06/30/03:
I made the long drive from near Chinook Pass on WA-410 up here to Kachess Lake again. I investigated nearby Keechelus Lake but turned away from it. It's right on I-90, seemed to be half empty, had lots of tree stumps and the surrounding area was only so so.
Kachess Lake is up the road a bit. Exit 62 off I-90 brings you to the west side of the lake. The only access to the lake from this side is from a leased NFS campground mid-way up the lake and they want $5 to launch. Exit 70 off I-90 gives access to the east side. Kachess Dam Road follows the lake on this side. I found a few dispersed camping site but only one possible access to the lower end of the lake about 2 miles in.
The dirt road continues most of the length of the 10 mile lake but rises way above the lake and continues up the mountains through old logging areas. Most of the lake seems to be pretty nice but standard scenery. The upper part of the lake is something else again. Sharp peaks, valleys and ridges make for beautiful views. Now I'm thinking I might spring for the $5 boat ramp charge on the west side.
07/01/03 Paddling Cooper Lake:
Overcast and windy this morning. White caps on Kachess Lake so I drove over to Cle Elum Lake 10 miles away. Found several put in spots but white caps over here too. Someone told me about Cooper Lake farther up Salmon La Duc Road so off I went.
Cooper Lake is less than a mile long and 1/4 mile wide. Not anything to plan a long voyage on. Big, tall, steeply forested slopes rise directly up from this natural lake. Cooper River flows out of it but nothing flows in. Still cold and windy and overcast when I launched at 9:30am. If the lake's only a mile long I didn't care if a 20mph wind was blowing. This one was only 10mph.
I got a great treat as soon as I pulled away from shore. I couldn't see the west end of the lake from the launch and I had a very pleasant surprise. Several jagged peaks, still covered with snow, tower over this small lake. Very, very pretty and worth several photos.
I was only on the lake for an hour or so and then went to investigate some trailheads. One leads up into the Alpine Lakes region which I may do tomorrow. The road to the Kachess Ridge Trailhead goes up and up for 1000-2000 feet in elevation and here I was given another treat. Kachess Lake lies somewhere way down there in a deep valley. Across that valley large peaks, many covered in snow jut up everywhere. Really great scenery, as good as any to be found outside of our national parks and monuments and even rivals some of them.
07/02/03 Paddling Cle Elum Lake:
Thinking it would be another overcast day, I planned on doing one of the hikes up into the alpine lakes area. Of course it was a bright, sunshiny day with no (apparent) wind so I went paddling instead.
I put in at the Dry Creek Camp Sites, a couple miles before the north end of the lake. I turned north into a 10mph wind hoping it wouldn't get any stronger. The wind made the 50 degree temperature quite cool.
Cle Elum Lake is about 8 miles long and maybe 1 mile wide. Steep, forested slopes come down from 500 feet or so to meet the lake. Well, mostly forested... lots of splotches of a lighter colored green growth from logging activity 15-20 years ago. A few peaks at the north end but no snow. Water level was really high. Lots of trees standing in water, many 200 feet from the current shoreline. Some bushy trees even submerged several feet under water.
Fishing for landlocked salmon and steelheads is supposed to be pretty good in the lake. 10-15 Canadian Geese drifted away from grassy, marshy area as I reached the north end. A couple of brown ducks were less concerned. Then I saw a pair of crows chasing a bald eagle away from the area. Probably their nesting area. A little later I saw them at it again. This time I watched the eagle fly off into the distance.
Turning back I came upon 3 loons, probably mom, dad and child. I watched them for a while as they swam around, making an occasional dive and shaking out their wings once in a while. Presumably the parents were teaching junior how to fish.
For the rest of the morning I just let the wind push me back in the general direction of the put in.
After the paddle I went exploring a little. I followed Salmon La Duc Road to its end and then followed FR-4330 12 miles to the end. Several trailheads and some big cliffs, maybe more than 1000 feet high. People are starting to move for the 4th of July holiday weekend. Lots of camping along the upper part of FR-4330 and I'll probably move up there Friday or so and try some of those trails.
