat was so raw that water stung as it went down. Made to trail without issue. Walked log over Elliot Creek with no problem. Legs felt like lead but was able to maintain steady pace out. Only occasional hint of cramp here and there. By time got back to rig and started down road, ears became plugged and could barely hear anything. Got home about 6:30 p.m. After dinner lay down on couch to rest for a bit. Everything seemed fine until tried to get up after short nap. Both thighs cramped instantly. Not worst pain I have ever felt but nonetheless very intense. Interesting thing is that cramps seemed to make me hyper sensitive to cold. Window open and breeze through it cool but not cold but still caused me to shiver uncontrollably. Cramps finally passed. Took a couple of cramp pills and no more cramps. Next day though could tell that legs had been hammered day before. Don’t know if cramping due to not quite being in shape yet, or effects of cold and not drinking enough water or both.

Scouting Trip July 20^th, 21^st

Break in weather starting on Friday the 19^thso figured on being able to get rest of hay for winter during during this break. Had two days so decided to scout route we had brushed previous week. Didn’t expect to get all the way into destination ponds had been to this spot before and been cliffed out, just wanted to look again and re-evaluate. Had kicked the cold I had the week before and figured I should be in pretty good shape at this point and would be able to do trip and get back with energy to spare. Parking lot crowded on Saturday which wasn’t surprising. Made decent progress up trail but still felt a little sluggish and gross. Got to talus slopes and brushed trail a little before noon but no appetite so decided to push on. Became quite obvious that I wasn’t in shape yet to be packing full pack. Footing treacherous even in brushed areas and talus. Ground constantly shifting underfoot or stepped in holes. Talus covered with heavy growth of reindeer moss and several other species-very slick. Saw bear across valley about 100 yards away in brushy patch. It stayed in about same spot for quite a while. Heard rotten wood breaking so figured it was working a log for insects or insect larvae. This was about noon, in the middle of the day at first big patch of talus. Wrung sweat out of bandanna. Slogged on to end of brushed area. Two more bad brush patches to get through before some relatively open ground on talus and stream channels. Got through brushy patches and was really dragging. Continued on. Wore white ox gloves this time and glad for it because saved my hands quite a bit though discovered black swamp gooseberries (Ribes lacustre) thorns seemed to penetrate them pretty easily though devil’s club and salmonberry did not. Finally on the home stretch, within half to a quarter of a mile from where I planned to camp. Going up slope and had thought that as tired as I was, at least I wasn’t getting any cramps, whereupon my thighs promptly began cramping. Finally had to stop and rest for about 15 minutes. Took a couple of cramp pills. Had drunk a lot of tonic water on the way up but had apparently sweated it all out. Continued on after resting, taking care not to push too hard and made it to camp spot without any more cramps. Located water-had to go up valley about 100 yards to large snowfield. Walked a little farther to look at a possible route. Didn’t look good. Went back down and set up tent. Whole area an alluvial fan with fairly coarse rock but was able to find an excellent spot with hollow for hips and two rocks on either side of waist that kind of contained my body. Removed one larger rock in the middle and good to go. Ground cushioned by partridge foot (Luetkea pectinata) and lady fern. Excellent sleeping spot-probably one of the top ten I have ever slept in. Next morning got going at about 6:30 a.m. Legs felt okay-a little stiff but not too sore. Felt a little sluggish but chalked it up to early morning. Had pretty severe coughing fit after breakfast but seemed to be okay after. Started up toward pass. Still felt a little sluggish but figured it was just stiffness from previous day. Got to pass. Sure enough pretty much how I remembered it. Goat trail. Goat wool on brush and small trees and goat tracks in scree at bottom of rock face. Rock face was a little steeper than I was comfortable with. Had climbed many things this steep but not in the middle of nowhere with no help for miles. Studied it for while. Climbed short distance up, as far as I was comfortable and came back down, just missing pulling a large loose rock down on myself. At that point, ready to concede I would probably never get into those ponds. Plan had been to take some rock climbing lessons and re-evaluate whether I wanted to try the rock face or