July 19, 2008: 5th of July Mountain, from Basalt Ridge

Complete solitude, an incredibly green forest, meadows galore, pumice fields, a flower display to rival the best, views of peaks near and far, all culminating in a perch high in the sky - this turned out to be one of the most beautiful and varied ridge systems I have yet hiked on. For all the (justifiable) press that the Buck Pass – High Pass ridge walk (amongst others) gets, I am amazed that this one is so overlooked.

My usual early start had me at the Basalt Pass trailhead and on the trail by 5:00am. The hike started off like a bat out of hell; wasting no time in getting to Basalt Pass (~1,200ft in a little more than a mile). The most beautifully lush green forest floor that I have recently seen was a soothing balm for the exertion: deep greens, arranged in complex leafy patterns, carpeted the valley slopes.

Basalt Pass, on Basalt Ridge was treed and viewless; a most innocent start to the ridge walks to follow. However, first views on Basalt Ridge were soon on offer, as I was treated to a lovely sunrise, sending slanting warmth into the valley I just climbed out of. The flower show, which was to keep me company almost throughout the hike, also began and blinding colors assaulted my senses brought out even more by sunny backlighting.

Oohing and ahhing (the wonders were coming thick and fast now), I was next treated to first views of Clark Mountain’s glaciated face, with Glacier Peak just beyond. These would be my constant companions on the hike, their views improving evermore. The hiking was predominantly along the ridge crest now. Green meadows, dotted with picturesque trees, began to keep me company, both on the ridge and below me.

4mi into the hiking Garland Peak rose up in front of me, as well as the first of the pumice fields; a reminder of Glacier Peak’s majesty, from a distant, more violent past. The pumice field took me higher and higher to intersect my second ridge system. Here I took a left on the Garland Peak trail, and before I could catch my breath I was looking at the crags and screes of Devils Smokestack, elevation ~7,400ft.

Next up was the most scenic, as well as cruelest sections of the hike. Pumice slopes, a flower show to rival Mt Rainier’s best (made even more awesome by the incongruous setting), led gently and then steeply down, as the trail contoured around Rampart Mountain. In total 1,500ft of elevation was dropped, all to be regained on the way back…

A pretty, stream filled meadow nestled beneath Rampart Mountain’s cliffs signaled the end of the drop and was followed by a steep climb up to 5th of July Pass. Green Cow Creek Meadows lay below me, with the Chelan Mountains (including Pyramid Mountain, where I had been last week) a veritable sea of peaks beyond. A much meaner side of Rampart Mountain was an intimidating presence to my south.

From here, my initial plan had been to head to Larch Lakes. However, given the amount of time it had taken me to get to this point and the fact that I was still a good 2-2.5mi away from the lakes, I shelved that plan. 5th of July Mountain, looming high above me to the north, ended up being one fabulous back-up. I headed steeply (all the gain on this hike is steep) up the slopes and a short final scramble had me on the 7,695ft summit. Wow, what a view! The Entiats to the north, Phelps Ridge and the Chiwawa’s to the west, and the Chelan’s to the east. To the south 5th of July Pass was small, made even more insignificant by Rampart Mountain, which towered over it. My ridge route, taken to get to this point, was also visible; a reminder of the long strenuous hike still remaining.

Additional photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shahiddurrani/sets/72157606280823857

Stats:

• Elevation gain (cumulative): 6,800ft (including 2,000ft on the return).

• Distance: ~17mi

• Hiking time: 11hr 40min

• Total trip time: 16hr 20min

Trip notes:

• Snow free

• Not a single soul seen

• Roads in good shape

• A few minor blowdowns on the Basalt Ridge trail

• Trail tread quite faint in places

• Lots of bugs!

Left the trailhead near cottonwood cg at 1:30 on the 4th and headed up trail 1400 without a specific plan in mind. Decided to check out the crossing of snowbrushy creek and decide whether to go on or turn around. The trail is moderate and in excellent condition all the way. The crossing at snowbrushy may have been feasible but with our canine companion we decided not to risk it. Also weren't sure what other crossings we might encounter further up the river.

Turned around and headed back toward Myrtle. The ford across the Entiat is not passable for anyone, man or beast. The river is roaring there. Back to the bridge we went (lovely bridge btw) and headed toward Myrtle, but decided not to camp there even though there was a nice spot at the south end of the lake right by the trail. Instead we continued on to Cow Creek Meadows. Lots of elevation, a bit of a tedious grunt through dense trees, and one more stream crossing before the meadows which we managed to do on a log, but would have been faster to remove the shoes and cross in sandals. Cow Creek was spectacular despite a chilly wind. On a hot day the crystal pools would have summoned us. Camped at Cow Creek Meadows.

Next day continued up trail 1404 with Larch Lakes as our destination, which gains a lot of elevation but affords some stunning views of Cow Creek from above. Hit a lot of snow before the fork with 1408. Had some difficult route finding before reaching the T. Will probably be a month before this trail melts out. After the T we had more route finding problems and some steep snow crossings, but the snow was pretty soft. Took several hours to cover the few miles to upper Larch Lake. One other party at upper Larch, so we got the site that was left on the north shore (south shore still in snow), which was still soggy, but not bad. The skies were cloudy and we got a few sprinkles, so we saved the hike up to Pomas Pass for the next day.

July 6 was crystal clear and stunning. Packed up and did a quick day hike up to Pomas Pass, which is spectacular. Very little snow left--nothing difficult. Beautiful views of the Entiat Mtns. from this trail.

Came back, donned the packs and headed out along trail 1404, which was in fantastic shape all the way. In passing the lower lake it looked like there were a few nice campsites but the views are not as good as from upper. We had one log crossing along 1430.1 and one where we opted for sandals as the log was high above the water. Stopped at Myrtle for a quick dip (surprisingly warmer than expected) and got back to the car by 4:00. Mosquitoes were of course present but nothing out of the ordinary. The hike back along the river seemed long...

All in all, a beautiful loop, but I would definitely wait a few weeks before approaching Larch Lakes from the south--a lot of north-facing slopes to contend with in this high-snow season.