07/05/03 Hiking Deception Pass & Marmot Lake Trails (18+ miles round trip):
Yesterday was the 4th of July. I created some of my own fireworks to mark the day.
Friday the 4th dawned bright and sunshiny, still windy and still in the 40's at the trailhead at 3350 feet. The Deception Pass trail is almost perfectly flat the first 2 miles to Hyas Lake. Steep slopes topped by bluffs and peaks 1000 feet high stare down at the mile long lake. Lots of camp sites, none occupied as I passed by. Maybe because they're right next to what I would assume to be a pretty popular trail. I admired the scenery for a while and watched 30-40 Canadian Geese parade along a distance marsh.
After the lake, the trail begins a 1200 foot ascent in 2.5 miles along switchbacks to Deception Pass. I passed a trail sign pointing the way to Tuck and Robin Lakes. I may do that trail later on. Ran into the first snow patch at 4100 feet and they were pretty frequent after that, many of them covering the trail. Mosquitoes were quite annoying too.
When I reached Deception Pass and the junction with the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail at 4500 feet in 2.25 hours I was still feeling good. I saw the trail sign to Marmot Lake and since I'd checked it out on the map I figured another couple of miles wouldn't hurt. Wrong! The problem was I had forgotten whatever I had seen about the trail.
The trail continued upwards for another 200 feet and a mile later peaked right beside a small pond. From there the trail dropped 700 feet. After 1/2 mile I came to a huge wall with lots of skinny waterfalls sliding down 1000 feet of rock. Probably caused by melting snow still up at the top. A small pond was at the edge of 3 feet of snow, the probable remains of an avalanche. The pond fed a fast moving brook I had to cross that dropped into a pretty waterfall a few yards down.
1.5 miles or so the descent ended at a snow field across another small stream. I crossed this with no problem and began what turned out to be a 600 foot ascent. Part way up I came to a runoff flowing down a steep, rock incline. A snow pack covered the runoff but had suffered considerable melting. A grotto had formed from underneath and sunlight streamed down from several holes in the top.
Didn't look safe to me and I was pretty tired but I thought I was only 150 vertical feet from the lake and wanted to go on. So I very carefully worked my way down over broken chunks of packed snow and rocks and was able to cross over without too much trouble.
Then the switchbacks started again. By this time I was really tired. A mile later I heard a waterfall just off the trail. When I investigated I saw it rose more than 100 feet above me and dropped a couple hundred feet below me. I was sure the falls flowed out of Marmot Lake somewhere above or into the lake, way down below. Since it was 1pm and I'd been hiking 5 hours already and was already 100 feet higher than I expected and saw no other signs of a lake I turned back. There wasn't much doubt the lake was just around the corner but my legs were about dead and I still had to get back up that 700 foot incline.
As it was, it was almost 5:30pm by the time I got back to the trailhead. One of my longest hikes. 2700 feet elevation was, in fact, the highest I'd gone in one hike.
07/06/03 Hiking Deception Pass & Tuck Lake Trails (14+ miles round trip):
Upper 30's, bright sunshine, no wind at 8am at the trailhead. Followed Deception Pass Trail to Hysa Lake which didn't have a ripple on it. Nearby peaks and ridges were reflected as if in a mirror. Unfortunately I couldn't get both the peaks and the reflections in a photo. Things were warming up by this time and the temperature was in the 40's. I got to the Tuck Lake & Robin Lakes Trailhead, 15 minutes quicker than the other day. Either they moved the trailhead closer or I was a little stronger.
The Tuck Lake Trail passes through a lot of shaggy cedar trees, many of them curved at the base as if they might have been snowed under and flattened when young and then continued growing straight. And then the trail turned upwards... and how. This is the steepest trail for the longest time I've ever completed. I guess it would certainly be listed under the strenuous trails. There are a few short flat spots but most of it seems to be straight up.
