Larch Trees were at their peak this weekend, probably good for the remainder of the week too, but weather will be bad. There were about 10 tents in the basin and 15 to 20 people - I think I took the last campsite. Weather reports warned of record low temperatures this weekend and they were not joking... it was frigid, I wouldn't be surprised if it dipped below 0. Cozy in my Dark Star -40 bag, pitty the poor fool in a coleman. Stumbled across 2 motorcycles, 2 mountain bikes, a horseman and several dogs - despite the ill ire of Ira we all got along just fine and the larch trees were no worst for the wear. The only small frustration I had was with a youngster out breaking the ice ruining the pristine freeze the next morning. Its all good.

Getting to larch lakes- hike to Myrtle Lake and proceed as if to hike Cow Meadows trail, about 5 minutes after you leave the lake heading up the Cow Meadows trail there will be hiker trail that exits to the right that crosses about 1 mile to intercept Larch Lake trail. there are 2 good creeks about 3/4 of the way across, worthy of a water stop before you hit the ascent. The ascent up larch lake Trail is under tree cover the bottom half and mostly exposed the upper half. The bottom half has about 500 feet of straight up with no switch backs.

Interesting note - about 1 mile or so into the hike trail crews have built a nice bridge, but it looks like the creek has recently gouged a new bed about 50' beyond as if to suggest the bridge will end up being useless? hope not, its a really nice bridge.

Photos posted at CannedSwank.com go to portfolio and find menu item Montanea/Larch 09... note the black and white looking photos are not B&W, they are infrared.

Overnight trip up the Chiwaukum Creek trail to Larch lake in search of the elusive golden Larch trees.
I started the hike about 9:00am and was the only car in the huge parking area.
The first 1.5 miles are on a private road and next 6 miles are an up and down and up trail on a horse-beaten path of dust and poop. Then at the Glacier creek crossing, there’s a sign saying horses can’t go further - yea! About a half mile up the trail are plastic streamers on bushes warning about bees. Yep, a very large football size nest hanging above the trail with active critters…thanks for the warning. I tiptoed around and remained unstung. Then the uphill began… the first half-mile is quite overgrown and you need to use your arms and hiking poles to move the branches and brush out of the way. The next 2 miles have been totally cleared and the path graded … thanks!...however, it’s a south facing trail, steep, and was quite hot. Then you get to the wonderfully cool to the body Chiwaukum lake. There’s two nice camp sites at the lake. Next 3 miles take you go up a ridge, through spectacular meadows and there are some Larch trees ! I think I could tell because some of the branches were starting to turn golden….but, it was definitely too early for the show! I arrived at Larch lake after about 7 hours total on the trail. The lake was beautiful and several Larch trees were gold enough to provide beautiful pictures. Several signs around the shore warn that you must camp 200 feet from shore. I found a great camp spot amidst Larch and other trees and setup my tent for the night. Two other people were camping at the outlet, seemed to be right on the lake, but I never talked to them. Morning was spectacular, took several pictures, packed up everything and hid my pack in the trees. Then I hiked up to Cup lake. Wow, what an awful place! Desolation is the best description. The lake had a skim of ice on it and a huge iceberg in the middle covered with mud and rocks. The shores were rocks/scree/ and only a few larches…definitely not worth the picture…and the water had a muddy color. Obviously, this lake has been abused by nature. However, from the lake outlet, the view down the valley toward Larch lake and beyond is beautiful. On hiking down and across a meadow area I ran into 2 hunters with big guns. They said they were hunting deer. Of course I had left my pack and red shirt down below…and said I was glad they didn’t think I was a deer. They said they saw me coming down and decided to spare me this time … actually 2 really nice guys. I told them I see more deer in my back yard in Issaquah than I see in the National Forests ! I picked up my pack and started my trip out. I met a backpacker at Chiwaukum Lake who said he used his motorcycle to get to within 2 miles of the lake and then hiked over a ridge and down to the lake…saving the long Chiwaukum Creek walk. I told him he should be sorry he missed the exercise, brush, and horse poop and I felt sorry for him….he laughed for some reason. I got out in about 6-hours, car still lonely in the parking lot, and I had a fantastic time. Would I do this hike again? Maybe next year, and a little later in the season, but will definitely look into alternate routes ... and do not plan on buying a motorcycle !

For our Big Pants Trekkers annual backpack this year we decided to take it a wee bit easy. We still wanted to be out for four nights, but we didn't feel up to a long slog, long travel time, or huge elevation gain. So we decided to let the Scottish High Camps give us a lift, literally up to their camp at 5000' near the Scottish Lakes in the Central Cascades.

The Scottish High Camp is our kind of place and we are their kind of people. We figured that out right away. Don and Chris are the consummate hosts, with special treats, stories, the outdoor wood-fired hot tub, hot cocoa and coffee, and lots of advice and information on local hiking. After a rainy Labor Day weekend spent playing games in the lodge over fresh baked cookies, popcorn, and our own great meals, we decided to get out and hike.

