About the cover photo: It took me three attempts of between 4 and 5 days each to get into the spot where this photo was taken. On the first two trips I suffered some very painful injuries. This spot is in the Baker River drainage in North Cascades National Park. Do you know the name of the mountain?

Converse hightops on my feet, I traverse the North Cascades in pursuit of my life project to walk into every high lake or pond mapped in the Skagit River watershed. The upper Skagit Valley near Marblemount, WA is my home and has been home to my family since 1888. I have come to feel that the culture of this place, like the culture of much of rural America, is misunderstood by an increasingly urban population and threatened by economic depression. I would like to share the stories of this place and the people who call it home. Through my stories and images of these mountains, my goal is to help others understand and respect both the natural resources and the people of the North Cascades.


Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Summer Trips 2020 Volume I July, August

                               


                               


                               


                                              


                                  

                                  


                                  


I won't spend much time commenting on the strangeness and tragedy of 2020 beyond acknowledging that it happened and everyone has been affected by it to some degree. As of this writing my family has been extremely fortunate and has only had to deal with inconveniences. No tragedies yet. Time will tell if this continues. Another wall of words for anyone who wants to dig through it. Again my apologies but I don't have the time it would take to make the following more presentable.  


Otter Lakes (Hamar and Enjar) 7/25,26/20

 

Sacha and I took the kids into Otter Lakes (Hamar and Enjar up Otter Creek from Slide Lake). I had been wanting to do this for the last several years before Illabot Creek Road finally slides out. Think it would be great if kids followed in my footsteps running around in the mountains but that is for them to decide. Had the thought that this trip and probably some similar future ones might either burn them out or make the experience so commonplace to them that they might not be interested in spending much time in the mountains or even despise the experience when they grow up. However it works out, I figured this would be a good teaching experience in having the patience and perseverance to endure a number of uncomfortable hours in order to reach a goal even if that goal isn’t the most thrilling thing in your particular universe. It is really hard to keep going on a trail (or, especially off trail) trip when you are beset by seemingly endless obstacles and never ending discomfort but you usually have to deal with these things in order to reach your goal. I think there are similar situations in everyday life as well. I expected to have to help them over a number of obstacles. And I expected a whinefest. Sacha carried their tent and sleeping bags, I carried the food along with all of my gear, basically a full pack for myself for several nights out. And the kids carried a change of clothes in their school backpacks. Got a late start. Didn’t get on the trail until about 11:45 a.m. Ate lunch a little before 1:00 p.m. at the head of Slide Lake. From Slide Lake on I got a pretty good workout at times hefting the kids over logs or over small streams and wet areas that they couldn’t get over without getting their feet wet. My feet got wet almost immediately but I figured it wouldn’t be wise to push it with the kids. I figured they would be challenged enough without having their feet wet all day long on top of it. Luckily, they were still light enough that I could usually heft them pack and all over logs and around rough spots. Sometimes I had them take their packs off and they just crawled under logs. When there were no obstacles to navigate the kids did really well walking the trail, rough as it was, even through the brushy avalanche tracks (in these spots it really helped that they were wearing long pants and shirts). I led the way because it took some looking to find the trail in some areas. Generally it was easy to see because it had seen a good bit of use for the year. In one of the avalanche tracks I flashed back to the first time I ever went into Otter Lakes. It was in 1987 or 1988 (’87 I’m pretty sure), between my two hitches in the U.S. Navy. There was a pretty good fisherman’s path back then though quite a bit fainter than it is now. The trip was kind of a big deal. I was going off the built, maintained trail and there was a chance I could get lost. I had done a few fisherman’s trails by that point, Found Lakes and a few more but they were (sometimes still are) a challenge. Since then I have been into Otter Lakes maybe a dozen times. I had the thought that the me of 1987 probably couldn’t have imagined the me of today, bringing my 6 and 8 year old kids along with me. Ironically, my dad encouraged me to write down my experiences in the mountains and I did record that trip. In those days I packed a cast iron skillet and a lot of wet type food (canned chili, stew etc.). On that particular trip, I brought a pound of hamburger. Only I forgot to bring anything to turn the patties with. My fork didn’t work very well so I think I improvised with a wood chip. That story probably still exists somewhere, buried under a lot of other things I haven’t thrown away yet. Unfortunately there weren’t many photos from that era. At the time I didn’t believe I should be taking pictures, preferring to keep the memories of that places I went solely in my head. Things went pretty well with the kids. There weren’t too many meltdowns and these were pretty minor. Except for breaks, which we took pretty regularly, we kept walking so the kids didn’t have a chance to get bored. The whining and “When will we get there?” started to pick up on about the last mile as the kids finally started getting tired along with several dramatic flops to the ground in mock utter exhaustion. We took a break at the large creek just before the last uphill run into the lakes. I tried to get everyone’s spirits up, explaining that we were almost there. It would be a pretty tough uphill climb but once we got done with the uphill we would be at the lower lake. We made it to the lake at about 6:00 p.m. We found a camp spot and pitched our tents. The kids wanted to go wading and had noted several acceptable wading spots when we were looking for a camping spot so they went back to one of those. The sun was already off the lake and it was surprisingly cold so Vashti didn’t stay in the water long. Phoebe didn’t even go in. Mosquitoes were pretty thick but tolerable. Generally the kids seemed to be having a good time. I cooked dinner. The first session was instant mashed potatoes and spam. Vashti, who doesn’t like potatoes ate all of hers (imagine that). Phoebe who doesn’t like meat didn’t eat the spam mixed in with her potatoes (can’t win ‘em all). That wasn’t enough to get everyone full so I had to make a second course of chicken and noodles. Everyone ate all of their helpings of that (Phoebe will eat chicken). We turned in shortly after dinner. The kids wanted to have a fire but there wasn’t a fire ring where we were camped which was heather and highbush blueberry. Someone had gotten there ahead of us and had camped in one of the spots where there was a fire pit. There was another camp with a fire pit a little farther around the lake with a fire pit but it wasn’t as good a place to camp as the spot we chose. I didn’t want to make another fire pit in the heather so we went without. I woke up next day about 5:00 a.m. but decided to go back to sleep. Finally got up at about 7:00. Cooked my typical oatmeal for breakfast and everyone got a share. Fought mosquitoes from the minute I got out of tent. Kids seemed to tolerate the bugs pretty well and didn’t seem any worse for the wear of the day before. After breakfast I rigged my pole and went to fish for a while. Didn’t expect much. Of all the times I have been into these lakes I have only caught fish a few times. Fished for about half an hour and finally got bite but missed. Went a little farther on figuring to head back soon. The day was really warming up. Wore my sweatshirt to bed the night before because of the cold and kept it on in the morning but now I was starting to sweat. Hooked a nice fish at the next spot I stopped. Looked mostly like a rainbow trout but had small red slashes under jaw like cutthroat. The fish I had caught from this lake on previous trips had been westslope cutthroats, or as we always called them, Montana blackspot. So this fish was likely a hybrid. Vashti and Phoebe had followed along and Phoebe wanted to try fishing. I cast for her and handed her the pole. We were spinner fishing so she needed to crank the handle on the reel pretty fast. The reel is an old one that my dad got me when I was twelve and it has seen a lot of years of hard use and has a number of quirks that I am used to but make it difficult for anyone else to use. I didn’t think Phoebe would be able to turn the handle, which is pretty stiff, fast enough to make the spinner work but, to my surprise, she did and she hooked a fish. I was so surprised and excited that I grabbed the pole from her for a second before I realized that she should be the one to reel it in if it stayed on.  So I handed it back and she reeled it in. Her first spin caught fish. She had caught several creek fishing and reeled a few that I had hooked in lakes before but this was her first bona fide catch pretty much on her own. We gathered up the fish and headed out. It was Sunday which is T.V. day and the kids were anxious to get going so they didn’t miss any T.V. time. Sacha and the kids already packed and ready to go but I still needed to take my tent down. Set out thermometer while taking down tent. Packed and ready to go at 9:45 a.m. Thermometer said 90 degrees F or about 35 degrees C. Then I heard the first meltdown. A small child shrieking in the wilderness. They were over where the trail crossed Otter Creek near the lake outlet and a water jug had been carelessly flung into the creek necessitating a scramble to retrieve it before it got washed away and some subsequent unhappiness. It had all pretty much resolved itself by the time I got there. Crossing Otter Creek was a bit tricky but we got it done without mishap. Kids seemed to be a little cranky either from being a little tired from the day before or because of the heat or probably a little of both. You definitely felt the difference in temperature between open avalanche tracks and woods. It was at least ten degrees or more cooler in woods. It is usually faster going out but we made about same pace as the day before. Had several delays. One to put duct tape on hot spots on small feet before they could develop into blisters. The other was for child to pee which didn’t work out well. Pants got peed on which triggered one of the bigger meltdowns of the day. Need to work on bodily functions in the woods skills. Took long break at Slide Lake. Kids had thought about wading but decided not to. Got to trailhead at about 3:30 p.m. Overall I think kids did pretty well on the trip. They did better than I probably would have at their ages. Of course a lot of children of yesteryear or even those today who live in more physically demanding conditions would have thought nothing of the trip. I don’t know if my kids understand or appreciate how hard the trip was or appreciate the place we went to. Being 8 and 6 years old they don’t really have the perspective to evaluate such things. They acted kind of like the trip was something they did every day and they seemed to generally have had a good time except for the lost T.V. time. 


