Bear and Deer Lakes, Dorothy Lake 5.30.05

I decided to take one of my co-workers, Isac, who had never been backpacking before. I chose the Lake Dorothy trail because I knew there wasn't alot of elevation gain to the lake. My hope was we could camp at Bear and Deer Lake. From the outset it was apparent to me that Isac wasn't comfortable carrying a overnight pack. I off loaded as much of his pack onto mine as I could fit in and on. With the holiday weekend there were more people than campsites so I was worried about finding a suitable home if and when we reached our goal. To Isac's credit he stuck it out and made it to the saddle above our intended destination. The weather was just becoming warm as we reached the saddle but that was short lived. As we dropped to Bear Lake the weather became quite cool and foggy. The lakes were fogged in so bad you couldn't see the lake from more than 15 feet away from it. I thankfully found a nice campsite besides some moving water. After setting up camp I decided to do some scouting for my trip's goal of Little Bulger Peak. I dropped to Deer Lake to find the weather even more wet the fog was condensing on everything making it seem like it was raining heavily. In my life I have seen just about everything but nothing prepared me for what I saw just before I reached Deer Lake. I saw a man gathering firewood off of the trail, as I approached, I thought is he wearing Speedos? As I drew closer I realized that what he was wearing was a shirt..... and that was it. It took a while to register, so I wasn't really sure what to say as I passed. I had hoped to use the isthmus between Bear and Deer Lake for my approach on Little Bulger but I nixed that idea when I saw the man bringing that firewood in that direction. I returned to camp, giving up on any climbing becuase of the lack of any visibility and the extremely wet conditions. I hoped the morning would bring dry conditions for my second goal of Mile High Mt. But when I awoke it was even wetter so we broke camp and made our way back to Dorothy. At Dorothy we found drier weather and Isac tried his hand at some fishing with out any results. I on the other hand was too lazy to even set up my rod. This trip was very crowded, and with two dogs made it less than enjoyable. I am not sure I will have a return hike with Isac but I was proud of him for sticking it out. To add to the overcrowding theme it took us two hours to reach Sultan from the trailhead due to heavy traffic. We were stopped without even moving for long stretches I cannot believe a major highway would ever be so backed up. I finally made it home to dry out all my things.

Horseshoe Lake, Sorcery Mt. 5.25.05

I was hoping for a summit of Sorcery Mt. which lies just East of Horseshoe Lake. I made my way down the Middle Fork Rd which for once improved as I made my way to the Dingford Creek Trailhead. After bumping my way to the trail head I found some pleasant sunny skies to greet my climb up the first grade. After a short time the grade lessens and becomes mostly flat. I reached the many brances of Goat Creek in less than an hour. There is a fisherman's trail that leaves the Dingford Creek trail just after the fourth branch of Goat Creek. There is a couple of big rocks and the trail starts right between them. The trail is quite easy to follow and the grade isn't too bad. After about 200ft of elevation the trail crosses the fifth branch and continues on the east side all the way to the outlet of Horseshoe Lake. I found a nice sunny rock to soak up some much needed sun and to plan my attempt at Sorcery Mt (pt. 5273). I made my way around the east side of the lake and climbed to a subtle spur that tends mostly east. I kept mostly on the Northern side and found some open areas that would, I am sure take me to the saddle just north of Sorcery's summit. Just as I made it to the northern side the Beagle caught a scent and was off down the southern side. I backtracked trying to keep a straight line of sound so that I could coax him back. With no luck for more than 5 minutes I made my way back to my pack that I had stashed back at the lake. Just as I made it back I was much relieved to be rejoined by my annoying pet. I still had plenty of time to make my way back and rejoin my climb but I did not have enough desire to do this. I just stayed and enjoyed a simply magnificent afternoon at a lake that probably doesn't get visited too often. This lake is well worth the effort as it is less than 2 hours from the trailhead. The descent went without incident and I made it back before I knew it.

