Nice to start this trip at 4800 (and never below 6600 except first/last part).
E fork of the buttermilk trail was in good shape for the most part. A short section ~4 miles in needs bushing and there are 2 big downed trees at about 5 miles (impassible for stock). Just before Hoodoo Pass there is a snowfield (not sure if this normally melts out but it won't this year). I made OK with just hiking poles but maybe it is about time I get an ice axe and learn how to use it.

The meadow below Mt. Bigelow is gorgeous. Water was plentiful for this whole trip. I heard some motorbikes to the south which was expected for labor day weekend, so I decided to head west back to the wilderness area. I camped in an open area next to the first creek crossing past Chipmunk Pass. I'm not sure how cold it got overnight but I was not freezing ( which I was prepared for).

The next day I decided to backtrack. Breakfast at Chipmunk Pass was great. At the camp below Boiling Lake, I found the first tracks of the motorbikes (legit). Heading south, the trail was in good shape though dusty. The wildflowers were best along this section. After 2.2 miles I took the trail to the east called "Angels Staircase" which goes up to 8000 feet. I passed a mtn. biker on the way up - not sure if that was legit as far as "no vehicles" but it was too steep/rocky for him to ride. As I crossed over the pass, I met a group of hikers coming down from 8321. They were encouraging to go to the summit but I was too tired to take a side trip. I took the steep descent to Merchants basin and then regained much of it to get to Sunrise Lake. I set up camp with no one else there. It was windy intermittently all night.

Luckily I got up in time for sunrise and the lake shone orange from the first rays of light hitting the west wall of the basin. Some maps (e.g., TOPO's USGS) show a trail going up from the basin of Sunrise Lake and over to Deadman's Pass. I found no such trail - it is not on Green Trails map. So, I backtracked up to the pass to Cooney Lakes for a nice breakfast. Then, we headed up to the 8000 foot pass and took the side trip to the top of 8321. The route is just east of the pass, over a small snowfield to get to the ridge. I stayed on the ridge all the way to the top but it would have been easier (and maybe my dog would've been able to make it too) if I had dropped down to the east when the ridge got too rocky for my dog to follow. I enjoyed a few minutes at the summit and then returned to where my dog was waiting for me.

The rest of the trip was retracing my steps back to the TH. I ran into a couple of couple of backpackers heading up the staircase and a solo backpacker later at the junction camp below Boiling Lake.

I momentarily lost the trail near the (horse) camp below Mt Bigelow but it was not hard to find it again on my way to Hoodoo Pass. Just before the pass, there was a large marmot on the trail who appeared to be looking to collect a toll (trail mix or something) but after seeing my dog he let us pass and disappeared quickly into the rocks. I made it down thru the snow patches at Hoodoo. Listening to tunes during the long relatively flat treed section along the east fork of the Buttermilk, I got back to the TH @6pm (14 miles on the last day).

Overall - highly recommended. Great views, good trails, few people, bugs weren't too bad (mostly just a few horse flies that would circle you in heat of the afternoon - annoying until killed).

3 days/2 nights
Total Miles ~34 / Total Elevation Gain 9700 / Avg. Camp Elevation 7000

Thursday 8/18 was the start of a 6 day pack trip in the Chelan Sawtooth. I took 3 of my packgoats: Chelan, Chinook and Hershey.

The FS access roads off of Twisp river are good gravel roads, although the last mile or so on the Eagle creek road is a little washboarded. There is a nice trailhead parking area. This was the first time I’m been into the Chelan-Sawtooth from this trailhead, so I was interested in seeing what the trail was like.

I drove part way to the TH the day before, so we were packed up and on the trail before 10am. The TH is at 3000 ft. It’s a good trail, climbing moderately but steadily. I noticed that the grass and brush were much greener that some of the other Sawtooth access trails I’d been on; perhaps the late snow year, or because this TH is further west.

About 1 mile in I met a couple who recalled seeing me on Miller peak a few years before. They also told me they had met a family earlier who were packing with goats. I don’t often meet other goat packers on the trail. I understood they had seen the other people near Silver lake, which is on the Eagle creek branch of the trail…and I was planning to go the up Oval creek branch…so did not expect to meet them. Shortly I came to the crossing of Eagle creek…put on the sandals and forded the creek. The crossing was obviously built as a horse ford…with a large log on the downstream side to make a level gravel area in the stream (and 12” – 18” deep pond). The water was about 4”-6” deep flowing over the log. It looked like there were a couple small poles across the stream, upstream a little ways which might have provided a dry crossing, but not easy to get to.