Slide Lake trailhead. I counted 14 vehicles at this trailhead plus one more a little farther down the road and one at Arrow Creek. Some rigs here may be people going into Jordan or Falls Lakes as well. USFS has not kept a usage log on this trail for a number of years. It seems pretty popular but the road is barely passable in several spots. 

The traditional photo spot. We have taken a photo here every year since the first year we brought Vashti in when she was about 8 months old. 

A little drama and faux exhaustion. 

Lower Otter (Enjar) Lake. Sacha and the kids heading for a wading spot. 

Lower Otter (Enjar) Lake. 

The wading spot. The kids didn't stay in too long. It was surprisingly cool. The jackets aren't for the coolness, they are to keep the mosquitoes at bay. 


Looking northwest toward Jordan/Granite Lakes.


Cooking dinner. Vashti doing a little song and dance. 

Returning with water at dusk just before turning i. 

                                       

The next morning. 


                                        

Phoebe's first spin caught fish. 

The catch of the day. The upper fish looks mostly like a rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) but has faint red slashes under the jaw like a cutthroat so may be a hybrid. The lower fish looks like a west slope cutthroat (O. clarkii lewisi). 

Avalanche track on the way out. 


 

Friday Creek Lakes 8/1,2/20

 

Had different plans for weekend, going to scout area above Monte Cristo, going in Friday afternoon but friend thought he might need help with hay on Friday with chance of showers in forecast so I rearranged my plans. There were a few light showers Friday morning but not enough to hurt the hay. Helped put a couple of loads in barn. More people showed up than expected. Plenty of help so I could have gone with original plan but decided to stick with new plan. Spent rest of Friday taking care of chores. Started early Saturday morning. Plan was to take Jackita Ridge Trail to Devil’s Park then over Jackita Ridge into a small lake at the head of Friday Creek which drains to Canyon Creek, Ruby Creek and eventually Ross Lake. There is also an unmapped lake just above the mapped one that I would check out. The trip was somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 or 11 miles and I hoped to get into lakes on Saturday and come out on Sunday. Theoretically very feasible. Have done many trips of this distance in a day. Trouble was that I wasn’t sure that I was quite in shape for it yet. Previous weekend’s trip left me tired and a little stiff but because we moved so slowly, it didn’t really come close to testing my fitness for the year. This trip would probably do that. I also wasn’t any younger than I was last year when I finally got in shape. The lower end of the trail has lots of switchbacks and, though I had done it several times in the past, I had never done it with a full pack. Figured I would have plenty of time in the day to get to the lakes but left early because I wanted to make sure I could wade Canyon Creek. The bridge was out at the Granite Creek Guard Station and if I couldn’t get across Canyon Creek I would have to go three miles back downstream to the East Bank Trailhead and cross Ruby Creek on the bridge there to get on the trail. I was pretty sure I would be able to cross but if I couldn’t, it would set me back a bit. Chugged tonic water on drive up to try to head off leg cramps. Was able to get across Canyon Creek easily, water was only knee deep. Chose the wrong ford though. Forded just below guard station/bridge site and ended up below large downed Douglas-fir and got off trail while going around it. Once past it saw a better ford just upstream of guard station-looked like it might actually be a stock ford. Continued up trail. It had been seven years, 2013, since I had last been up trail so a lot of it I didn’t remember which makes it a little harder because if you know a trail you can strategize your rest breaks better and make it a little easier on yourself. Trail was a lot brushier than in 2013 with a few windfalls across it but overall not too bad. I had brought extra water because I didn’t remember how many streams there were along the way. Discovered or re-discovered that there were several stream crossings. Took a long rest a little past one mile. Started counting switchbacks from the Pasayten Wilderness sign. Maps indicated something like 27 switchbacks. Counted over 40 until the trail seemed to start to flatten out. Remembered that about a mile or less from McMillan Park the trail flattens out a bit and there are no switchbacks. When I thought I could see the flat of McMillan Park just above, I started pushing it a bit, going farther between rest stops, hoping to get into the flatter part of the trail sooner. Then I started getting leg cramps. They weren’t bad, but enough to make me stop to rest. Then there were a few more switchbacks. I was near the top but I didn’t remember the last few switchbacks. So I shifted down a gear and went a little more slowly, stopping when I could feel the cramps coming on. I wanted to get to McMillan Park before I had lunch. Trail finally flattened out pretty much, just a slight uphill grade. Had to stop for cramps at junction with Crater Mountain trail. Should have had lunch there. Fifteen minutes or so later I was at McMillan Park. Had lunch and quickly discovered that there were a lot of mosquitoes around. This shouldn’t have been surprising, I knew that there were a bunch of ponds and wetlands in McMillan Park which would mean lots of mosquitoes in the middle of the summer. Mosquitoes made me move on before I got a good enough rest though. From here on I was going farther along the trail than I had ever been before. There was lots of downhill until the trail crossed the little pass/saddle at the head of Nickol Creek and started up into Devil’s Park. The downhill gave my quads a bit of a rest but not enough. After crossing the saddle at the head of Nickol Creek I started up until I figured I was far enough away from a small pond in the saddle to get away from most of the bugs, about a quarter mile or so. Got a relatively bug free rest there for about half an hour. Looked at my map and saw that the trail climbed about a thousand feet from Nickol Creek to Devil’s Park. I have bad habit of looking at map and just seeing a trail or route and ignoring contour lines. In this way, I often overestimate how far I will be able to go in a given amount of time. Once on the ground I am faced with the reality of the work ahead. Kind of like a big reality slap in the face. This wasn’t that big of a deal. I still had plenty of daylight left so I was sure I would make it but I might be fighting cramps a good part of the way. As I was getting ready to go again, I broke the plastic keeper out of the top of my water jug. Since it was in the top, I could still use the jug to carry water as long as I didn’t turn it upside down. I had brought more water in a plastic tonic water bottle which was almost empty so I transferred the water from my regular water jug into the plastic bottle just to make sure I didn’t lose any water. Started up trail. I was hoping that with the rest I would be able to continue at a little faster pace. Trail ran next to a small stream which drained to Nickol Creek, or maybe this creek is considered the head of Nickol Creek. I could have watered up more here utilizing my broken water jug but I decided I had enough water and I wanted to save the weight. Hadn’t gotten a quarter mile when I got my first cramp. Had to go in slower mode up the hill, stopping whenever it felt like my legs were going to cramp but made decent progress. Made it to Devil’s Park shelter at about 2:30 I think. Stopped and took a bunch of pictures and refilled water bottle. Water tasted a bit peaty but was okay. Drank quite a bit. As I was getting ready to continue on a couple of women came by. They had walked in from the East Bank Trailhead to this point and they seemed to be cruising along effortlessly. A little demoralizing to me because I felt like I was having to put a lot of effort into every step at that point and I had walked three miles less than they had. Of course they were at least 20 years younger and I’m pretty sure that their packs were lighter. It didn’t help much making excuses and feeling sorry for myself so on I went. Devil’s Park appeared to be at the peak of the wildflower bloom. It seemed like everything was blooming. Looked almost like an ornamental garden with lupines, asters, tiger lilies, valerian, phlox in full bloom interspersed with tall grass. Stopped several times to take pics of surrounding scenerty. Crater and Jack Mountains dominated the skyline to the west and were pretty impressive. I from higher up on the trail I could see Jerry Lakes between Crater and Jack. I had been eyeing likely spots to cut over Jackita Ridge in to the lakes at the head of Friday Creek and one was where a minor ridge ran perpendicular to Jackita Ridge. It looked like I would hit the spot into the lakes if I cut up off the trail just before it rounded this minor ridge. I picked a spot that was just a little north of the Devil’s Park Shelter in the flat below. I was surprised how well I did going off trail at angles much steeper than the trail. I didn’t get any cramps or even feel any coming on. I usually do better off trail. You are forced to rest more often because the ground is so steep. I had also drunk a lot of water when I had watered up below. Hit the top of the ridge at about 4:00 p.m. Ridge was pretty flat at that point. This was the moment of truth: Would I be able to get down off the ridge into the lakes? My legs were beat. I dropped my pack and started looking. I could see lakes below. The ground on east side of ridge looked really steep. The west side of the ridge was pretty well vegetated. There was a lot less vegetation on the east side and cliffs and small, loose shale scree that would be hard to navigate. I found one spot where I could get down. It was a bit sketchy though. I thought it would be a good idea to look around to see if I could find a better place to get down. I abandoned the idea of camping at lakes that night. I had plenty of time to get down but if I stayed on the ridge I would be spared having to hork my full pack to the top of the ridge the next day and I might get some good pics of Crater and Jack and the surrounding area at sunset. Good views from ridge top. The down side of this plan is that it would set me back several hours on getting out the next day but I figured I would have plenty of time. Picked my way north on ridge. Traveling wasn’t too bad. Found several much better spots to get off ridge into the lakes about a quarter mile farther north near some large snowfields. I could get water from the snowfields. Should be a pretty good spot to camp. Saw someone was already camped a little farther north on the ridge. Went back and got pack and retraced my steps. Found spot to pitch tent. Couldn’t find flat spot, everything on an angle. Probably not most comfortable conditions but good enough. Dug everything out of pack and got ready to make dinner. Realized gas can for stove was pretty empty. It takes a lot of gas to melt snow and I didn’t know if I would have enough to melt snow for water. Had most of a jug of water, just enough for dinner and clean up but might I might end up a little thirsty. Wished I had brought more water up from below. Kicked myself. I had originally planned to camp at the lakes so I would have had plenty of water there and more than enough gas to heat it. Didn’t want to build fire on ridge top though I could have in a pinch. The snowfield near camp was melting but the water was just a trickle even though it appeared to be constant and plentiful. I filled a spare pot with clean snow and left it in the hopes that it would melt a little while I was making dinner and I would have a little extra water. Made and ate dinner, fighting mosquitoes the whole time. There was a steady breeze of about 25 mph on very top of ridge that kept the mosquitoes at bay but my camp was down off ridge about 30 feet and in lee of a line of trees and the wind hardly stirred. Mosquitoes seemed as bad here as down below near wetlands and streams. Finished dinner and had enough water for a few swigs to wash it down. Put some snow in cooking pot and made my way away from camp to clean up. It would be a cold process but would work. Crossed small trickle coming off snowfield. Small depression where water collected about an inch deep before seeping into ground. On a whim, dipped pot into depression and was able to get a good bit of water. Perfect. It took a couple trips back to the depression but I got enough water to clean the pot pretty much spotless. Inspiration hit. Found another small depression just below snowfield where melting water was collection and dipped pot in. Got maybe a quarter cup. Poured this into water jug. Had to repeat process twenty times or more to get jug full but I got it full. Figured snow melt would slow down overnight and there might not be enough flow to refill jug for breakfast in morning so filled broken water jug using same process. Broken jug was still functional as long as it was upright. Had plenty of water now. Left spare pot full of snow. Thought it might melt down overnight and wanted to see if it would. If it did, then I would have plenty of water for the next day. Climbed back to ridgetop to finish rest of dinner in relative peace from bugs. Steady wind from west at ridgetop was still about 25 mph I would guess. Wind was cool and felt nice when sun was higher. Got a bit cold as sun got lower in sky. Had sweatshirt on so was fairly comfortable. Behind me in the lee of my body was an inexorable cloud of mosquitoes. Every once in a while one would struggle upwind in the lee, land and bite but these were few and far between and quite bearable. Waved to folks camping a little farther up ridge. They were close enough that I could hear them talk but I didn’t go visit. Days of coronavirus and on top of that, try to respect if they didn’t want company anyway. As sun got lower climbed back down and got camera to try to catch sunset and other views from ridge. Could recognize mountains at head of Panther Creek to south, Mt. Triumph and probably Mt. Despair in distance to west, Mount Redoubt to north and Cady Point to east. Lots of others but didn’t take time to figure out what they were. Got some good photos to the east of the moon over Cady Ridge and to the west of the sunset. Realized that I had forgotten to activate SPOT to tell Sacha I was okay. Climbed back down and did that. Had to wait twenty minutes for satellites to read location and send. Turned in at about dark after the twenty minutes for the SPOT message to go through. Wind starting to get uncomfortably cold. Cloud of mosquitoes descended when I came off ridgetop. As usual had rainfly on. No danger of rain but usually keeps bugs at bay while I am getting into tent. Usually leave side open but zip down fly and this pretty much keeps bugs out. Had trouble getting headlight going and messed around for 5 or 10 minutes with side of tent down. By time I zipped side up a couple of dozen mosquitoes were in tent with me. Tried to kill some of them but finally gave up. Still much better inside tent than outside. Slept okay. Angle of tent was pretty steep and would have slept better if it had been flatter but still worked. Wanted to get early start next morning. Bit worried about extra time it would take to drop into lakes and get back out. Don’t have alarm but usually wake up periodically and evaluate light in sky to see if it is dawn yet. I am also a slugabed and it is hard for me to get out of bed in morning. At some point I realized that sky was getting lighter but decided to snooze for a bit more. Finally woke up to sound of voices and pots rattling. Dawn was on. Sky pink and purple over Crater and Jack. Grabbled camera and tripod and hustled (stumbled) to ridgetop to get some sunrise pics. That done, back down for breakfast. Melt water from snowfield had slowed down a lot but had lots of water. Snow in spare pot had almost completely melted so I was in good shape. Snow water in spare pot had fir needles and other stuff in it which is pretty much inevitable when you melt snow. Ironically snow melt directly off snowfield was much cleaner. Breakfast was oatmeal leftover from year before. It was a little stale but okay. I wanted to use it but didn’t want to feed it to kids weekend before. Headed over ridge to lakes. Steep and some spots with loose scree but overall not too bad. Looked a lot worse from ridgetop than it actually was. Checked out lakes. Upper lake still had snow floating in it. Didn’t see much as far as critters in water. No fish or amphibians. Saw some sky pilot, a plant in the waterleaf family, blooming. Very pretty purple with yellow stamens. Saw what I think were sparrows. Pretty commonly encounter these birds in mountains. Someday would like to figure out exactly what they are. American dipper a.k.a. water ouzel at lower lake. I have heard these birds get bad rap because they will eat small fish but I also see them a lot in places like this where there aren’t any fish. Wondered if I might have seen more amphibians later in year when water warmed up a bit. Lakes had just melted out and water seemed pretty cold to touch. Could see what looked like tracks made by macroinvertebrates in mud on bottom of lake but didn’t see any macroinverts. Spent about an hour at lakes before heading back over ridge. Took about 40 minutes to get back to ridgetop. Not too bad. Saw several other spots where the ridge was even less steep but route I took was doable and quicker. Broke down camp and was on trail at a little before 10:00 a.m. Trail was closer to ridgetop where I ended up camping than where I had cut up the day before so I was on it pretty quickly. Several stops on way down to take photos of Crater and Jack and blooming meadows. Ate lunch a little early just below Devil’s Park. Stopped at half dried pond in saddle at head of Nickol Creek and checked it out. Saw several tadpoles and lots of salamander larvae. Tadpoles most likely Columbia spotted frogs (Rana lutieventris) and salamanders most likely long-toed (Ambystoma macrodactylum). Day warming up a bit. Climb back up to McMillan Park wasn’t too bad. No sign of leg cramps all day. Saw Columbia spotted frog just as I was approaching McMillan Park. About that time guy with a light pack came zipping by. Guessed he was doing the Devil’s Dome loop. Spent a little time on other side of McMillan Park trying to figure out where an unmapped lake that I had spotted on air photos was. Didn’t try too long. Wanted to go into Jerry Lakes this year as well and figured that would be a good time to really investigate. For some reason switchbacks on way down seemed endless. Made myself stop and rest every hour or so. Broke hand saw out of pack and cut out some of the brush and small trees that made trail a little more difficult. Lost the nut that held the blade to the handle of the saw near the bottom. Still managed to cut some stuff out of the trail. Forded Canyon Creek without incident. Stopped at mom’s and gave dog a short walk. Made it home at about 7:00 p.m. Pack weighed 63 pounds without water jug-probably about 65 with water jug. I was probably a bit out of shape for this trip. Took about three days of walking around stiff and sore at work before I felt pretty much normal again. Would be really nice to be able to retire and be able to take a couple of days to recover from trips before having to work. The job I have now is not as rough in this aspect as a former job that I had which was stream surveys. In those days I would come back from a trip into the mountains and spend the rest of the week walking streams, the first couple days of which I was stiff and sore to some degree. 