not. Standing right there ready to throw in towel. Didn’t want to orphan kids or make Sacha widow. Definitely not worth it. Pretty steady wind blowing-cool but not too cold. Had expected a little colder wind in morning. Started back down. Got to another stream whose channel led up to ridge opposite the one I was trying to get over. Had planned earlier on going up this channel to get better look at ridge. Google earth photos stitched together right on ridge so photos very blurry and distorted. If I could get up on opposite ridge and look, I could get more information. Debated whether I wanted to try or not. After 5 or 10 minutes running it over in my mind I decided to try. Several hundred feet up ran into spot where I would have to go through slick, steep wet spot and called it quits. Could have gotten through this spot but good chance of injury, especially coming down and judged it to, again, not be worth the risk. Started back down again. Saw another western toad. Saw one on way in this trip near confluence of Pearsall Creek and Elliot Creek. Always see western toads in this area. Got back to camp at 11:30 and realized that, no matter what I thought I should feel like, I was really tired. Feet already burning because socks I brought and changed into the night before were thread-bare and I had done a lot of side-hilling. Also realized that the stupid cold that I thought I had kicked was still in my lungs with a vengeance. I was coughing every several minutes and my head had begun to have a slight ache from it. Broke down tent and sat in spot where I slept night before. It felt really good except that the sun was getting pretty hot. Close to lunch time but didn’t have much of an appetite. Decided to go to next side stream down and eat lunch there. After lunch continued down valley. Really tired and feet and shoulders hurt. No help for it, I needed to get out that day. Worked way slowly through talus. Wasn’t looking forward to brushy areas but knew that I had enough strength and energy to get through them even though I was tired. It just wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience. Took half hour to 45 minutes to work through the first brush patch. At one point lost footing and rolled over like giant turtle with pack on my back to point where I was almost upside down. Could feel stuff starting to fall out of my pockets. Worried about losing pickup keys which were in one pocket. After a few minutes of struggling and floundering managed to right myself and continue on. Second brush patch wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. After that I was at talus patch that we had brushed to the week before. Travel much easier from this point though I was also pretty much in pure misery. Seemed like everything hurt, not excruciating but low level discomfort everywhere. Stopped at next big talus patch to get a drink and decided to check thermometer. Thermometer said temperature was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Thought reading might be a little on the high side because it was in the top of my pack which was made of black fabric and was exposed to direct sunlight and thermometer wasn’t greatest to start with. At any rate, it was still pretty hot, especially since the early summer had been so cool I hadn’t had a chance to acclimate my body to hotter weather. No help for any of that so continued on. Mind was on reaching the trail and ultimately my rig when I could finally get a rest. Tried not to dwell on that too much, still had a good distance to go until that point. Took off pack and refilled water jug when I reached timber line. Much cooler under timber. Took about 45 minutes to trail from bottom of talus slopes. Slogged along trail at a little slower pace than usual but tried to keep steady pace. Got to rig at a little after 5:00 p.m. At start of trip had planned to be out early this day with plenty of energy to take care of a few chores, trash to dump, mow lawn, walk dog, water cows etc. So much for those plans. Did go up and water cows but dog didn’t get walk and nothing else got done. Got home at about 7:00 p.m.

Sound track in mind-Katy Perry, Its Never Over, Panic! At the Disco, Hey Look Ma I Made It, Chainsmokers and Rozes, Roses, Van Halen, Dance the Night Away, Colin James, Five Long Years, Ava Max, Sweet but Psycho, Katy Perry, Teenage Dream and many more.

Looking up valley at head of Pearsall Creek. Saddle or notch where I was going to attempt to get over ridge is near center frame. Path that Andy and I had brushed out the week before is in the foreground. In this particular area the vegetation was mostly ferns.

Looking down Pearsall Valley at Whitechuck Mountain.

Looking up valley near head of Pearsall Creek at crag. This crag was far from the highest point on the ridge.

