Three Brothers 8.18.08

I had hoped to knock off some Home Court Peaks but with the unstable weather I opted for what I thought might be more stable weather. Judging by the weather on the way home I think I made the right choice. I got a somewhat early start which was the perfect start time. I reached the Stafford Creek Trailhead and was dismayed by the warm humid weather. I don't react well to hot temperatures. I struggled mightily the initial couple miles. When the rain started I gave some thought to bagging it. I was worried about the high lightning danger and didn't want to be a lightning rod. With the rain the temperature dropped at least 6 degrees. I had hoped to leave the Stafford Creek Trail just below the saddle between Navaho and Little Navaho Peak. I had done this once before a remembered it to be a pleasant climb. With the rain I decided to stay on trail. Just after the passing my jump off point the rain stopped and the weather stayed cool. With the cooler weather my legs returned. I reached the County Line trail and headed East. I reached the crest and was treated with my first views of my intended summit.


I dropped quickly to the basin below and stared up to my summit high above me. I started up able to follow a climber's trail for most of the way. Soon I was on the summit to be buffeted by some high winds and some nice views.


I signed one of the two registers. I didn't take the time to look through them. The last person to sign was 73! I hope to be still bagging peaks at that age. The weather was closing in so I quickly retraced my steps.


I decided to take a more direct route out. I descended in a direct line to Little Navaho. I took a nice ramp to around the same elevation as the pass. I wasn't able to find a easy way to traverse to the pass so I dropped via a gully to the stream bed below me. Once in the creek bed I was surprised that the climb to the pass was straightforward. It look super steep from my traverse. I climbed steadily and soon I was at the pass being slapped around by even stronger winds. I dropped easily to the Stafford Creek trail and did my best to keep a brisk pace to the car.




Approx 13 miles 5500' of climb 7:15 Car to car

Canoe Peak attempt 8.1108

I again had high hopes for a day in the mountains. The weather was going to cooperate and I had plenty of time to make it work. I hoped to summit Canoe Peak via Bare Mt. trail and hoped to continue to Lennox Mt. I had intended on car camping at the trailhead to enable a early start, but a family Monopoly Game nixed that idea. I still managed to get a 0730 start. The North Fork Road is in great shape and I made good time. I was surprised to see a pair just heading up the trail. I packed up and headed up the old slippery road bed. The rocks seemed like they were coated in oil as I made my way to the first crossing of Bear Creek. There are a few different ways to go but all seemed to be a little slippery. I gratefully made it across without incident. I was relieved that the trail has been recently brushed out saving me from getting wet from the morning dew. There is cairn at the first switchback as I continued straight ahead on the old miner's trail that leads to the mines just below Bear Lakes. The route is very brushy but is flagged and I didn't have any issues making it to mines. I passed some trees with fresh bear markings which was obviously made by a smaller bear. As I broke out of the trees I saw the bear clinging to a small rock face above me. I wasn't able to get the camera out in time to catch a good picture. Once at the mine I headed up on the faint fisherman's trail to Bear Lakes. I angled away from the trail to the West and found easier going on some heathery rockslides. Soon I was already above the lakes which suited me just fine. I wasn't intending on stopping at the lakes anyway. In my study for routes of Canoe Peak I was able to find a handful of reports but only one gave any route descriptions. I probably should have read that report a little more closely. Looking at the map it appeared to me that the approach with the least amount of steep climbing was coming from the North. I had been over the small notch just East of 5449' on a previous trip to Kanim Lake. I crossed the ridge and was treated to a lovely bench system of snow, heather and talus. What I didn't count on was Canoe's cliffy North face. I thought I might be able to outflank the cliffs without any luck. I dropped pack and headed up to the ridge line. I was able to breach the ridge around 5400' and started East. This line was not dog friendly and soon I reached a point that surpassed my pucker factor. The dogs were below me freaking out so I pulled the plug at 5550' just 150' from the summit. I backed down the steep snow slope to return to my stowed belongings and contemplated the long traverse to Lennox. I decided that having already wasted so much time on route finding that might put me on the descent from Bear Lakes in the dark. This was something I knew would not be good. The route is hard to follow in full light. I had a tough time getting Tanner to the South side of the ridge. I had to pull him up the last 5' which wasn't the easiest thing to do. I dropped quickly to Bear Lakes and went around the North shore. I couldn't believe how much water was flowing into the lakes. I can only surmise that the area must be loaded with springs. I easily found the fisherman's trail and had no problems following it back to the mine. There was one short steep portion with a rope to help with the drop. I again had to haul both dogs down this part which again wasn't much fun. I had some issues finding my way back to the camps below the mine but nothing too bad. I was happy to reach the more defined lower portions. I soon reached the brushy section which had enough flagging to make it quite easy.