 

Devil's Park shelter. 

This shelter is still in relatively good shape but needs some work if it is to stay intact. 

View of Jack Mountain on the trail through Devil's Park. 

Looking south from Devil's Park. I think the snowy/glacier covered mountains are at the head of Panther Creek, Cosho, Kimtah, Katsuk and Mesahchie Peaks.  


Looking north at Devil's Dome. 

Devil's Park/Jackita Ridge. At this point I was off trail headed for the saddle into the lakes. I would end up camping near the snow patch just visible above the foreground and below the small peak. 

The lakes on Friday Creek that were my destination. The ground into these lakes was much steeper than it looks in the photo. 

Looking south from Jackita Ridge, Cady Point in the near distance. 


Cody Point at dusk. The road over Cady Pass to the Azurite Mine visible at lower left of photo. This road is abandoned and now used as a trail. 

Crater and Jack Mountains from ridge just above my camp at dusk. 

Looking north northwest from ridge above camp at sunset. Mount Redoubt on skyline to right side of frame. 

Crater and Jack at sunrise. 

Lower Lake draining to Friday Creek. 

Upper Lake draining to Friday Creek. This lake is not mapped. 

Chunk of slate or mudstone. There is a lot of sedimentary rock in this area. If memory serves, this area was a small sea tens or hundreds of millions of years ago. 

Crater and Jack from ridge above my camp. My tent is visible in the foreground. 

Crater and Jack and the meadows of Devil's Park on my way out. 

Lupines and asters. 

Lupines and heather. 