Great views along the way though. Different angles on the peaks and ridges across the valley. Tuck Lake is 2-3 acres with a pretty rock island in the middle with a couple of small pines on it, backed by a snow filled ravine. 500-700 foot sloping, granite walls rise above and circle half the lake. The two Robin Lakes are another 1000 feet up and a couple miles distance. No way, no how, not me, not in this lifetime.
As I started back down I met a woman in her 40's and (probably) her mother who had to be in her 70's. What a lady, or maybe the trail wasn't as steep as I thought. Right where the descent begins are a bunch of ledges with more excellent views of the mountains across the way. Way down below are Hyas Lake and another smaller lake. A beautiful vista.
07/07/03 Hiking Cathedral Pass & Deep Lake Trails(14 miles round trip):
More bright sunshine this morning with temperatures in the 40's and no wind. The Cathedral Pass Trail leads up 1300 feet to join with the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. From here Deep Lake, Michael Lake and Waptus Lakes. Mosquitoes were the main thing up there. They were pretty bad.
I was headed for Deep Lake, 7 miles from the trailhead. Michael Lake is 8 miles and Waptus Lake, 11 miles. TopoUSA showed the 1300 foot climb followed by 1.5-2.0 miles fairly level, another climb of 600 feet followed by a 700 foot drop to Deep Lake. That would be close to my highest elevation gain combined with a 14 mile hike.
The level section wasn't that level after all. I followed it downward at a slight decline for a 1.5 miles or so when my mind took over. The remaining hike into Deep Lake would take all my mental and physical abilities as it was. This decline, even though it was only a couple hundred feet faked me out and I turned back. Good thing I did because I found it tough going without completing the remaining climbs. I think part of it was I should have rested a day after yesterday's tough climb.
I passed a couple of drunken cowboys on horses yelling and laughing and making a lot of noise. It looked like they had a couple of six packs in insulated saddle bags. At least I didn't see any empty cans tossed along the trail. Then I passed a couple in their 70's... backpacking!!! They were up in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness for a couple of days. And they do it frequently. Good for them.
07/08/03 Hiking Pete Lake Trail(8 miles round trip):
This morning got off to an interesting start. The first thing I saw when I climbed out of the truck was a weasel or a martin or some such critter scampering about. A little tiny thing, about 9 inches long, including tail and not more than 3 inches high. He had something in his mouth and a chipmunk took off after him. This made me think the critter had snatched one of the chipmunks babies. I managed to get one picture of the critter but it was out of focus.
Drove back up to Cooper Lake to the Pete Lake Trailhead. This is a pretty easy trail with a few ups and downs to Pete Lake. Pete Lake itself is similar to Cooper Lake but smaller. Its 2 acres or so with steep slopes around it and a snow covered ridge at one end. Only one campsite with good a good view of the lake. The others are mostly screened out by small trees.
07/09/03 Hiking Kachess Ridge Tail(about 12 miles round trip):
50's and bright sunshine at 9am and 4900 feet. I was up here last week while exploring. Gorgeous views across the valley along the road. With those kinds of views I thought I was saving the best for last. Didn't turn out that way though.
There are no trailhead signs at the parking area so that should have told me something. I found a trail at the far end and followed it 100 yards to the edge of the forest where I found a sign that said simply "Trail". 30 minutes later the trail broke out into the open again. Off to the right I had a good view of what was probably Mount Baker 50 miles away. I don't think it was Mount Rainier which would be closer to 100 miles away.
Off to the left was a different view of the half dozen peaks across the valley, several still covered with snow. The rest of the views from this point are many, many steep slopes joining at the bottom at different angles. Unfortunately they are all scarred from past logging activity and roads built into the hillsides.
Along with no trailhead sign, lots of downed trees across the trail indicate this trail is not maintained... and probably for a reason. Walking through the woods offered little opportunity for any other views, at least as far as I went. I gave up after another half hour and turned back mainly because of disappointment. Too bad a trail that got off to such a wondrous start turned out to be just another walk in the woods. At least I got a couple of hours of exercise.
This will be my last day in Cle Elum Lake area. Time to move on.