A little while later I met 3 kids, who informed me that they had pack goats…then came the dog, dad, 4 packgoats, and mom with a baby on her back. We had a brief visit. They had been out for 10 days, and it sounded like they’d covered a lot of country and had a great trip.

The trail up Eagle Creek has been relocated in this section. The topo map, FS Lake Chelan-Sawtooth wilderness map, and my old copy of 100 Hikes, all show the Eagle creek – Oval creek trail junction before the crossing of Eagle creek; with the Eagle creek trail continuing up the north side of Eagle creek. Green Trails show the current location…about 1/3 mile after crossing Eagle creek. The Eagle creek trail then swings around to Eagle creek and re-crosses it to the north side.

The Oval creek trail continues climbing steadily through the woods. At about 6 miles, 5800 ft there is a small meadow with a campsite below the trail, near the creek. From there the trail gets steeper, switchbacking up 1200 ft in about 1 ½ miles to the junction with the ¼ mi side trail to West Oval Lake. We took the short side trip over to West Oval Lake. I tied the goats at the stock hitch rail, and went the last little ways down to the lake. The goats were not too happy about being left behind. It’s a pretty lake. There I met a couple guys who had there jackets on as mosquito protection.

We returned to the main trail and continued up. I found a place to camp on a little knoll in the meadow/tundra below Oval pass, at about 7200 ft. Looking up I could see the trail crossing the steep scree slope above. There were some large snow patches, but it looked like the trail was mostly snow free.

Friday we continued up to the trail junction at about 7500 ft…right to Oval Pass, left to Middle Oval Lake. We headed toward Middle Oval Lake. The trail goes up over the east ridge of Gray Peak, at about 7650 ft and another trail junction. We took the steeper, eastern trail directly down into the meadows above Middle Oval Lake. The other branch of the trail was covered by moderately steep snow. The area above Middle Oval Lake from 7400’ to 7100’ is open meadow with lots of larch scattered about. It will be beautiful the first week of October. We continued on down to Middle Oval Lake, and had a nice lunch break there. When we got back up to the meadow area, rather than go back up the way we came, I headed south and picked up a side ridge which headed up to the main ridgeline between Gray peak and Courtney Peak. There were bits of path at times. Once on the main ridgeline we followed the easy ridge NW toward Gray Peak, often on a path. When the ridge started to rise more steeply toward Gray Peak, we contoured around to the west through the meadows at about 7700’, then picked up the boot path leading down the ridge, north, to Oval Pass.

From Oval pass we took the trail down into Horseshoe basin and Tuckaway Lake, where I found a nice spot to camp on the hill east of the lake.

Saturday we headed down to the Chelan Summit trail and took it SE toward the junction with the Fish Creek Pass trail. This 2 mi section of trail is through meadows and scattered burned trees from one of the recent forest fires. There were a couple nice patches of wildflowers. In some of the burn area the willows are growing up, making the trail a little brushy. At the signed junction with the Fish Creek Pass trail we headed up towards the pass. The trail soon vanishes in the meadows, but travel is easy. When we got up to the flattish tundra like meadows west of Star Lake we head across the meadows to the lake for a quick swim. From Star lake, we headed back down toward the Summit trail, taking the well defined trail which connects to the Summit trail about ¼ mile south of the signed junction. We headed south on the Summit trail, climbing to the 7400’ saddle on the east ridge of Baldy Mountain…and took a lunch break there. The wind kept most of the bugs away. From the saddle the trail drops into a very pretty meadow basin with larch trees. About 1/3 mile down the trail there was a side path leading SW into the meadows SE of Baldy. We followed it and found that it led to a horse camp. Coming back I noticed the old, abandoned, part of the Summit trail heading down through the larch. I decided to follow in down. I soon came to another trail that likely led to the horse camp. I headed east on that path and soon reconnected with the current Summit trail…continuing on down. Just before the junction with the Indianhead Basin trail there was a small stream. There’s also a camp site near the junction. We took a break there, but it was brief…the biting flies were quite annoying. We headed SW on the Indianhead Basin trail. It soon climbs out of the woods and contours around a nice meadow basin on the SE slopes of Baldy. It then goes over a ridge and traverses above Surprise Lake. At the junction with the trail down to Surprise Lake, it was obvious most of the traffic this trail sees, goes down to the lake. We continued on up the little used trail toward Indianhead Basin. At the last big larch trees before the pass going toward Indianhead Basin (about 100 yards before the pass), we dropped off the trail and contoured down and around to the first (northern) lake by Finney Peak. The lakes are about 200’ lower than where we dropped off the trail. I found a spot to camp on the hill NW of the first lake.