Jerry Lakes 8/14-16/20

 

Jerry Lakes were probably the only lakes that my dad had been to that I had not been to yet. I had talked to several other people who had been to Jerry Lakes as well so, while I figured that there would be some challenges, it should be fairly easy to get into them. Same trail, Jackita Ridge at start as previous trip. Planned to pace myself a little better this time but still expected a lot of sweat and pain. Funny thing, some friends told me years ago that this trail was pretty easy. I did okay on it seven years previously with a light pack but this go around I was seven years older and I was carrying a heavy pack.  Ran some errands first thing Friday morning and got started on trail at about 11:00 a.m. Ran into some friends that I work with just as I was starting up trail. They had been bear hunting in Devil’s Park and had gotten one and were on the way out. They were worried that there would be a lot of people over the weekend and Sunday it was supposed to be pretty hot which made an issue of meat spoilage. After brief talk with them continued with the sweating grind up the hill. This time I stopped every time my legs started to get pretty tight rather than push it until they were really tight. Once I started into the main switchbacks I could usually get at least two switchbacks between rests. Every hour I took a ten minute break with my pack off. Seemed to be going a little better this time. Counted switchbacks as a goal setting measure to get myself to keep going. Knew there were 50 some switchbacks so wanted to get at least half way before stopping for lunch. Stopped at 31stswitchback at about 1:00 p.m. After lunch I felt really gross. Kept burping and tasting greasy teriyaki stick that I had had for lunch. Legs felt stiff, weak and crampy though didn’t get full blown cramps yet. Cramps came later, a little after the 3 mile board, maybe about the 3 ½ mile. Cramps weren’t too bad just had to stop a little more frequently. Took pretty long break where Crater Mountain Trail took off. Ran into a couple guys there who were going to Devil’s Park. I had run into one of them at the 31stswitchback where I had taken lunch. We talked for a bit and it turned out that we knew a couple of people in common. Continued on my way. Had entertained thoughts of trying to get up and over East Crater and into Jerry Lakes this day when I had started out but it was evident at this point that my legs wouldn’t be able to handle it. Plan now was to stay at small lake or pond below Crater Mountain to the south. I have never been sure if this is called Crater Lake or not but I can’t think of anything else in the area that could be qualified to be called Crater Lake. Legs held up pretty well to lake. Found camp spot and checked lake out. Previous times I had been here had been in September and a lot of the flowers were long gone. This year the snowpack had been pretty good and the spring cold so snow was on the ground late. Probably saw a lot of plants I hadn’t noticed on previous trips. Took notes. Still didn’t see any amphibians. Never have seen any here in three trips which I thought curious. Lake seems pretty cold though. Decided to try new type of dinner. Had picked it up at store because it looked good. Turned out that it was twice as much as I usually have for dinner. Regular dinners fill me up pretty well now I had twice as much and no way to store it overnight for leftovers. Didn’t want to leave it around to attract bears, birds and other wildlife so ate it all.  It was really good at the start, delicious in fact. But by the time I ate the last mouthful I was done with it. Felt pretty bloated and gross. Turned in at dusk and put finish on field notes before going to sleep. Nights always seem really short when I am sleeping out in the mountains and morning was there before I knew it. Have always been a slugabed, even when I am in my own bed so had hard time getting out of sleeping bag and cooking breakfast. On trail at about 8:00 a.m. Day was cool to start but warmed up quickly. Legs a bit stiff but seemed to be quite functional. Think I got to top of East Crater at old lookout site at about 10:00. From there I could see several of the Jerry Lakes. My dad helped build the lookout here and had spent several summers stationed in the lookout. He had an interesting story about this lookout. Two sides were half an inch shorter than the others, so it was a rectangle rather than the usual square. The story went that my dad was working for USFS on the fire crew. I don’t remember if he had been on a lookout that particular year but he had been stationed in several over the years he worked for USFS. The Forest Service built a new lookout on East Crater because the one on West Crater was too high and was often in the clouds after a storm and the lookout wasn’t able to see new fires. After the fire season was over in late September, my dad was sent to help build the new lookout. The building was in a kit, all of the boards and materials to build it were cut to length and size and brought in by pack string. There were two others on the crew, a leader and another helper, like my dad. Before they started the guy who was in charge went over how they were going to build it. All the boards they needed were there, cut to the proper length plus they had one extra board. They guy who was in charge stated several times that, whatever they did, do not cut any boards. If something didn’t seem to fit, they just needed to look around until they found the proper board. They started assembling the new lookout building and it wasn’t long before the other helper wound up with a board that was too long for the spot where he wanted to put it. So he promptly cut off half an inch. Sure enough, the cut board needed to go somewhere else and now it was too short. They immediately dug out the extra board. It was too short too. They couldn’t leave the short board out or the structural integrity of the lookout would have been compromised. Ridgetop buildings like lookouts needed to able to withstand some pretty severe winds and environmental conditions. There was no help for it but to cut half an inch off of every board on that side of the lookout. Of course, to keep everything square, they had to cut half an inch off of every board on the other side of the building as well. They also had to be very careful not to cut another board that they shouldn’t or the whole project would be dead in the water. All of the extra cutting and figuring caused the project to drag on for an extra week or two longer than expected. Trouble was, it was figured that the construction would take only a week or two so only enough food for a couple of weeks was packed in. Now it was stretching on for longer. So they ended up short on food. Dad said by the end of the project all they had to eat was oatmeal. Even worse, since it was turning toward the colder season, they were getting snowed on occasionally. He said the worst part of the whole project was cutting the window panes. The glass had been cut for a square building. Now it was rectangular by half an inch on two sides. Dad didn’t remember how they pulled it off but they managed to somehow and got the lookout completed that year. The Forest Service abandoned and burned this lookout years ago but the footings, melted glass, charred boards and nails are still there. I kicked around looking at things for half an hour or so before continuing on. Route followed ridge out to the east where on the map it looked like there were several likely spots to get off the ridge to the east and north. It was straight off cliffs to the north at the lookout site. In fact it looked depressingly impossible but I knew that other folks had gotten off the ridge so I knew it could be done. Headed east on ridge until I got to first likely spot. Looked pretty good starting out but got steeper and steeper. Picked up a bit of a trail and boot tracks. Left my pack where it really started to get steep to scout out the route. Finally reached a spot where I could see others had gone. Pretty steep but looked doable just barely within my comfort zone. Had to get off bedrock outcrop I was on and into some talus that looked like pretty loose scree. Once on the scree I would be home free, could see a route to a large unmapped lake that had melted out on the north side of Crater Mountain since the last time the USGS Quad was updated. Still pretty uneasy about this route so pushed through krummholz subalpine fir to another spot a little to the west. This spot looked better but still not great. Decided this would be my route. On my way back up to get my pack I chickened out. Figured why take a chance. I could see if I went back up to top of ridge and went a little farther east there was a spot I could get off ridge with very little risk. It would take a little more work and time but I figured it would be worth it. Grabbed pack and went back up about 200 feet where I was able to sidehill to get on top of ridge without having to go all the way to the high point. The route off the ridge was pretty easy. Going wasn’t though. Lots of loose, sharp scree that shifted readily underfoot. Picked my way through that and across several snowfields to get to bottom of slope that I had originally planned to go down. From there, more loose, sharp scree to unmapped lake. My dad had told me that when he had gone into Jerry Lakes he had had to cross a glacier. I remember him still shuddering about it years later. I wondered if the glacier had been here where this lake was now. It was relatively easy going now. Made my way to a small tarn maybe a quarter mile beyond the unmapped lake. This was first mapped lake/pond of trip for me. Took few photos before continuing on. Got harder from there. Took descending route and got down into more broken rock. This was boulder sized. It was sharp and unstable. Looked like rock had just crumbled when glacier retreated. Going was slow because I had to be careful in the sharp, loose rock. Just about pinched my left foot at one point but managed to free it just in time. Worked my way back uphill towards saddle into lakes. At some point the waistband of pack started to rub my hips raw. No help for that at the moment. Had moleskin and duct tape but didn’t want to stop to put it on. Finally thought I was free of broken rock and would be able to sidehill into heather below saddle but ran into steep bedrock half buried in glacial outwash. Had to go up about 100 feet to get around this. Finally got in heather below saddle and made my way up sweating and panting. The view of the lakes was quite pretty from the saddle. Rested a bit before continuing. Could see large pile of large, sharp boulders between upper and middle lakes. Looked like some rock outcrop had survived intact after a glacier moved through and retreated before just falling to pieces, some of which were nearly house sized. I was getting pretty tired at this point and didn’t look forward to picking my way through more sharp rock. Looked like a trail below. I had run into a few cairns on the route in so figured maybe enough people had been coming to the lakes to beat in trail. Sure enough, picked up trail when I had worked my way down through the loose talus and scree below the pass. The trail led into the boulder pile and kind of disappeared. Made my way to spot just above middle lake and dropped pack. All the travel through loose rock had pretty much done me in at this point. Scouted around a bit and decided spot where I had dropped pack was probably best place to camp. Jerry Lakes looked like they had seen quite a bit of use. There were several well developed camps in area between upper and middle lakes and trails around lakes. Lots of fish in lakes. Dad had told me that when he had been here, probably around 60 years ago, all that was in the lakes were “water dogs”. “Water dog” is the common name for Pacific giant salamander (Dicamptodon ensatus). This was the only aquatic salamander that my dad was familiar with so he called all aquatic salamanders water dogs. However, Pacific giants are mostly stream dwellers though they do occasionally occur in lakes and ponds. I, having learned about our other salamander species that occur in our area, and, given the elevation, I had assumed that the salamanders my dad had seen were probably long-toed salamanders which often occur at higher elevations than our other salamanders. Since there were fish in larger Jerry Lakes I figured my chances were small of seeing any salamanders in these. They were probably still there but, in the presence of fish, they usually hide out during the daytime to avoid getting eaten. Dad had thought that the “water dogs” he had seen in Jerry Lakes had eaten all the fish (Pacific giants will eat fish or at least fish eggs I believe) but it was likely that the lakes had just never been stocked at the time my dad went there. I figured I would probably see some salamanders in several small ponds around lakes that were too small to support fish. Wasn’t quite sure what to do at this point. On this trip I had wanted to go into another small lake/pond to the north at headwaters of fork of Devil’s Creek. To accomplish this I would have to get to top of a ridge on the north side of Jerry Lakes. I had been looking at this on map