Approx 10 miles 3800' of climb 8 hours car to car

Bald Eagle Peak Attempt 7.14.08

I think it is well known that Bald Eagle Pk. is miss labeled on many current maps. Silver Eagle and Bald Eagle are swapped on most maps. I wanted a direct line with no trail work at all. I parked just after crossing the 2nd concrete bridge on the Foss River Rd. I had some issues with a lost key and road work so I was already behind schedule. The ridge is very to easy to follow and there isn't an abundance of brush for the first 3000' of climb. Around 4500' the brush appears and slows things down. The brush last for about 700' of climb and is manageable. I knew water would be at a premium on this ridge route so I packed enough for both myself and both dogs. I can't say the extra weight was too pleasing. But I didn't want to run dry. I didn't think I would see any water until I neared the summit. I stayed on the ridge which has it's up and downs until around 5400'. I read some reports that stayed on the ridge until 5700' but that didn't look appealing for a solo effort. I traversed for nearly .25 mile most of which was on snow. I found some nice snow slopes to climb towards the notch below the false summit which is dominates the skyline to the South. I reached 5600' and noticed that I was already an hour over my turn around time. I was feeling like the route wasn't quite as apparent as I had hoped. I decided that not freaking my wife out was more important than the last 600' of climb. I really wished for another climber for this trip. I wasn't feeling real good about pressing on solo. I picked my way along the ridge until I was just before the descent really started and dropped pack and had a nice lunch. The views from the summit must be amazing. Just the ridge views were worth the effort themselves. The first part of the descent was the worst with the brush and just enough steepness to be cautious. I was able to more or less stay on the ridge for the entire descent. I always felt like I was heading too far South but I still popped out on the road just North of the car. I crossed the road and walked the short ways the East Fork of the Foss so the dogs could get some well deserved water. Great day and a route that I will repeat with some company.




Approx 5 miles 4100' of climb 8:45 car to car

Miller Peak , Jester Peak 7.7.08

I am still licking my wounds from last week's brush bash so for today I decided a trail hike was in order. Again for me the weather was ideal. I had been eyeing a loop trip leaving on the Miller Peak Trail and coming out the Bear Creek Trail. I would bag two more summits along the way. The Stafford Creek Road is a little bumpy but no major issues. I parked and packed up. I had anticipated around 7 hours for the 15 miles but I wanted to try to get home an hour earlier so I kept a brisk pace for the balance of the day. There is very little snow remaining in the area so route finding was of no issue. I steamed to Miller Peak's summit, #62 on the B/C 100, in just over two hours. Right behind me were two older gentlemen which surprised me. I found out they had come from the Blewett side making more sense to me. I couldn't envision them making the same climb in less than 2 hours. I snapped some pictures and had some small talk with the my summit companions. I considered just returning to the car but I figured I could still make my evening's plan if I pushed it. I cut some mileage off by dropping more directly to the trail off the summit. I followed the ridge dropping down to 5000' and then regaining the elevation to reach Jester Mountain 5520+' #84 on the B/C 100. The views were not exactly stunning so I dropped down and then climbed up to 5489', which had much better views. I was now downhill all the way to the car. I passed two ladies at the 3-way intersection. I dropped quickly passing a nice spring just after the junction. I was happy to let the dogs drink their fill. The trail crosses the creek many times but the water was low enough that I never got my wet feet. I passed the climbers that I had met on Miller Peak just before exiting. They had followed my up route down and now were ascending my descent route. I don't know for sure if they actually knew were they were going but they seemed in good spirits. The mosquitoes were very bad along Bear Creek which pushed me to move even faster. I was very pleased to make it back to the car a whole hour before I had expected to exit.




Approx 15 miles 4100' of climb 6 hours car to car.