Brush where path had not been cut.

More brush. Even though I had to go through less brush on this trip there was still plenty to bash through.

B.C. Trip July 26^th, 28^th

Had two different possibilities for this trip. Rain or showers forecast for Friday night, otherwise weather supposed to be good Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Wanted to go into small lake/pond on Sumallo River on a day trip, car camp in pickup under canopy and then walk Ghostpass Lake Trail on Saturday when everything was liable to be wet. The small lake/pond route would be through a lot of brush which would be soaking wet even if it only rained a little so I thought conditions would be better if I could stay on a trail. Then Sunday explore another abandoned road on Sumallo River. This all depended on whether I got far enough on Friday to have time to do the first day trip. Alternative would be to go into Clerf Lake on Klesilkwa River on Friday, then over the ridge to the west to another small lake then back out on Sunday. If I was running late, I would still have time to get into Clerf Lake on Friday but I was liable to be wet and miserable for a good part of Saturday. The theme of this whole trip was that I pretty much wasn’t mentally prepared. Figured if I could get to jump off point on Sumallo River by about 2:00 p.m., I would have time to get in and out in a day. I got there at about 2:30 and figured that would be close enough. That would give me about 7 hours to do the trip before complete dark. It wasn’t too far in but a lot of it was over an abandoned logging road that had brushed in. Someone a year or two prior had cut a path through the tag alders part way up the road but I figured I would pretty much be on my own with the brush for about half of the trip. The other wild card was that there were several spurs off the logging road so there was a chance that I would end up on the wrong road in all the brush. Started out with the usual feeling like I was going to die and doubting that I ever could get in feeling as awful as I did. As usual, finally got limbered up and joints all oiled up and felt okay. Right hip and knee hurting a bit but no more than usual. Road grade pretty obvious and a lot of spots weren’t too bad to get through above the brushed out area. Tag alders mostly growing in road and hadn’t been beaten down by winter snows too badly so most of it wasn’t too hard to slip through. Several spots pretty brushy so got out of road and timber was pretty good traveling. In stem exclusion stage, probably about 40 years old or so and not a lot of underbrush and lower limbs on trees dead and not too thick. Hit big avalanche track that road passed through and was able to follow road bed for a good distance before losing it. Wasn’t sure if I had gotten off on wrong spur or a cat road off the main road but decided to continue on. Figured that I was getting pretty close to lake and able to see next patch of timber ahead. Time at this point was a little before 4:00 p.m. Figured I had enough time but wouldn’t have a lot to spare because it was slow, heavy work moving through brush. Then lucked out and stumbled back onto road grade. Still very brushy and in avalanche track but at least it gave me direction to go and one less thing to figure out and it was easier than going through the solid brush. Occasionally saw where branch had been cut, at about the same time as the road below had been more thoroughly brushed. Got to next patch of timber and going was slightly easier but road still full of brush. Found nice going off road in fairly level spot where timber was pretty open underneath. This took me to edge of next avalanche track. Had to navigate a bunch of trees knocked down a few years before by avalanche but figured that I was pretty much at the lake. Time was about 4:30 p.m. But when I got through the knocked down trees found another brush choked avalanche track. Could now see flat where lake sat and talus slope on far side of lake. More heavy going. Large rock at edge of avalanche track where I was and figured that would be a good landmark to navigate back to on the way back. Continued on working my way through tag alder, vine maple, devil’s club salmonberry, red-osier dogwood, black swamp gooseberry (super sharp thorns) etc. so thick that I usually couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead. Finally got down to water’s edge but it wasn’t the lake proper. It was a series of beaver ponds around the lake. These made things tougher. I didn’t trust walking through them, wasn’t sure how deep some were and how deep the soft mud bottoms were. Beavers still active in area and many dams made of willow branches that had rooted and started growing, making my pathways between ponds a solid mass of brush. Finally got to the edge of the lake proper at about 