and wondering if I would be able to get to top of that ridge from Jerry Lakes. Maps indicated that the sides of the ridge were very steep. Wasn’t much more encouraging looking at ridge in real life. Initially thought best spot would be at east end above lower lake but discounted this pretty quickly once I looked at it for real. The only likely spot I could see was above the lower end of upper lake. My original plan for this trip was four days so I could have some extra time to figure out the ridge and get into the lake to the north. So I could take the next day, Sunday to work on that and come out on Monday. However, if I could get into the lake today, Saturday, I could come out on Sunday, when it was supposed to be pretty hot anyway and do a short trip on Monday with the family. Sacha wanted to go somewhere for a birthday trip. Unfortunately, at this point in time, I was pretty beat. I took a nap and felt surprisingly refreshed. Pitched tent and stashed food and grabbed light pack and headed for the spot I thought would be most likely where I would be able to get to top of ridge. It was about 1:30 p.m. at this point so still had 6 ½ hours of light left. Still hadn’t eaten lunch. Remembered gross feeling from day before and didn’t want to do that again. Figured I would stop and eat something if I started to get really hungry. The route I was considering would be pretty tough, steep sidehill almost all of the way. Hoped to be able to sidehill to top of ridge rather than climb straight up its sides. Worked my way sidehill to where I thought my ticket up was. When I got there it didn’t look so good. Sidehilled a little farther around ridge to see in there were any possibilities there. No dice. Stopped and rested and broke out map. Looked like I would have to do something like go up Crater Creek on another trip on another day. On my way back past my first choice for a route up, I took another look and figured that route wouldn’t be so bad. It was a bit sketchy but not as bad as the route I had seriously considered and then decided not to take off the ridge off Crater Mountain earlier. I could get up fairly safely to some thick brushy krummholz trees that ran sidehill in an uphill line below some cliffs. That might be my ticket. Made it up to the trees okay. Hugged cliff to uphill side as I worked my way through them. They were so thick it would have been pretty difficult to fall off the cliff I that thought was just below. In about 20 feet the trees ended at some doable sidehill to another small patch of trees. Cliffs right below but I would pretty much have to somersault or roll if I fell in order to fall off cliff. If I fell I planned to fall on my hands and knees and side and wouldn’t move much. Made my way to patch of trees, which was pretty small, and on the other side of that I could see the top of the ridge just above a stretch of what looked like bare, loose soil below another cliff ledge. Scratched large “x” in loose soil with foot so I would be able to find this spot in the brush on the way back. Lots of cliffs in area and didn’t want to go randomly wandering around trying to find my route on the way back down. Hugged ledge on uphill side of bare soil on the way up. Soil was actually pretty firm and provided good footing. Slope was such that, even if I did slip, I would probably stop by digging in my hands and knees long before I went over the edge of cliff below. Again, I would pretty much have to somersault to fall off cliff. Made it to top of ridge pretty easily. Built small cairn so I would be able to find this spot on the way back. Crater Creek was on the other side of the ridge and quick glance told me that my idea about using that route into the pond was probably not so good. I counted at least 6 avalanche tracks before the creek curved out of sight behind Crater Mountain. Those would make for really rough going for anyone coming up the creek. Started up ridge. The goal now was the high point on this ridge where the map showed another ridge running north straight to the small lake or pond I wanted to get to. Wasn’t too far along before I noticed another cairn on edge of ridge. Didn’t see any obvious way down here. Would have to be careful not to confuse this one with mine. Left it there. Assumed no one else was up there with me but no way to be sure and didn’t know if that cairn was a critical marker for someone else’s route. I encountered one tough spot on the ridge but otherwise the ridge was pretty easy going. As per usual, took longer to get to high point than I had thought. The waist belt of my pack had begun to rub my hips raw again but didn’t stop to put anything on the hot spots. Light was good and took some pics of Jerry Lakes below and Crater Mountain off to the south and west. Out of curiosity, I quickly checked my other possible route onto ridge from the lower lake. This route ended at the high point but it didn’t look very good. Unfortunately, the route off other side to my destination lake didn’t look good either. It looked like the ridge shown on the map had collapsed into more sharp loose rock and it was nearly a sheer drop from the high point of the ridge for much farther than I would want to fall. I saw a spot 30 feet or so down the ridge where I could get off relatively safely. This was another sketchy spot, a steep slope with loose soil. Again I would have to pretty much somersault to fall off but still didn’t like it. My legs were very tired at this point. Felt like lead. Getting down looked tough through the loose, sharp rock and it would be even tougher coming back up. It was about 3:00 p.m. Debated for a few minutes. I was pretty much to the pond. All I needed to do was descend about 800 feet. I had already made the investment of getting through the sketchy spots to get to top of ridge. Decided that I would do it. If I didn’t go, I knew the decision would haunt me relentlessly. Got down off ridge and picked my way through broken rock and krummholz trees. Several hundred feet down got over onto broader, flatter part of ridge and it was pretty easy going from there. Made it to lake sometime around 3:45 p.m. Took a break and ate a candy bar, first thing I had eaten since breakfast. Checked out lake. Pretty shallow, probably 3-4 feet deep at most. Kind of disappointed, didn’t see much in lake. I was sure there was probably a variety of aquatic insects but didn’t see anything really. Had another candy bar before starting back to top of ridge at about 4:15. Was able to retrace my route, had good landmarks. Tried a little different route at several points that made going a little easier. When I got into broken rock near top jammed the pinkie toe on my left foot. I knew I would lose that nail. Funny thing, I had gone decades, since my early teens, without any blood blisters on any of my toes but the last several years I had not gone a whole year without at least one of my toes being mashed bad enough to sport a blood blister. Now every few steps I would brush that pinkie toe and feel it. Then my toes started to cramp from constantly flexing around the endless rocks. Finally within fifty feet of the ridge top I could feel my legs threatening to cramp. Taking it easy, I made it to top of ridge. Downhill pretty much from here on out. Still had to get back off ridge in one piece though. Made my way back down ridge. Light had changed since I had come up and everything looked different. Kept eyes peeled for a cairn, either mine or the other one I saw on the way up. I was pretty much directly above the spot where I got onto ridge so it was hard to see exactly where I was on ridge in relation to that spot. I got to a point where I the ridge started heading back up. Still hadn’t seen a cairn but I didn’t remember this part of ridge. Had myself half convinced that I did need to go uphill a bit but decided to drop pack and look a little closer at immediate vicinity. Within twenty feet found the cairn that I had left. I recognized it by the rock that I had originally included then replaced with another rock. Had distinct lichen pattern on it. The light had changed so much that it had been well camouflaged from the direction I was looking on my way back. Made my way back down without incident. Legs leaden and rubbery but no cramps. Stopped when I got back down in Jerry Lakes basin and looked over small pond above upper lake. Didn’t see much in pond except some case building caddisflies, periwinkles we used to call them. Finally saw a salamander in a small isolated pond in mostly dry outlet stream of main pond. Assumed this was long-toed salamander. Got back to camp a little before dark. The plan now was to check out Jerry Lakes next day before heading out. Supposed to be hot. Up pretty early, about 6:00 a.m. Checked out Jerry Lakes. Westslope cutthroat in lakes, caught several up to ten inches long. Also saw lots of little fish, indicating that the population was self-reproducing. Saw osprey. I see them quite often at high lakes that have been stocked. Saw another long-toed salamander in small pond between main lakes and easternmost lake. Didn’t see anything or catch anything in larger lake the farthest east in the basin. Big enough for fish but no spawning habitat that I could see. Might have been stocked at one time. Salamanders usually hide out in daylight if fish are present. Might explain why I didn’t see any salamanders. Sometimes see hundreds or even thousands in larger bodies of water if no fish are present but not always. Put duct tape on raw spots on hips before starting out from lakes a little after 10:00 a.m. Wasn’t too sure if duct tape would work or not but thought it worth a try. The air was a funny mix of swirling cool air with warm pockets. By the time I was packed I was sweating just standing there. Found a higher route on the way out from the pass above the lakes that was better than the route I took on the way in. Saw several cairns along the way. There were lots of trails visible at the lakes but route between them and Crater Mountain was over constantly shifting material that would tend to obliterate any trail. Stopped at small pond below Crater Mountain and took a few notes and refilled water jug before continuing on. Nice view of Jack Mountain from here. Lots of clouds beginning to fill sky. I was vaguely disappointed. The sky was completely blank blue when I had been at Jerry Lakes. That was quite a pretty spot and I could have gotten better photos of Crater Mountain with clouds in the background if I had waited another hour or two. No help for that. On my way out I retraced my route back to the top of the ridge running from Crater Mountain, or thought it did. Upon reaching ridge top and heading up, I ran into pretty steep spot that I hadn’t remembered from the way down. Figured that if I had gotten down the ridge, I should be able to make it back up. A little way above this spot saw where I had gotten off ridge on way down. It was a little farther up the ridge and not quite so steep. Stopped and rested a bit at the lookout site. Time was about 1:00 p.m. I think. More clouds and steady wind from a weather system moving in. Forecast before I left was for it to be hot today (Sunday) with big cool down and chance of showers on Monday. This must have been that system moving in. Wind was strong but not obnoxious and made for a  quite pleasant temperature. Stopped at a few points along trail down to cut brushy limbs out of trail which slowed me down a bit. Below the trail junction with West Crater Trail I cut off the trail and headed downhill. Idea was to try to hit unmapped lake about 600 feet below Crater Lake. I knew I should follow the east edge of an avalanche track and the outlet stream of Crater Lake down to flat 600 feet below but couldn’t remember where to go from there. Thought I needed to cross outlet stream of Crater Lake but didn’t trust that completely. Was pretty tired at this point and carrying full pack so didn’t want to do a bunch of wandering around. Figured that if I was lucky, I would hit the lake. If not, I would at least know a good spot to cut up off the trail to get to the lake next time. Off the trail it was immediately very brushy. Then I hit some cliffs within about a hundred feet. Cut over to very edge of avalanche track and found a way down. Had initially avoided getting too close to avalanche track because edges of these can be very brushy. Finally got down to flat but no lake. Didn’t cross the outlet stream. At this point I was too tired. I would look for the lake another day. I did find a pretty big trench about a foot wide and several feet deep with spoils deposited on one side. Looked like it had been dug by humans. Couldn’t imagine what for except maybe a fire line. If it was a fire line, it was quite a bit more elaborate than most of the fire line I have ever seen. Made for the main trail which I hit pretty quickly. Had a pretty good idea how to find lake now. I needed to hit the flat and then cross the stream. Switchbacks down were rough, legs aching pretty well. Got back to rig at about 6:00 p.m. Weighed pack at end of trip. 64.9 pounds without quart water jug which would add about 2 pounds. Need to lighten up my pack. Legs seemed to do pretty well when I went over ridge with a lighter pack from Jerry Lakes on Saturday even after I was tired.