Elbow Mt 5.17.05

I had hoped to do a big loop by leaving my bike at the trail 1222 trailhead and then driving to the Middle Fork Trail. I wanted to summit Jolly Mt. via this route and run the ridge back to the bike climbing Humerus Hill and Elbow Pk along the way.After doing a bit of research trail 1393 crosses the Middle Fork, I don't like crossing rivers this time of year more so since there had been heavy rains in the area the previous day. I decided that I would just run the ridge to Jolly Mt and come out the same way. The spur road that leads to the 1222 trailhead has been dug out preventing all but high clearance vehicles from continuing on. Last year I had made it over with out any problems so I figured I wouldn't have any problems this year. I thought the berm looked a little more substantial than last year so I decided to take a look before trying to go over. Lucky I did this because the I would have most cerainly been high centered had I tried. There is room to go around but I became stuck and thought all was lost. I managed to rock the truck out and decided not to tempt fate by trying again. I just parked which added 1200ft of road climb to make it to the trailhead. 15 minutes up the road I spotted a black bear just 25 yards ahead on the road. Lucky for me the dogs didn't see the bear and we crossed paths without incident. The ridge trail sees alot of motorcycle traffic but is in fairly good shape. The ridge trail humps and bumps its way to Elbow Peak. As I reached the summit of Elbow Pk. the weather changed quite quickly dropping at least 20 degrees and it started hailing in earnest. Since it was warm and sunny at the trailhead I had dumped my pack of most of my warmer clothes. I now couldn't see any of the neighboring peaks and the wind was kicking up and I was becoming quite cold despite the many layers I pieced together. I certainly didn't want to get caught out in a rainstorm so I hightailed it to the truck, making it out just before the rain set in. There is very little water on this trail and there is much more elevation gain than you might expect.

Scatter Creek 5.11.05

I was hoping to summit Scatter Benchmark (pt 6897), I was much suprised to find substantial snow above 4200ft. I couldn't follow the trail under all the snow so I decided to jump off trail and climb to subtle ridge that leads SE. The area was mostly open and I could avoid most of the rotten patchy snow as I made my way up the moderate grade. I tended to the areas with the most southern exposure which made for faster snowless travel. The grade flattened out near 5100ft as the views started to unfold. The snow became solid and consolidated near 5400ft. I switched to snowshoes which I was very glad to have carried to this point. I went directly over pt. 5840 which is the terminus of the ridge. I now switched direction heading mostly east and dropped to the saddle and met the County Line trail which I followed towards Scatter Benchmark. I stayed almost directly on the ridgeline which was quite open and enjoyable. After cresting a minor point I could see where the trail goes directly South of the benchmark. The pass from my vantage point seemed quite steep and was completely covered with snow. I was quite content to eat my lunch and enjoy the windless sun. The views pan out in nearly every direction. There seems to be many ways to reach the Scatter group so I look forward to trying a different route next time. The descent went quite quickly without having too much route finding. I just merely followed my own prints and where there wasn't snow I took the path of least resistance. Just seeing enough signs of my ascent to give me confidence that I would be able to rejoin the trail.

Freedom Peak 5.3.05

I had seen some trip reports stating that the Stafford Creek Trail was mostly snow free. The weather on the western crest seemed like it would improve as the day went on. I expected better weather on the eastern crest and since I had most of the day I thought why not climb Freedom Pk aka Little Navaho (pt 6442). Freedom Pk. ranks a moderate # 61 on the Back Court 100, thus it needed to be climbed. The plan was to jump off trail at around 4800ft where there is a creek crosses the trail. The slope is moderate and the area is quite open and attractive. There wasn't much snow and almost all of it could be avoided. I reached the ridge line around 6200ft and dropped pack. I picked my way the rest of the way to the summit mostly staying directly on the ridge line. I was hoping to find a summit register, but none was readily apparent. The weather was ideal broken sun and the temps in the mid 60's. I was expecting about a 6 hour round trip but was pleasantly suprised with a 4.5 hour car to car. The descent was quite enjoyable I merely plunge stepped in the soft soil making great time. The views are quite good well worth the effort.