5:30 p.m. Actually it was a big rock at the edge of the lake where I was able to cut away enough tag alders to be able to get up and see. Looked like beaver activity might have as much as doubled surface area of lake. Numerous dead patches of tag alders quite a distance out into lake. Saw some diving ducks of some kind. Probably goldeneyes but not sure at this writing. Have photos by which I can hopefully I.D. Had hoped to be able to explore this lake a bit but entire shore that wasn’t inundated was brush down to and over water’s edge by several feet at least. Talus slope that I had seen earlier on far side from me but it would take an hour or more to work my way over to it and I needed to be heading the other way if I wanted to get out before dark. Supposed to rain that night and I didn’t have any shelter with me. Had lots of wool that I could put on and I would most probably survive but it would be pretty miserable. Started back at about 6:00 p.m. Took two and a half hours to get here. If took same time to get out, would be out at about 8:30 p.m. which would still be light. As long as I could get back to brushed out part of the road before dark I would be in good shape. Could use headlamp and get out pretty easily from that point. Could also use it in more brushy areas as well but would be a bit harder because heavy brush reflects light back, making it harder to see path. Couldn’t see big rock, probably because I couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead. Could see the tops of the trees in the forest patch but couldn’t see anything close to the horizon. Sun went behind ridge which made things cooler but also gloomier, even though I knew I still had several hours until dark. Got to edge of timber and no big rock. Checked uphill, no rock. Cut down hill. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if I missed the road in the brush. I could still follow creek out but it would be the next day before I got out. Lucked out and hit road, a flat spot covered with tag alders in the midst of the timber, in a couple hundred yards. Navigated out pretty well from that point. Found spot where I lost road on the way in. Stream had cut though and left a gravel pile that I took for the road and followed up and off the road. On way back coming from the other direction I was able to stay on road all the way. Got to brushed area at about 7:00 p.m. and back to new logging unit at a little before 8:00 p.m., enough time to take some photos of Silvertip Mountain at the head of the Sumallo River. Got back to rig a at about 8:00 p.m. Pants were covered with green stains where I had pushed through brush and legs had a number of stickers in them where devil’s club, salmonberry and gooseberry managed to penetrate pants though definitely many fewer thorns than if I had been wearing shorts. Rained a little bit overnight. Probably would have been pretty miserable if I had had to spent night out. Next day slow getting out of sleeping bag. Figured it would be a pretty easy day. Going on regular trail that I assumed would be maintained and brushed to some degree. Trail to Ghostpass Lake. Most maps I had showed Ghostpass Lake draining to Sowaqua Creek, Coquihalla River and Fraser but one showed it draining to 18 Mile Creek, Sumallo River and then Skagit. Figured it probably didn’t drain towards Skagit but would be good exercise to keep in shape and I could check it out just in case and also there were several areas that did drain to the Skagit that might be better accessed from this trail so I could check them out. Looking at the map, it was a little over five miles but looked like a fairly flat gradient with a few areas of switchbacks. Got started on trail at about 9:00 a.m. First part of trail follows an old wagon road. Went past a fallen cabin or bunkhouse of some sort. When it turned off the old wagon road, it went right into switchbacks and tread got very narrow. Trail steeper than I had expected. Finally cut around ridge into 18 Mile Creek. One sketchy spot here where trail was very narrow with tight switchbacks on a rock face where, if you slipped off trail, it looked like you could fall several hundred feet. After that, trail in 18 Mile Creek Valley with no steep drop offs but a lot of ups and downs. Trail also fairly brushy with lots of logs. Legs pretty well soaked in short order. At lower crossing of 18 Mile Creek small side stream and slide chute had buried trail under gravel and lots of brush in area. Trail looked like it disappeared. Several flags indicated where it went (whole length of trail was flagged actually) so followed them. Picked up trail pretty easily on other side of creek but it shortly led into large windfall patch where it kind of petered out. Backtracked and saw where people had cut up the hill to avoid windfall patch. Lots of bear scat and