Looking east from east Crater Mountain at Cady Point, Mount Ballard, Majestic Mountain, Slate and Mill Creeks. 

Looking south at the head of Panther Creek. Mesahchie, Katsuk, Kimtah and Cosho Peaks left to right. 


Looking north from east Crater at Jack Mountain. Lake in foreground is shown on maps as a glacier. Jerry Lakes are just visible in the distance in the flatter area to the right of Jack Mountain.  

Small pond on route into Jerry Lakes. This pond is actually mapped. Looking north.  

Same pond as above, looking east. 

Jerry Lakes from small pass or saddle. 

"Middle" Jerry Lake. The upper lake drains to this one and it drains to the lower lake. There is another good sized lake to the southeast that drains to this lake underground. 

Crater Mountain and Jerry Lakes from ridge west of the lakes. 

Small pond on Devil's Creek that was my destination. 

View of Jack Mountain from the pond. 

Jack Mountain from the ridge west of Jerry Lakes. 

Western anemone (Anemone occidentalis). These bloom rapidly after snowmelt and usually one only sees them after seed is set when they look like mop tops. 


Small pond just above and northwest of Upper Jerry Lake. This one is mapped as well.  

Long toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum). This salamander was actually in an isolated pool in the outlet of the pond pictured above. I didn't see anything in the pond itself even though it was a much larger area. 

Upper Jerry Lake at sunset. 

Upper Jerry Lake the next morning. 

Lower Jerry Lake at inlet from "Middle" Jerry Lake. 

West slope cutthroat (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) caught in lower Jerry Lake. 

Lower Jerry Lake. 

Lower Jerry Lake. 



Lake just southeast of the main body of lakes. This one drains to a small pond and then subsurface to "Middle" Jerry Lake. 

Same as above. 

Small pond that above lake drains to. This pond is mapped as well. There is a huge pile of boulders in the area. 

Looking east from small pond along Jerry Lakes route on the return trip. 

Looking north from small pond along Jerry Lakes route on the return trip. 

Asters along route. 

Eroding rock from ridge on east Crater. The lighter streaks are newly eroded/fallen rock/soil. 

Looking north from east Crater on return trip. 

Looking east from east Crater at Cady Point, Slate and Mill Creeks. 

Looking northeast from east Crater at Devil's Park. 


 

Grizzly Creek Lakes 8/23/25/20

 

