Abernathy Peak 8321 August 01 2004 Abernathy Peak is one of the big Bugler 100, located in the Lake Chelan Sawtooth Wilderness, about 1 hour up the Twisp River Road from Twisp, WA. Just drive the Twisp River Road for 22 miles to the Scatter Creek Trailhead, 3, 200'. The Trail is in excellent condition, but steep as it gains almost 4,000' in 4.2 miles to Scatter Lake in a big basin below Abernathy Peak. It was hard to tell which point was the summit from the lake. Scatter Lake is at 7,047', and is simply stunning. Is it worth the 4,000' elevation gain? Absolutely! It has to be one of the most beautiful lakes in the Cascades! The Lake is very deep blue, and ringed by soft green Larches. There are 3 nice campsites around the lake, and plenty of level area. Doerte found it perfect for a summer day swim. It has a sandy bottom from the shore. Although Washington Pass is only 6 miles away as the eagle flies, Abernathy Peak is almost unknown except to those chasing the 100 highest. Like most of the peaks in the area what it lacks in technical terrain, it makes up for in solitude and big, big, and views! It is only .8 miles and 1,300' to the summit from Scatter Lake. The climb is easy over secure talus. I didn't roll any rocks and made it to the Summit in 51 minutes from the Lake. Be careful not to ascend to Abernathy Ridge. The traverse along the ridge does not work very well. It is easier to go directly up the Basin to the saddle. Once again, Josh Woods, and Pat O'Brien were already in the summit register. I was only the third person to summit this year. Again Gordy Skoog was in the summit from last December 01. I had excellent views of Gardner Meadows below. Around me, the big peaks of North Gardner, 8,956', Gardner, 8,897', Silverstar, 8,876', Oval, 8,795', and Reynolds, 8,512'. I could also see the two fires at Lake Chelan, the smoke heading east in a line to the Columbia River Basin. There was also smoke North of the Pasayten across the border in Canada. In between was perfect visibility. Mount Baker, 10,781', Glacier Peak, 10,541', and Shuksan, 9,127', were clearly seen. The return down the scree only took 17 minutes! I immediately took off my hiking outfit and jumped in the cold alpine lake to chill out. I was not able to swim around like Doerte and was out again in 5 minutes to dry in the sun. It was fast and easy return, 2 hours, but really hot, over 101 degrees at the car. 7.5 hours round trip, 10 miles, 5,000' elevation gain. Photos at http://www.grandcanyontreks.org/pasayten/abernathy/abernathy.h tml

I hit the 3200’ trailhead at the crack of noon. I repacked my backpack (again), downed another quart of water and started up the trail. In 4.2 total miles this trail gains 3842’. That doesn’t sound too bad until I add that the first 2.5 miles or so are of typical grade - meaning the remaining half makes up what the previous half didn’t do. At about 3 miles you come to the confluence of Scatter and Slade creeks, a great place to tank up and soak your feet. After realizing that great waterfall straight ahead and waaaaay up high is falling from Scatter Lake, your destination, you swig some more agua, lace up the boots and hit the hot, rocky, and now steep trail. From the horsecamp, the trail doesn’t waste any time with the final thrust up to the lake. (“You say you wanna go to da lake? O.K., so I take you to da lake.”) Enter a sweet hanging meadow about halfway up the Scatter Creek waterfall, then 10 minutes later you’re standing at the shore of shimmering blue-green Scatter Lake nestled in a cirque at 7042’. Wow. This lake gets most use in fall during larch viewing and deer hunting season (thank you Dan Rogers and the rest of the Twisp trail crew for logging out the trail, and cleaning the camp sites at the lake this year - it looks great!). I hit it just right for the lushest flora and tolerable weather. Lucky for me, the cirque creates its own wind, and at least in early July, a circuitous path of icy-relief is constantly on the move here. In between icy-cold gusts of wind, the sun was baking-hot. After the icy blast, the hot sun felt good, and after the hot sun, the icy blast felt good. Saturday I scrambled up un-named Pt. 7840’ just east of Abernathy Peak. I named it Pointy Orange Peak, mainly because it’s pointy and orange. It’s easy to spot the route – you just follow the obvious contour of vegetables, then sorta pick your way to the ridgeline and up til there’s no more up. It took me about 1.5 hours up, choosing larger rocks to stumble over rather than dealing with the loose scree (one step up, 4 steps back). It took only about ½ hour to get back to camp – all you do is – wheeee! plunge-step for about 15 minutes down the scree slope of slatey slivers back down to the vegetables, bushwack a little, recover from the obligatory rock-rolling-under-your-left-foot butt splat, and you’re home free. I’m sporting a bruise the size of the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico (just the downtown area, not the whole thing). I’m not a flower freak, or so I say…but I was constantly delighted by the showing of flora on this trip. There are lots of meadows along the Scatter Creek trail. To name some: larkspur, tall bluebell, lupine, blue and pink penstemmon, orange hawkweed, lots of phlox, scarlet and orange paintbrushes, lots of white bog orchid concentrated along the banks of one stream, buttercup, desert parsley, buckwheat, lots of stonecrop at the lake, and at the inlet of the lake are acres of elephant heads in full bloom! There are plenty of others, too, but I didn’t take photos of all of them and cannot remember 'em all. Was this short backpack trip worth the 400+ mile drive? Oh, Yeah.

