I didn’t realize how much I was missing eastern Washington until cresting Stevens Pass and beginning that long coaster-ride toward endlessly blue skies, where the soil, a bit barer and lighter in color, reflects the heat right into one’s eyeballs. That longing further translates into the razzing call of the Clark’s Nutcracker, the metallic bug sounds outside the tent at night, or the dust rising about our boots as we climbed, smelling of piney brown sugar with a hint of vanilla. I especially love the sound of wind in larches; it has a lonesome quality that reminds me of those old westerns; picture a grizzled desperado filmed from about waist level, his shoulders and head framed by cloudless sky, thirsty, so very thirsty. The restless wind Hollywood soundtrack completes the image; vast unpeopled space. Anyway, that is the fantasy. Kristine and I saw four people, all while passing through Carne basin area.

We made our pilgrimage back to that lonesome ridgeline beyond Carne Mountain. The appeal has always been solitude you can bank on. And for good reason, the trail is used only by deer and bears as far as I can tell. Our ridgelette camp overlooking Rock Creek has evidence of historical usage, but probably tracing back to horse packers supplying the former LOs of the area (Carne Mtn. and Estes Butte). The trusty snow bank was there for our water, but barely; it was littered with larch needles and some pollen-like bugs that required bandana filtering, or closing one’s eyes while drinking. Kristine did not like that part. Friday was wonderfully cool for our ascent. Bugs started requiring daily application of DEET by late Saturday morning when the temperature warmed. But there were never more than a few hovering at any one time, quite pleasant.

Kristine and I explored the ridgeline from Carne pass to point 7811’. The summit looked a bit too troublesome so we traversed to a pass south of 7811’. It was a broad pumice plain overlooking Ice Lakes and Entiat drainages. On the return we avoided some difficult ridgeline rock and took a trail on the north side of the ridge. It was a descending traverse, connecting handily with the Leroy High Route just (150’) below its passage from the Rock Creek drainage. There was a nice camp on the gentle part of the ridge at about 6400’ with plenty of needle-free snow; I plan on staying there next time we are back in the area. I also found evidence of another higher Leroy High Route trail departing the ridge at about 6550’. I want to explore that as well. An arrow constructed of stones set in grassy meadow indicates the departure point.

Having spent 14 nights in the mountains in the past month, I am ready to stay home for a weekend. Time for sloth, comforts, and catching up on some backpacking tasks; I want to be prepared for August and September when wilderness and unknown places call with a longing I know I can’t resist.

Carne Mtn. & Beyond :

Sorry this posting is a week and half late, but hey, I've been busy!

No one else has posted this area yet, so thought my trip would be useful to someone.

Road is fine to Trinity t trailhead (Entiat area)

We chose this area because of threat of Thunderstorms on western slopes, so we tried to go as far east as we could.

The trail is in good shape, but with numerous(18+) blowdowns to navigate. This will keep pack animals out of there until cleared. ( no horse poop!)

We reached the saddle above the basin, and because of threatening clouds and far off thunder, decided against putting the tent on the exposed ridge. We hunted around & found a somewhat lower depression, just to make us feel better.;)

A short stroll up to Carne took care of peak bagging. Around dinner time, the thunder became decidedly louder,and as is so often the case in the mountains, the sky opened up & we tested our rain gear for a while. Thunder & lightening is ALWAYS exciting in the mountains, you can 'feel' the electricity in the air. Thankfully it stopped as abruptly as it began , and we enjoyed a dry evening & night.

The next morning was socked in, but we decided to walk on for a few hours to see how far & how close we could get to the flanks of Mt. Maude. The Rock Creek Trail continues over the saddle & just before it turns down the valley there is an intersection with another trail(unnamed on most maps) that heads thru another saddle towards Maude. There is a strange sign there, reading, simply: 'trail'. Well, duh.

We walked for over an hour (3miles+-) and it steadily opened up, clouds diminishing. If we'd had more time, maybe 3-4 more hours, we could have summited. A nice loop would be to continue on & connect with the Leroy Creek trail & rejoin the Phelps Creek trail back to trailhead.

Or one could have turned right in the basin below Carne, and headed towards Old Gib and Estes Butte, etc. Many choices for wandering & loops in this lovely area. Patches of snow here and there in higher elevation, nothing to slow one's progress though.

Given that the snow pack was nearly 50% of normal in the area this year, I was a bit tardy in getting to the annual trail work project. My lonely ridgelette camp was high-and-dry without the usually reliable snow bank, so I retreated to upper Carne basin where there is a wonderful spring from which to get water. Fortunately the breezes through the weekend were sufficient to wisk the bugs away, even in the basin. The upper basin has easy views to Spider Meadows, Chiwawa mtn, Fortress, Bonanza, Maude, and Seven Fingered Jack. Carne meadows are serenaded with thrush-song by day, and owls by night. On evening wanderings I discovered remnants of an old trail to the LO site above the basin. It departs the Old Gib trail from the gap trending upward and east back into the basin where it rejoins the trail to Rock Creek. It soon departs again before passage into Rock Creek drainage, rounding the peak and attaining the summit. The trail is narrow, grassy and clear, a nice break from the eroding mainstay.

The weather was gratefully cooler than usual making trail work downright pleasant. While sawing through blow-down it was hard to resist looking across the Chiwawa to the scenic White Mountain range, or up Buck Creek valley. I have managed to clear almost 1.5 miles of the Old Gib trail (to the 6 foot standard) from Carne Basin. A narrower standard endures to the south saddle of Gib. Beyond that it is anyone’s guess. See prior year’s entries for more detail. This trail still sees little to no traffic save for bears and deer, which makes it the perfect place for 4th of July holiday. I am just happy to have another trail pass to hang in my car for the coming year. Happy Trails!

Thanks to Rusty Thompson for helping me to arrange my seventh year of working on this hopeless section of trail. He reports that the Forest Service may be considering opening this trail again, creating an opportunity for a nice 3 day loop including Rock Creek Valley.

This year was spent widening the swath to 2 meters cleared in previous year's work. About 3/4 mile south of Carne Basin has been cleared to specifications. Mosquitos were only a problem periodically during trail work. In camp I made sparing use of DEET. It was sunny and 75 degrees during the days, making for hot work. At one point the dusty trail was scorching the paws of my poor black dog; good thing I brought her booties.

Clouds started rolling in convincingly about 5p; I was persuaded by 6p, packed on on the trail by 7p. Splendid time despite the hard work and change in weather. Another year of unfettered wilderness exploration!!! Happy Trails.