I turned down $800 in overtime to do this trip. There is a lot to unpack here. Over the years I have heard a number of attempts to put value, both monetary and psychological value on outdoor recreation. I have also heard preservationist types and wilderness advocates claim that they are not elites. So here is something to think about along those lines. My job and position in society are such that I can not only afford to turn down $800 in the middle of a pandemic caused recession when jobs are hard to come by for a lot of people, I can also afford to pay for half of a $230 boat trip up Ross Lake and back to save several day’s worth of walking (I could have afforded to foot the whole bill) so I could do the trip in 3 days. The saved time notwithstanding, I was also in the position of being able to take two paid days off to do the trip. I don’t consider myself to be elite or better than anyone else but obviously I am able to do things that a lot of people couldn’t afford to do at this point in time. Many can’t afford to do this at any point in time, either with time, money or physical capabilities, because the physical requirements to access most wilderness areas are pretty strenuous. I don’t necessarily have anything against wilderness areas and preservation of some areas per se but I think we have enough of these in our land base and the rest should be used to afford more people access to outdoor recreation. Another layer is the Covid 19 thing. Technically the responsible thing for me to do would be to stay home. However, the folks who gave me the lift up the lake needed people to go out and spend money in order to stay in business. Everyone was masked up of course so I think we were as safe as we could be. But the whole thing was kind of an ambiguous gray area in my mind. Andy Zitkovich went with me. We got dropped off at Devil’s Junction where we could access the Devil’s Dome Trail a little before 11:00 a.m. The lower end of the trail was logged out and traveling was good. Logged section only lasted a mile or two. Rest of trail had lots of windfalls and brush but most everything was small and easy to get around. Ate lunch at about 12:30 a little short of the three mile. Got to Dry Creek Pass and Bear Skull Shelter around 5:00 p.m. Set up tents. We had thought about trying to get into one of the lakes that day but there was water at the shelter so we decided to stay there instead of trying to get over the ridge. Figured to have plenty of time next day to get into lakes and this way we could explore along trail more. Shelter was in good shape but needs work soon. Leery about staying in shelter because these areas that people use a lot tend to attract a lot of mice. However, if one wanted to tough out the mosquitoes and potentially mice, the shelter would be a good way to save the weight of a tent. Struck back out on trail, wanted to get to a least Devil’s Dome to take a look around. Made it to Devil’s Dome about 6:00 p.m. after a number of stops to take pictures. As I was taking photos of the skyline and nearby Crater and Jack Mountains noticed a deer walking toward us on the ridge of Devil’s Dome. Andy had been using binoculars to look around and I called his attention to the deer and swung my camera around. Deer kept coming straight for us like we weren’t even there. Started snapping a bunch of photos but my camera was set up for landscape shooting with a tripod so the camera aperture was closed down as small as it would got resulting in slow shutter speeds that meant blurred photos. I don’t operate well under pressure of surprise conditions so didn’t figure out how to fix problem until deer had gone off into the distance. It had walked right by us about 20 feet away. It was a nice young buck, a 2 X 3 (two tines on one side of his rack and three on the other) still in velvet. Pretty cool and I did get a few photos that were good. Started back and got back to camp at about 7:30 p.m. Had dinner and turned in. Pretty cold that night, no frost but it felt close to freezing. I felt a bite in my fingers and toes. Had hard time getting out of sleeping bag but managed it at about 6:30 a.m. Got started a little before 8:00 a.m. Had been looking at route into lakes for about a year and figured it would be an easy trip until it got close to time to make trip. Then I started noticing things like, even though the ridge from Bear Skull to Spratt Mountain was pretty broad and flat, it was almost all cliffs on east side where one would have to get off ridge in order to get to the lakes. So had inkling that it might be a little harder than I had first imagined but had no way to know until I actually looked at it on the ground. USGS Quad showed an official trail (#752B) that would take us nearly to the top of the ridge just north of Bear Skull Mountain. We took a well used trail that ran north through camp, the only one that seemed to fit what the map indicated but this petered out at a small stream several hundred yards out of camp.  Decided to just cut straight up the mountain. Going was very good even without a trail. High clouds that day with heavy valley fog made for very impressive views of Jack and Crater Mountains and made a lot of stops to take photos. Got to the ridge top spot on at the first potential area that I had identified where we might be able to get off the ridge. Could see lake below but this route was a bust. Technically one could get off the ridge here but it was really sketchy, very steep with loose scree. We decided not to try it. Could see next possible spot to get off ridge a quarter mile farther north and it looked much better. Headed that direction and upon reaching it and checking it out, determined that we could get off the ridge at this spot. A little farther down the slope the route was more ambiguous. There was a patch of trees where it looked like we could get through to some steep but doable vegetated slopes below but we couldn’t be absolutely sure. Also, in looking at map, we couldn’t tell for sure if we would be able to get back up on the ridge from the upper lake. The original plan had been to drop into the lower lake, then travel up about a thousand feet to the upper lake and from there up onto the ridge just south of Spratt Mountain and have a nice walk down the flat, broad ridge back to our starting point. But on the USGS Quad, the number 7000, designating the elevation of the main contour line covered the one spot where it looked like we might be able to get up onto the ridge. If we weren’t able to get back onto the ridge, we would have to retrace our steps back to the lower lake and take the same route out as we did on the way in. Trouble was, this route didn’t look like the greatest. If we could get off the ridge at the upper lake, the route between the lakes should be pretty good and it would be much easier to come up the route from the lower lake than it would be to go down it. It would be more work but probably more of a sure thing. If we could get off the ridge into the upper lake, we would probably be able to complete the route. If we couldn’t get off the ridge at the upper lake the trip would be shot and I would have to find another way in on some other day (I later saw a likely route off Devil’s Dome). So we continued north along the ridge toward Spratt Mountain and the spot on the map where it looked like we might be able to get off the ridge.  Periodically we would peek off the ridge to see it we could safely get off of it with no luck. There had been lots of blue sky between the clouds earlier but now the sky was overcast with lots of black clouds to the east. Looked like rain. Remembered weather forecast had mentioned a weak trough would be brushing area today but not much precipitation. We both had raingear in the event the forecast was wrong. Stopped for short rest around 10:00 p.m. at another spot that looked likely from down the ridge but didn’t look so good up close. A few light sprinkles hit us then went away. The sky started to clear almost immediately. We could see a spot where map indicated we might be able to get down and it looked good. Continued on over high point spot on the ridge at 7205 feet a little south of Spratt Mountain. There was a sketchy spot just past this where a gully had eroded headward into the ridge leaving a narrow strip between very steep ground and vertical gully. There was a game trail through here and we managed to squeak through. We were home free now. The spot we had been shooting for was several hundred yards farther along the ridge. It was fairly easy to get off the ridge and descend about 1100 feet into upper lake at 6107 feet though we still had to be careful. Got to lake a little after noon. Very pretty spot. Weather had turned very nice, sunny with quite a few clouds in sky and a steady breeze that was cool but not cold. Had lunch and checked out lake. There was a duck there, probably a goldeneye, common or Barrow’s. Got some pics to try to I.D. later. I’m not the greatest with waterfowl and this one was also in eclipse so it was kind of non-descript in color. Commonly encounter goldeneyes at high lakes. One sure way to tell goldeneyes is that their wings whistle when they fly. This bird wasn’t interested in flying, it loafed on the lake the whole time we were there. I also saw a salamander-probably a long-toed salamander given the high elevation. Spot and conditions were idyllic at that lake and I would have loved to spend the rest of day there loafing myself but we had another lake to get to. Started out a little before 2:00 p.m. The route was fairly straightforward. We had to drop about another thousand feet and skirt below the toe of a prominent ridge. There were no major obstacles other than the ridge. Some cliffs along route but these would be easy to skirt if they were encountered. I tried to stay too high initially but Andy convinced me to drop a little lower into small drainage. When it looked likely that we might be able to get around ridge we cut over that way. Still way too high but got into old burn where traveling was pretty easy and you could see better because there was less brush. Stuck to this until it ended, at which point we could see the lower lake, though it was still a ways off. Picked through steep soil sidehill just below last of cliffs on ridge and were at a wetland just below the lower lake. The stream drainage we had been following up above ran through wetland too. It would have been nice to look over this wetland but we didn’t feel like we had much time. It was about 3:00 p.m. at this point and I was a bit apprehensive about the route up out of lower lake that we hadn’t wanted to try earlier in the day. The outlet of the lower lake was choked with willows and tag alders. We initially pushed through brush to lake then decided to cut back to the sidehill to get out of the brush. We dropped back down to lake on north side. Still lots of brush but wetland here created opening we could move through pretty easily. Looked over wetland quickly and continued on. Whole north side of lake was difficult to travel and we had to get back up on sidehill for a while before dropping back and skirting the lake on steep scree bank. There was a nice flat at the head (west) end of lake. Took some more photos here and looked over lake a bit. Another pretty spot though not as nice as upper lake I thought. Heavy growth of yellowish algae on lake bottom. Could see route we had been planning to take up to ridge from this lake. Didn’t look very good to me. Looked pretty steep. Andy wasn’t too worried about it though. I had bad feeling that we might be spending the night out away from camp. Once we started up the hill we were committed and it would take a lot of time to get up the route. If we were stopped, we might not have enough time to pick our way back down and retrace our route to the upper lake and ridge top before dark. If we ended up staying out somewhere on that route that night, we wouldn’t have time to make it back down to the scheduled boat pickup at 11:00 a.m. at Devil’s Junction. We started up hill at a little before 4:00 p.m. It looked like we had two possible routes. One was pretty much directly west up a steep gully filled with scrubby Alaska yellow cedar. The other was another stream way that ran at right angles to the gully, roughly north. This looked a little less steep but still pretty steep and brushy, full of willows and tag alders. At the junction of the two gullies, the western one looked a little too steep so took the one to the north. We lucked out and managed to get into string of open areas that minimized brush we had to push through. But this route kept getting steeper and steeper. Finally we were forced into the stream, actually the head of the stream, into slimy, algae covered rocks nearly vertical where we had to crawl and pull ourselves up by hanging onto brush, taking care that anything we grabbed onto didn’t break off in our hands. Finally we decided to get out of the gully on west side, hoping we were high enough to hit some of the more gradual slopes we had seen from the top of the ridge. At this point, the stream channel was nearly vertical. We were a little below a rock face that we had picked for our goal to cut over toward the more gradual slopes, but continuing on the same route to the rock face was getting pretty difficult. The slope to west where we cut out of the gully was very steep and covered with lots of scrubby tag alders, Alaska cedar and subalpine fir to push through. While this brush was thick and stiff and difficult to push through it definitely had the benefit of providing something to hold onto and something to stop a fall. So the risk of falling was minimized to a great degree. We got out of the gully a little more easily than I expected though it still required a lot of effort. The ground was still steep but there was lots of stuff to hold on to so going was easier than it had been in the head of the stream. Took a slight upslope angle and began traveling west. The ground was still very steep and lots of brush. Brush mixed blessing. Provided lots of hand holds but required a lot effort to push through. Overall though made travel easier and safer. In about ten minutes we popped out onto nice gradual talus slope. We had hit the spot we had wanted to. We could have actually cut over about one hundred feet lower but the route we took put us pretty much dead center where we wanted to be elevation wise. From here we were pretty much golden. The slopes were still steep and there was still a risk of falling if we somehow got overbalanced and started somersaulting. Footing was good though and falling risk was minimal. Took a break at talus before starting up. In a little less than half an hour of sweat and aching muscles we were on top of the ridge at the spot where we had looked at going down earlier in the day. It was a little after 5:00 p.m. Surprisingly it had only taken a little over an hour to climb about 1300 feet up from the lake. In hindsight, I would have had a little more time to check out the lake but, if we had been stopped, we wouldn’t have had time to retrace our route to get out before dark. It was the right decision to head out when we did. We talked about the overall route we had taken and came to the conclusion that we had made the right decision, or more correctly, series of decisions on the route. If we had tried to get into the lower lake first, we would have had to hit everything along the route perfectly in order to pull it off. It is very difficult to come downhill especially in steep terrain and thick brush. It is also more dangerous, especially if you don’t know a route. The brush, while it provides ample handholds, also blocks your vision, both near and far and you often end up on the edge of a cliff before you know it. I have been in situations where I ended up standing on the edge of long drops (a lot longer than I would care to fall) before I could even see them. The chances were that we wouldn’t have pulled off the descent into the lower lake and by the time we had been turned around, the day would have been shot. We wouldn’t have had time to climb back out of the hole and go back up the ridge to where we could get off above the upper lake. We took a break on top of the ridge for half an hour or so before starting back towards camp. We decided to cut down off the ridge at an angle towards camp. Before long we were on an obvious trail. This was apparently the official trail, 752B, shown on the USGS Quad that we had lost starting out that morning. So we started following it back because we knew it would lead us right to camp. We soon discovered that it was hard to follow. Where we had hit it, it was more obvious probably because it was in a more stable part of the hill and probably because animals had been using it. Much of the rest of it hadn’t seen much use, either by humans or animals. Even though it went through a lot of open meadow areas where one would think it would persist, it virtually disappeared in some areas. While they might appear stable, the soils of open meadow areas are quite often constantly, gradually sloughing downhill. So if trails aren’t heavily used or maintained in these areas, they are often buried over time by soil moving down from above. We followed the trail, sometimes more by instinct than anything else. You can barely make out a slight line through the grasses and forbs and you kind of know the logical route where traveling is easiest. Interspersed were areas where the tread was still relatively intact, providing clues to the location of the trail. Somehow we managed to stay on the trail. We got back to where I was sure we had cut up the ridge in the morning but I couldn’t recognize the exact spot. We decided to keep following the trail to see where it started from. About five minutes later, Andy pointed out that camp and the shelter were about 30 feet below us. I had been so intent on following the slight thread of the trail that I had walked by camp without noticing it. It looked like there was one switchback right above camp that put the start of the trail right at camp. The trail was so faint that we hadn’t seen it when we started out. In addition someone had left a message on a log that indicated that the trail was the lower one that we had started out on in the morning. It was about 6:00 p.m. when we got back. Time to cook dinner and sack out. I tried updating my notes from the day in my tent that night but it was so uncomfortable trying to sit and write that I abandoned the effort. Hopefully we would get to Devil’s Junction a little early and I would be able to work on them there. Deer running through camp woke me up in the morning. I didn’t loaf too long. We wanted to get early start to make sure made it to pickup spot in time. It would be about a 20 mile walk if we missed the boat. The morning was cold. I could feel sting in my fingers and toes and a steady breeze down the small stream running through camp made it a little colder. Figured it was pretty close to freezing. Started out a little before 7:00 a.m. Ran into a few low spots in trail where it had frosted. Got to Devil’s Junction at a little before 10:00 a.m. about an hour early. Was able to get part of notes updated before boat showed up. It was a little early but we weren’t complaining. About 20 minutes later we were on the grind back up the trail from the lake. It was a little before 11:00 a.m. Perfect. Day was pretty cool anyway but it would be nice to get up trail before heat of day. Seemed like I barely broke a sweat getting up the trail. At least I wasn’t sweating heavily. This trip had been one of those nearly perfect trips that you only get once in a while. Successful in getting where we wanted to go. Weather very good, not too hot, not too cold.  