As usual, I unpacked the goats and let them browse while I set up camp. After a while they went up onto a little hill east of camp and disappeared (they usually stay within sight of camp). I put my boots back on, and went up to get them. When I got up there…no goats. The east side of the hill is cliffs dropping pretty much straight down a couple hundred feet into the basin below. I started calling the goats, after a few minutes Chinook and Chelan appeared from the cliffs, but no Hershey. I continued calling; Chinook and Chelan made some bleating sounds near the edge of the cliffs, so I suspected Hershey was down there someplace. After a long 10 minutes Hershey appeared from the cliffs. The goats love cliffs, but they sure make me nervous!

The next morning we went over and visited the SE lake. There is a bit of a boot path from the outlet of the NW lake, over the ridge, to the two small ponds which are between the two lakes… very pretty lakes, lots of larch. After exploring around, we headed back. When leaving the Finney lakes, we headed down a grassy stream gully into the basin below and connected to the Surprise lake trail. For access to the Finney Peak lakes I prefer they way we went in, to get to them. We headed back to the Summit trail, then north. In the basin east of Baldy the new trail swings east into dry rock terrain. At least in larch season, I think where the old trail was would be much prettier. We continued north; then up to the meadows west of Star Lake for that night’s camp.

Monday morning we headed NW on the Summit trail, continuing past the junction for Tuckaway Lake and Horseshoe Basin. The next mile is through very pretty meadows with scattered larch…contouring up to a saddle on the ridge, then heading down about 900’ to a crossing of a stream west of Eagle Pass. At the stream crossing is a nice flattish meadow area, surrounded by woods. This basin is mostly wooded with a mix of fir and larch. We then headed up over Eagle Pass and down to a nice camp at about 6600’ on the east side of Eagle Pass. We got some rain for an hour or two that night.

Tuesday we headed on down the Eagle Creek trail. The first couple of miles to about 5700’ were through a mix of woods and meadow. We forded Eagle creek at the crossing, although there was a decent looking log a little way down stream. Overall I thought the Eagle Creek trail, particularly the upper part would be a nicer/prettier way to access the area that Oval Creek trail (until West Oval Lake). Using the Eagle Creek trail does mean one additional crossing of Eagle Creek.

There were still some good sized snow drifts on the east side of some of the ridges and some snow patches in the woods. There were not a lot of bugs, but at times the mosquitoes and biting flies were quite annoying…and I got a number of bites. There were some really nice patches of wildflowers. Overall a great hike!

With trip reports of the larches turning color I decided it was time to head for the Chelan-Sawtooth. I have not gone into the Sawtooth from Chelan via Grade Creek road. A couple of trip reports this year piqued my interest in trying that way. Tuesday Sept 28th I packed up 4 of my packgoats (Zermatt, Chelan, Chinook, and Hershey) and headed out. It was mid afternoon by the time we got to the South Navarre CG from Gig Harbor.

The Grade Creek road is a winding, gravel FS road, fairly decent in places, bumpy in others. It took me 2 hours 20 minutes to get from Chelan to the South Navarre CG. I was glad I had a pickup truck with good clearance. About 1 ½ miles past the junction for the Safety Harbor creek trailhead the road starts to get rutted and high in the center. This rutted section lasts for about 1 ½ miles. In places the rutting is on the outside, tipping the road to the outside; and the road is single lane, climbing pretty good across a steep hillside, with very few turnouts. Although this section of road is not fun, it’s not a problem with a high clearance vehicle. The biggest potential issue would be meeting an oncoming vehicle in a place without a turnout near.