moose droppings and tracks in trail but it was obvious that humans had created the side trail around windfalls. No tools used but there is something about the way humans move through the landscape that is different than wildlife. Hard to put a finger on it but it definitely looked like humans had created the trail detour. Shortly after windfalls crossed back over 18 Mile Creek again. Lost trail again right at creek but was able to pick up easily on other side. Trail led through a number of other avalanche tracks and windfall areas but, for the most part was pretty easy to keep track of. Flagging helped. Again, obvious that at least a few people were using trail. Tread was fairly easy to find even in avalanche tracks. Have definitely been on many worse trails but wasn’t mentally prepared for this. Had expected fairly open trail with maybe a few logs here and there that I could walk along without having to try to keep track of where trail was. This requires a lot more concentration and I wasn’t quite prepared mentally to have to put that much effort into it. It was also quite a bit steeper than I had expected. Started worrying about running out of time but pushed on. If I wasn’t careful, there were a number of places that I could lose it above the lower crossing of 18 Mile Creek which, combined with a lack of time could mean spending the night out in the woods. Figured as long as I got back to lower crossing before dusk I would be fine. Had lunch at about 1:00 p.m. Still wet and got cold when stropped moving. Found patch of sunlight through trees to start lunch. Figured it would move off me before I was done eating but felt good while it lasted. Got started going again about 1:30. Came across large tributary coming in from west (right bank) at a little after 2:30 p.m. I think. This stream probably carried over half the flow of 18 Mile Creek at that point. For minute wasn’t sure if trail followed this or not. Seemed like a lot of flow if it headed at Ghostpass which I figured was pretty close at this point. Quick check of map confirmed that this was a tributary and I wanted to continue up the valley heading north. Sure enough, that is where the trail led as well. About another mile or so to Ghostpass. Trail didn’t lead to pass itself but ridge above it. When I crested ridge could see logging unit not too far away. Couldn’t see lake but knew it was close. Trail at this point got pretty hard to follow. Route flagged pretty well but hard to follow trail tread. Got to Ghostpass Lake at 3:30 to 4:00 p.m. So took something like 6 hours to get to this spot. If it took that long to get out, it would get dark on me, which I could deal with but didn’t want to have to. Banking on fact that you usually make a lot better time coming out though figured I would be cutting it pretty close getting back before dark, especially if I lost trail at some point. Didn’t stay long. Long enough to verify that Ghostpass Lake didn’t drain to the Skagit. South end of lake slope upward and wasn’t flat as one would expect if there were an outlet there. Saw some waterfowl, ducks but couldn’t tell what they were. Pretty tired at this point. Legs felt like lead but no help for that. Started back. Pleasantly surprised to find trail much easier to follow coming from this direction. Made good time. Remembered most of the trouble areas where trail was hard to find under windfalls etc. and navigated them pretty well. Only stepped off trail a few times but was able to immediately backtrack and pick it up again. Key when you step off trail like this is to turn back the minute you realize you are no long on the trail and try to find it again. If you keep going once you realize you are off the trail, you stand a chance of losing it for good. Made back to lower crossing of 18 Mile Creek in plenty of time. Legs really felt like lead when started up to go back over ridge out of 18 Mile Creek Valley but I could tell that they wouldn’t cramp. I didn’t have any of the quick twitchiness that seems to be the precursor to cramps. I guess that means I was finally in shape for the year. Got back to trailhead at dusk. Checked out abandonded road on Potter Creek Sumallo River next morning. Brushed in heavily after most recent logging units which were at least 15 years old. Would have to use another route into series of small lakes/ponds in this drainage. Got home in early afternoon and did some weedeating at Community Hall in preparation for salmon barbeque fundraiser next weekend. Cut down and cut up small alder for salmon barbecue.

Looking up Small River at Whitetip Mountain from new logging unit.

Same as previous photo with fireweed in foreground.

Pond or small lake that was my goal on this trip. This photo was taken from the top of a large rock where I had cut a hole in the tag alders large enough to get a view.