Carne Mountain

It was a great day for a hike in the Phelps Creek area, sunny, warm and a slight breeze. This was my first hike up the Carne Mountain trial and I had some trepidation because of snow warning by the local ranger stations. The worse part was the long drive on Chiwawa River road to the trailhead. There was no snow up to 6200ft , but the basin and slopes up to the carne mountain west side ridge is completely snow covered but you can walk across the basin and up the ridge with trekking poles and kick stepping; the east side of the ridge is snow free. At 5500ft, the meadows are covered with flowers and you get fantastic views of the Chiwawa Mountains. On the ridge top you have a direct view into the Spider Meadows, Spider Glacier and Spider Gap. On the east side you have great views of the Entiat Mountains. There were no mosquitoes but some flies. Lots more pics on http://picasaweb.google.com/[…]/CarneMountain2009#