When I got to the trailhead, I let the goats out to browse while I got gear ready. When I went to get Chelan, I think he decided he had been in the truck long enough and did not want to have anything to do with me…he just walked away, keeping well out of reach. So I got the other goats and tied them over by the truck. On the 4th try Chelan let me come up to him, give him a peanut, and reach for his collar. After I had all the goats packed up they followed me down the trail, although pausing to browse frequently. At first the trail traverses through a mix of meadow and scattered trees, many burned, then switchbacks down through mostly burned forest to the junction with the Safety Harbor Creek trail; losing 1100 ft in the process. From my GPS, it looks like the junction is a little lower down than it shows on my topo map. I found a place to camp about ¼ mile up the Safety Harbor Creek trail from the junction.

I had packed enough food for 10 days. That evening I started to think about what the weather might be like in 10 days. The South Navarre CG is at 6400 ft elevation. I knew the possibility of snow was real and the thought of driving down that bad section of road in the snow was not appealing. Rather than worry about it on the hike, I decided the next morning to hike back up to the South Navarre TH, drive down to the Safety Harbor creek trailhead which is at 4300 ft. and start over. The first 3 miles of the Safety Harbor creek follows an abandoned water pipe line so is a very gentle grade.

The trail then starts up Safety Harbor creek. It’s pretty good trail to the junction with the trail coming down from South Navarre. After that it climbs more, and is generally rocky and rutted from motorcycle use. The whole area around Safety Harbor Creek up into Miner’s basin is burned forest, although some trees did survive.

Wednesday evening I found a spot to camp in a small meadow just up the trail from the upper junction of the Uno Peak trail. That evening a guy came up the trail carrying a muzzle loader. He stopped and visited awhile then went on up the trail. When he came back down he reported seeing a bear sow with 3 cubs not far up the trail. Later his hunting partner came up. It turns out he’s a friend who also has pack goats. They were camped just a couple hundred yards down the trail. In the morning I untied the goats so they could browse, when I went to get them they were by a large larch a couple hundred feet from camp. As I approached them, I saw several large piles of bear scat…I’m glad we did not have visitors of the black furry kind!

Thursday we continued the climb to the ridge separating Miner’s Basin from Horsethief Basin…and stepped into a different landscape. While parts of Horsethief Basin forest had burned, most of the upper basin was meadow and golden larch. The trail traverses high around Horsethief Basin, going through a nice flat shelf area which would make a nice camp among the larch, but no water. We continued over Deadmans Pass, down through a nice larch forest into the meadows of East Prince Creek. We continued on to Angel’s Staircase, up, over and down to the area of the dry pond a couple hundred feet above Cooney Lake; and found a nice place to camp…more golden larch.


Friday morning we hiked down to Cooney Lake. The morning lighting was not the best time for pictures there, but it was beautiful. Then it was back up to camp, pack up, and head back up over the ridge to Merchants basin. We hiked down into Merchant’s basin then up to Sunrise Lake and had a nice lunch break. After lunch it was back down into Merchant’s Basin and part way back up to a nice camp spot. That evening the goats made me a little nervous. They decided that a nice place to browse was ½ way up the side of the valley…where it was steeper than I’d want to go.


Saturday we headed the rest of the way up Merchant’s basin trail and back over and down Angel’s Staircase. When we got down to the meadows and larch we headed north to the next ridgeline and then down to the Summit trail…a beautiful area. We followed the Summit trail about 1/3 mile north into a meadow area then headed x-country toward the saddle south of Boiling Lake…more meadow and larch. From Boiling Lake it was up a trail to the basin south of Hoodoo pass. I was initially planning to camp in that area Saturday night, but it was mid afternoon, so I decided to take the high route up over the ridge to the Dry Lake basin…where I found a nice camp spot. On part of this route above Chipmunk basin there is not much tread…I think the scree moves each year with the snow melt; erasing much of the tread.

Saturday evening / Sunday morning I had a decision to make. I had been planning to continue north, however, Saturday afternoon my back started hurting a little at times. I was two days from the trailhead, going further would make it three days, potentially an issue, if my back started to hurt more. And, I had not been able to get much sleep at night…little aches & pains seemed to keep me awake, so by Sunday morning I was also feeling quite tired and drained. It did not help that Sunday was cloudy; after 3 beautiful bluebird days with afternoon temps in the mid 70’s. I felt it was wiser to head back rather than continue.

