July 12, 2008: Pyramid Mountain (Chelan)

From valley floor to a seat amongst the gods: rushing stream and flowery meadows, bowing gracefully to stupendous views of smoke-draped Lake Chelan and lofty Glacier Peak… What more could I have asked from the day?

Last year, in mid-June I had eyed Pyramid Peak from nearby Crow Hill’s summit. The long drive (7hrs round-trip!) meant that it took me till now to make a return visit to such a beautiful part of Washington - or maybe the burly creek crossings had something to do with it? My day began with a 2:05am start from the house. The only bit of excitement on the long 3hr+ drive was driving past the Badger Mountain fire: orange flames reflecting in the still dark waters of the Columbia River made for a ‘glittering’ display; only later, in the cold light of day, would the devastation make a sobering impression.

At 5:30am I began my hike from the North Fork Entiat trailhead. Deep in the bowels of the valley sunrise, well underway, had yet to make an impression. It was quite chilly as I motored along familiar ground. The first two creek crossings (Crow Creek and South Pyramid Creek Crossing – I) were smooth: easy rock-hopping took care of the first and a swanky bridge the second. As I left the North Fork Entiat trail for the Pyramid Creek trail I began to mentally prepare myself for the potentially difficult crossing just ahead: South Pyramid Creek Crossing – II. Last year, I had faced swift, icy cold water up to mid-thigh. This time it was a breeze: nice, almost placid, mid-calf deep waters led to a refreshing ford and I was soon back to motoring along the trail.

At 3.5mi, after crossing Butte Creek on a handy log, I entered new, unseen territory. South Pyramid Creek Crossing – III was made easier by another less-handy log. Almost immediately after this the character of the trail changed: small, lush green meadows, dotted with flowers began to intrude on the forest. The color display was particularly soothing in the soft morning light. This, along with a gentle grade, made the footsteps light and I almost skipped along, curtseying periodically to the flowers as I snapped a photograph here, sniffed a stamen there. Not even precarious rock-hopping to tackle South Pyramid Creek Crossing – IV (6th and last creek crossing, in case anyone’s keeping score) ruffled my mood.

At Three Tree Camp, 5.5mi in, I took a right on the Pyramid Mountain trail. Finally, the grade steepened and I began to make inroads in the elevation gain. Long switchbacks began to take me steeply up to the ridge crest. Pretty snow-melt streamlets, more colorful flowers in pretty meadows and ever expanding views kept the scenic-meter high.

Heart pumping, from exertion as well as exhilaration, I gained the ridge crest, where I took a left on the Pyramid Viewpoint trail. Some gentle meadow meandering for a short stretch deposited me at the base of the final push, still shy of Pyramid Mountain’s summit by some 1,200ft. A moderate, though consistently steep grade ensued: another series of long switchbacks proceeded to take me higher, and yet higher still. Pugh Ridge, having towered over me for seemingly ages, now became an afterthought; Glacier Peak, first showed a leg and then proceeded to disrobe completely; Cardinal Peak to the north, while still dominant, became a bit less intimidating. Lake Chelan though, remained hidden behind Pyramid Mountain’s last remaining bit; a jewel to be revealed only when I had no more ups to climb.

5hrs after starting I had my reward and the deep blue waters of Lake Chelan lay 7,000ft below me. However, a surprise lay in store for me: that ‘glittering’ display of orange flames seen in the early hours had consequences. A lacy, ghostly finger of smoke led down-valley, disappeared behind a ridge, and then reappeared beyond, having magically thickened to form an ominous white mass that blanketed almost everything. Views to the south also suffered, though the display carried an eerie beauty.

Somewhat disquieted, I messed about for half an hour before heading back down, where more disquietment happened as I drove past the charred hillsides.

Additional photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shahiddurrani/sets/72157606164823239

Cumulative stats:

• Distance: 19mi

• Elevation gain: 5,500. High point: 8,823ft

• Hiking time: 9hr 15min

• Total trip time: 16hr 20min

The weather report for Seattle was rain so we headed over the pass. According to our hiking book, the road to the Big Hill trailhead is in bad shape so we checked with the Entiat ranger before attempting it. Ranger Randy claimed he had seen BMW's at the trailhead and altho I wouldn't want to subject my BMW to such a road (if I had a BMW that is), the road is in fine shape. In fact, it appeared to have been recently worked on and graveled. Pyramid Mountain trail is also in excellent condition. We encountered some minor blowdowns on the way in, but they had been cleared by a group that came in behind us by the time we came back out. Meadows on Graham mountain had a good showing of paintbrush, lupine and white flowers. Pretty meadows and views while walking on tread cushioned with needles. We passed the intersection to Pyramid View trail and soon realized we were loosing elevation fast. Stopped at a trail-side trickle and camped on a moderate slope. It rained lightly during the night and was lightly cloudy in the morning. We left our camp and went back to the Pyramid Viewpoint trail and up that trail to the top of Pyramid Mountain. On the knoll just adjacent to Pyramid,there was a group of mountain goats and their kids grazing. Wispy clouds at the top kept us from seeing the great views we had heard were to be had, but we did see Lake Chelan below us. From there we cross-countried down to Buck Camp on the South Pyramid Creek trail. A big horse outfit was there, allowing their horses/mules to freely hash up the beautiful meadows there. We renamed it Barnyard Camp. Took the South Pyramid trail up to Grouse Pass - 700 ft of elevation gain- and not really worth the effort. From Grouse pass returned on S. Pyramid Creek trail trail pretty hashed up by horses, in the trees, no views) to our camp near the intersection with Pyramid Viewpoint trail. It's a steep little climb from where the S. Pyramid Creek trail intersects the Pyramid Mountain trail up to the intersection of the Pyramid view trail. We were pretty bushed by this time, but not up to sleeping on the slope of the night before, so we picked up camp and moved to the meadows we had passed the evening before on the way in from Big Hill, just a 15 minute walk back. There was also good water at Pyramid meadows about a half mile or so up the Pyramid viewpoint trail.

Definitely a trip worth repeating on a clear day. And the bugs weren't bad: 4 on our scale of 0 (none) to 10 (intolerable,use up all your DEET).

After discovering that the Entiat River trail is closed indefinitely above Myrtle Lake due to fire damage (cutting off access to Larch Lakes/Ice Lakes), our group decided to hike up the North Fork Entiat River trail, connect to the Pyramid Creek trail, then summit Pyramid Mountain. NF Entiat River trail is in decent condition - a little dusty from all the horse travel, but not too bad. All bridges over major stream crossings are in place. Several blow-downs to climb over or around.

We connected with the Pyramid Creek trail after a little over 1 mile. After working our way up some switchbacks for about 1 mile, we came to a big stream crossing. The bridge is OUT - we saw the two remnants of it split in two in the river. The water was running FAST and about 2 feet deep. We couldn't find a safe alternative crossing and judged the horse ford crossing to be too deep and fast. We decided we had to turn around, especially considering that we'd have to cross the stream twice again going up, and then 3 times coming out the next day (when showers were forecasted).

Back at the junction with the NF Entiat River trail, we proceeded up toward Fern Lake. The forest is pretty depressed-looking right now. Tons of downed and dead trees. We looked in many places for a good camp spot, but couldn't find anything very nice. We eventually decided to just turn back and car camp that night in one of the nice campsites along the Entiat River Road. Overall, a bummer of an attempted backpacking trip. I would not recommend visiting this area until forest service/volunteer hours have given it some TLC.