On Monday we started out just after noon in the rain to Lake Donald. The trail starts right from High Camp, heading first up the ridge to the trailhead, then into the woods and down again to Lake Julius which is a pretty, wooded lake about 2.5 miles from High Camp. The trail works around Lake Julius and starts climbing a bit to Loch Eileen, which is a bit more alpine than Julius, sitting in a rocky basin with huckleberry fields mixed in with the trees. We didn't take much time at either lake as it was pouring rain and we just wanted to get to camp. The only good side to the rain: mushrooms, crazy mushrooms everywhere, with variety, size and quantity we have never seen before.

From Loch Eileen, the trail crosses the outlet stream then turns into a rough way trail for the final 1/2 mile and 500' push to Lake Donald, a total of four miles from High Camp. In the rain, this section of way trail was a slippery and muddy mess, alternating between straight-up and rooty from the huckleberries, and areas of slick granite to scramble up any way you can. We made it, and found a campsite near the outlet stream just big enough for our three tents. We put up tents and dove in for the night, with the rain turning into snow and all of us soaking wet beyond our ability to stay out and make a proper dinner. We ate cheese and crackers and ended up turning in for the night - at 5 p.m.!

Good thing we awoke to fine weather on Tuesday (and for the rest of the week), or we might have had an aborted hike. We were not planning to move camp, so we explored the meadows above Lake Donald almost to Tamarack Peak, trying to find signs of a way trail over McCue Ridge that Don and Chris told us about. It's an offtrail/unmapped shortcut to the Chiwaukum Trail, our destination for Wednesday. After a few hours of pleasant exploration which took us up into some snowy meadows from Monday's storm, we decided that with full packs we had better stick to the regular trail on Wednesday. Tons of ripe berries, especially in the upper meadows, you could have rolled in them. I was surprised we didn't see any bears.

Because we didn't want to risk the shortcut with full packs, on Wednesday morning we headed back the way we came, losing elevation all the way past Eileen and Julius only to head back up again to ascend McCue Ridge. From the grassy ridge you can see lots of mountains, I wish I had brought more GreenTrails maps so that I could see what they were. From McCue Ridge, the trail descends again to mile-long Chiwaukum Lake which had a fine campsite right at the junction of the McCue and Chiwaukum trails. We kept going ascending again to beautiful Ewing Basin, and finally to Larch Lake, about seven miles from Lake Donald.

Note: there was a beehive right in the middle of the trail between Ewing Basin and Larch Lake, when you stop going up the steep switchbacks and the trail levels out a bit just before you come into the Larch Lake basin. Keep your eyes open, there's plenty of opportunity to back up and go around it by walking through the meadows to the right of the trail.

The Larch Lake basin was beautiful, and it was all ours. We couldn't believe that we hadn't seen a single other hiker so far. Unreal. We found a good camp left of where the trail enters the basin, but there were many smaller one-tent sites tucked away into the benches around the meadows and tarns. Gentian and berries galore. Larches might turn early, a couple of them were showing signs of turning.

Thursday we hiked to Cup Lake and two of our party were nearly able to ascend the ridge over Cup Lake. We weren't sure if they were heading the exact correct direction to Deadhorse Pass, they went straight when they crossed the outlet and basically went straight up that rock outcropping. They came just twenty or so feet shy of the ridge before deciding that the rock was too loose and exposure too great to continue. Upon heading back to Larch Lake on Thursday afternoon we saw a couple dayhikers and also a couple other backpackers come in, the first other people we'd seen since Monday.

Friday we hiked out the six miles back to High Camp, down to Chiwaukum and back up McCue Ridge, then finally back down to High Camp where they were waiting to give us a ride down the hill to our cars, and hamburgers at Gustavs. Another great trip. Next year: Teton Crest?

We hiked in to Myrtle Lake on July 3, making camp for two nights. Although there were quite a few people camping there, there were enough available campsites that it didn't seem overly crowded. Enjoying a swim in the lake was a must for all of us after setting camp.

Bugs were pretty noticeable at Myrtle. The flies were pretty thick, especially close to the lake. We camped away from the lake a bit, and found that the bug problem was drastically reduced by retreating even 50 feet into the woods.

July 4 was the hiking day. We set out early on the Larch Lakes trail, climbing the switchbacks past some lovely views and waterfalls. We paused at Lower Larch but were quickly driven on by the mosquitoes. There was snow on the trail from lower to upper larch, but not so much as to make the going difficult. What *was* difficult were the thick and relentless mosquitoes that plagued us from just before Upper Larch lake to well beyond.

From Upper Larch, we continued on up toward Fifth of July Mountain. There is a debris field from a fairly significant avalanche about a mile past Upper Larch Lake. We had to make our way carefully around trees and boulders and over snow, and then work a little to find the trail again on the other side.

After the avalanche debris field, there were no major blockages on the trail up to fifth of July or beyond, down the Cow Creek trail and back to Myrtle Lake. The only problem we had was, once again, swarms of mosquitoes as we began to descend toward Cow Creek meadow. Despite early and often re-applications of deet and continual swatting, we three hikers received well in excess of a hundred mosquito bites each.

The views as we neared the top of the hike contouring Fifth of July were absolutely breathtaking. I highly recommend the hike.