The next two days hiking out were uneventful, although my back did remind me that it was not real happy a few times. At one point in the middle of the meadows approaching East Fork Prince Creek, I noticed a fairly new looking sign on a tree near the trail. As I recall, it pointed to Boiling Lake one direction and Safety Harbor Creek TH the other. I thought…what? Looking around more, I saw another sign hidden in the branches of another tree: “Trail not maintained”. I think it’s where the East Fork Prince Creek trail used to join the Summit trail, although I did not see any evidence of a trail heading down toward Prince Creek at all.

Great hike! I think I hit the larch season and weather perfectly.

Completed backpacking trip from Prince Creek (Lake Chelan) up to the Chelan Summit Trail and out at Purple Pass down to Stehekin. The Lady of the Lake drops off at about 11:00. This (Prince Creek)trail is pretty much not maintained. Encountered over 20 Major blowdowns on trail, along with some minor trailfinding because of head-high meadow grasses. Encountered rattlesnakes up to about the 4,000 foot level. Bridge out at 4 mile camp-easy crossing there. Great camp at 6.9 miles, 4200 feet AMSL (highly recommended). Backyard here is Prince Creek with a waterslide that drops into a 5-feet-deep pool. Very hot, hard,dusty climb up Prince Creek.

Second day went northwest at the Cub Lake (Middle Fork Prince Creek) junction and followed the N.Fork Prince Creek Trail to the Chelan Summit Trail (5500 feet). Turned NW and followed to unnamed pass at 7400 feet ("Star Peak Pass"). Easy stroll to summit Star Peak(8600 feet). Very long traverse to Twin Springs camp (7,000 feet AMSL)at about 11 miles for the day. Nice camp spot under Horseshoe Basin. This was a long day with a 60 pound pack and relentless Eastern WA sun. Absolutely beautiful, lonely country filled with rough granite peaks and green meadows. Really could have used another couple days in this area. Star Peak looks alot like Mount Stuart.

Day three was another long traverse to Lake Juanita. This trek involves dropping to Fish Creek at 5,600 ft. and back up to an unnamed 7,300 foot pass. Then a long traverse up and down to Lake Juanita (6,600 ft. AMSL) Lake Juanita should be renamed the Juanita Swamp-small, shallow lake; however bugs were negligible. Water source on west side of the 2-formal camp spots (must be reserved). We encountered first homo sapien critters the third night, basically hauled 32 miles -3 days without evidence of other human existence. Fourth morning did short climb to Purple Pass at 6,880 feet AMSL. Okay-- time to drop packs. This is truly one of the most Spectacular views in the world!(and I have traveled and backpacked a lot). Views include the entire Glacier Peak Wildnerness, views down the Crest Trail to Spectacle Point, and up to Liberty Bell. Buckner, Goode, Logan and North Cascades. Down 6,000 feet is Lake Chelan. This perspective really shows the deep canyon that Lake Chelan sits in. Water is blue-green. We could even see all the way to Sahale Mountain and Cascade Pass at the West end of the Stehekin Valley (We had been on top of Sahale Mountain 7 days earlier). After literally tearing ourselves away, it was a steep 8 mile-- 6,000 feet descent to Stehekin. Nice Trail down! And then the culture shock. After seeing only 2 people in four days of hiking, we were abruptly thrust into the world of white-short, tenny runner-wearing tourists, with screaming kids at the boat dock. We were looked at like animals wandering out of the bush. But boy the Corona and Bacon-Cheese Burger went down well at the Cafe. All that was left was a 4-hour Boat Ride to Fields Point.

Wow, one of the most classic backpacking trips I have done. Lonely, sharp granite Peaks, and true untamed Wilderness. Very hot, so be prepared with sun hat and sunscreen. Only regrets was not having more time to bag peaks in the area. Be careful of snakes on the entry routes, and assess sun exposures. Prince Creek not for novice backpackers.

Elevation gain/distance:

Day One: 3,000 feet/7 miles.
Day Two: 4,000 feet/11 miles.
Day Three: 2,200 feet/11 miles
Day Four: -6,000 feet/8 miles.

I will return.......