Jack Mountain from the Dry Creek Pass/Devil's Dome trail #752.

Jack Mountain from the trail between Dry Creek Pass and Devil's Dome. 

Same as above a little farther along the trail. 

Crater Mountain from Devil's Dome.

Headwaters of Grizzly Creek from just below Devil's Dome. 

Crater and Jack Mountains from Devil's Dome. 

Looking northwest from Devil's Dome. 

Looking northwest from Devil's Dome. 

This young buck walked almost up to us on Devil's Dome. My camera was set to take landscape photos so the aperture was set small and the shutter speed was slow so most of the photos are a little blurry. Even so, I kind of like the effect with several of them. 



My shadow can be seen in the foreground of this photo. 



Jack Mountain from Dry Creek Pass on the way back to camp. 

Jack Mountain and Dry Creek Pass as we are heading up Bearskull Mountain on the morning of the second day. 


Andy Z. Taking stock of the situation as I was blazing away with my camera. 


A little farther up Bearskull Mountain. 

A little farther even still up Bearskull Mountain.

Heading north on the ridge from Bearskull Mountain towards Spratt Mountain. 

There was lots of conglomerate rock in this area as well. This rock comes from a beach or riverbed millions of years old and now on top of a ridge at about 6500 feet in elevation. 

Looking down from ridge at the first lake we visited. At this point we still weren't sure that we would be able to get into it. 

Looking south along ridge towards Bearskull Mountain. 

Spratt Mountain. We dropped down into the upper lake from the saddle in the foreground. 

Approaching the upper lake. 

At the upper lake. 

I often see quite a few waterfowl at high lakes and ponds. I don't know what species this one is but I suspect it might be a goldeneye. 

Upper lake. 

Upper lake.

Lower lake. 

From the distance the water in the lower lake was a pretty emerald green. Up close there was a heavy growth of brownish algae covering the bottom of the lake. 

Lower lake. Our route out can be seen to the upper left of the photo. 

One of the last photos I took of the lower lake before we headed up the hill. 

Our route out. The photo doesn't adequately capture how steep it was. 

Converse All Star Chuck Taylor's in the Pasayten Wilderness. 

The Bearskull shelter. It was still in relatively good shape but needs some work if it is to remain so. 

Jack Mountain from trail on the way out. 




 

Monte Cristo Scout 8/28-29/20

 

Wanted to try another route into some small ponds above Monte Cristo that I had been cliffed out on using a route up Pearsall Creek the year before. I was a bit skeptical about this route but also thought I might get lucky. Started out Friday afternoon.  Weather was good. Planned to go in Friday, camp and try out route on Saturday and come out on Saturday. The walk in was good. Saw fifteen toads in roadbed/trail between Twin Bridges and Weden House site. The toads fled as I approached but soon returned. I dropped my pack to see if I could get some pics. Walked up trail/road a bit and found another toad and took a bunch of photos. When I returned to my pack, toads were in the trail again, one was right next to my pack. They fled as I approached but most came back out again as I was repacking. Checked out my route from open spot at bottom of town site. Saw several gullies that might be problematic that I hadn’t noticed on a trip earlier in the year. A lot of the ground didn’t look too steep but I wasn’t buying that. I found a spot to camp off the Mine to Market Road, not really flat but workable. Turned in about dark. Had a hard time getting out of my sleeping bag the next day. I wasn’t too cold, I just didn’t want to get up. It was about 9:30 a.m. before I got going. I followed a large alluvial fan up to what I hoped would be a doable route. Kind of hard going. Lots of loose rock and I really had to watch my step. I was also feeling really sluggish. Finally got to edge of timber. Picked a prominent rocky outcrop just above and started for it. Figured to hit the bottom of this outcrop and follow it along as a guide to the first gully I had spotted the evening before. Hopefully I would be able to get up this gully into what looked like more navigable ground above. Area was an old burn. By the time I got to bottom of the outcrop the slope was pretty steep, much steeper than it looked from below. Cut sidehill below the outcrop. Lots of scrubby trees and brushy limbs to get through. Finally got to the gully. Below me it was way steeper than I wanted to try. From where I was, it was sketchy but barely doable to go up. However, I figured that if I got past this spot I would have more spots like it to deal with. I didn’t want to deal with it. I would most likely get stopped and have to retrace my steps back down and I didn’t like the looks of the area in front of me. If I slipped or overshot coming down I would go into the very steep, cliff like gully below. I decided to pull the plug. The Pearsall route was tough but I thought it would be better than this. Even though I was pretty much resigned to turning back, I still sat there and hemmed and hawed for about half an hour. Finally started back through steep sidehill and brush. Near the top of the alluvial fan I stumbled on to another gully that I had missed on the way in. I had seen this one from below and it looked too steep but looking at it from up close it didn’t look bad at all. Decided to try it and see where it got me. Wasn’t too bad at the start. Lots of loose rock but not too steep. Continued up 500 feet or more. The farther up I went, I ran into more loose rock. It was all sitting at repose until I stepped on it, then it gave way like sand, except it wasn’t sand. It was gravel and small boulders. Many times I took a step up only to lose two or three steps in the process. It was still doable so I struggled on. Finally it looked like I was getting close to top of the gully where hopefully I would be able to get into easier going. But near the top the ground got just a bit steeper. The part I had been traveling from below was at lower gradient because it had raveled down from the top. Now I was at the top where everything was raveling from. I squeaked through a sketchy spot on some bedrock to get out of the raveling part of the gully. Going didn’t get easier. Even though I was now on fairly consolidated soil, it was steeper and the soil was dry and loose and I was still slipping and struggling. I abruptly abandoned the attempt. It was hard going, I would undoubtedly run into some more spots like this and I already had one bad spot below me that I needed to get through in one piece. Pretty cool view of Wilmon Peak. Took some pics as I was balanced precariously on a semi-flat spot. Started back. Got through bad spot okay but loose rock in gully below was a bit of a nightmare. Not quite as hard as going up but ended up falling and flailing a lot and it did take a toll on my legs. Finally got down to alluvial fan about 1:30 p.m. Ate lunch and took short nap before continuing down. Going was better but still a lot of loose rock. Made rest of trip without incident. Probably a route up that way if one wanted to work at it and push it a little more than I did but I think I will try the other route. 


Western toad (Bufo boreas) on trail (old road bed) on the way in to Monte Cristo.  I saw fifteen toads in the old road bed/trail in about a quarter mile. 

The spotlight effect is created by strong sunlight shining in between tree shadows. 

The route I attempted was up the alluvial fan to right of center frame and then up one of the gullies. 

Wilmon Peak and Poodle Dog Pass from the alluvial fan. 

Wilmon Peak from spot where I turned around and abandoned the attempt. The foreground indicates how steep the ground was. Even though it was vegetated, it was hard to get traction. 

Wilmon Peak from spot where I turned around and abandoned the attempt. The foreground indicates how steep the ground was. Even though it was vegetated, it was hard to get traction. 

Monte Cristo town site from alluvial fan. The remaining clearing and some buildings (Pearsall Cabin I think is one of them) can just be made out in the lower third of the frame just to right of center. It is hard to believe that a good sized town still occupied this area about 90 years ago and that about a third to half of the area around center frame was relatively devoid of trees. 


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1 comment:

  1. UnknownMarch 22, 2022 at 7:45 AM

    Great stories of traveling in the mountains. Love reading your blog and seeing the remote lakes/places you visit. Hope all is well!

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