June 16th, 2007: Crow Hill

A bird’s eye view of Lake Chelan, more than 6000ft below, and a plethora of snowy peaks of every denomination…these were the rewards on this fantastic day in the mountains. Of course the joys of early season hiking meant that some dragons had to be slayed along the way.

I began my hike at 6:00am from the North Fork Entiat Trail trailhead. As I cruised along the first essentially flat 1.25 miles, punctuated by a couple of easy creek crossings (Crow Creek on partially submerged rocks and South Pyramid Creek on a foot bridge), I was beginning to think that this would be easy. The next mile or so was a little more difficult with a few blow-downs and a slightly steeper grade. However, none of this was an issue; just speed bumps really; so my mind was already starting to drool on the anticipated views…

At about 4,600ft, I reached the second crossing of South Pyramid Creek. Here was my first challenge: the foot bridge across the creek was gone. Unable to find an easy way across, it was off with the foot gear and on with the ford. The creek was about 2ft deep and running fast, but I was able to keep my footing and enjoy (not) the refreshing (read painful) icy cold waters.

With my feet still feeling ‘refreshed’, I was soon at the first crossing of Butte Creek. Here too, a ford beckoned. Thankfully I was able to find a spot to jump across and was able to avoid the rigmarole of the wade. (The water here was only mid calf deep.)

By now I was traveling on patchy snow. As I turned onto the Butte Creek trail, the grade became quite steep. However, a lovely waterfall and views/sounds of cascading rapids on Butte Creek were a nice distraction. In a short space of time, I reached the second crossing of Butte Creek: this time I was able to find a log to crawl across on.

Thankful that I wouldn’t have anymore creek crossings to worry about, I made my way up to the ridge crest that would lead me to Crow Hill. The travel after the final creek crossing had been mostly on snow, but the ridge was snow free. Here, I got my first set of views, including the first sight of Crow Hill.

As I walked the ridge to its 6660ft high point, the views became more and more spectacular: Pyramid Mountain and Cardinal Mountain to the north, the Entiat Mountains to the west and snowy Crow Hill to the southeast. Lake Chelan, unfortunately, was not visible from here.

I dropped down to a 6300ft saddle, and then it was onto the final steep ~1000ft push to Crow Hill’s summit. The views from the flatish summit area were spectacular! Far below, nestled deep in the valley was Lake Chelan, glinting alternately blue and silver as the sun moved in and out of clouds. The Entiat Mountain views were even better than before. I could see the whole north-south length of the Chelan Mountains range. And, to cap everything off a beautiful owl took off not 20ft away from me and circled around to give me a flyby. Now that’s what I call a greeting!

Stats:

• Elevation gain (cumulative): 4200ft. High point: 7366ft.

• Distance: 13mi

• Hiking time: 7hrs