We were anticipating a very grueling ascent based on what we've read, but it's not as bad as all that It will give you a very good workout, but if you're not in some sort of shape it will also give you a few sore muscles. There were quite a few little springs along the way, but carrying water is necessary. The trail begins at a nice, steady climb. As soon as it turns abruptly away from the creek after walking right along side it, approximately 2.5 miles up, it then begins climbing in earnest. The steep sections are very managable going up, but we would recommend trekking poles for the descent as the tread is quite loose. Soon after arriving at the horse camp just below the lake the falls come into view. The trail becomes a little steeper at this point, but it is very brief. This is one of the more beautiful high country lakes we've been to. A trip around the lake out on the penninsula is manditory. The lake is very deep and clear with a number of shoal's that can be viewed from above. We would recommend a walk around the lake and thus see a view of the terminal moraine behind it. We had wanted to climb up to Abernathy peak, but after roasting hotdogs and sipping beer we had kept cold in the small snow fields scattered about, and exploring all around the lake, we ran out of time.

Better late than never since it is two weeks later. First, the road closed on 8/5 and if you believe the signs will not open until 8/27; I would check with the Twisp R.S. before trying to drive into the area. My middle (minimal hiking) daughter and I wanted a dry hike on a questionable weekend. Sure enough it rained in the west and central part of the Cascades, but the east was only windy and foggy. The Scatter Lake trail is in good shape. There is a lot of recent construction to improve the trail drainage. This trail starts steep and gets progressively steeper throughout the entire 4.0 miles. It only relents in the last quarter mile just before the lake. There were pleasant wildflowers for most of the hike. In truth, the campsite at the last creek crossing before the lake has many benefits (less climbing, usable firewood, more flowers). Scatter Lake is striking with the scattered Larch trees and vegetation only around the base of the trees within range of needle fall. The Methow Formation rock is varied and chaotic. We found the climb to Abernathy Peak to be relatively easy. Bear to the left toward the lower rounded looking summit and avoid the lower cliffs of the highest looking point (from the lake). Once we waited for an hour for the fog to clear the views were spectacular with Gardner nearby and the Washington Pass spires not too far.

What a great weekend to be inked in for Rainier! After we passed our first back-up climb smothered in clouds and rain, we headed even further east to the gray rainy skies of Winthrop. After leaving my fleese at 3-Fingered Jacks, we made the trailhead for Scatter-Brained Lake at 12:45. I offered to carry the group gear for my absentmindedness, and we cruised up the ""grueling"" trail at 1300 ft/hr. There was a Virginian couple keeping warm in sleeping bags when we made the lake, but they soon departed. For mid-August, it was COLD. Despite my motivational speeches to attempt the peak while we could see it, we held off until morning, when it was perfectly enshrouded in clouds. However, it was also my brilliant idea to go up rock and scree (rather than straight scree), and when we reached the ridge we were caught with cliffs on the other side. I scouted a short-cut that finished an impractical final move, necessitating the removal of my pack. This unfortunate event resulted in the pack sliding and then careening down gullies, slabs, scree and snowfields, halting more than 300' below. The ensuing rescue had its share of tricky moves, ripped shorts, and abraded skin, but at least the fog on the east side held off until I regained the ridge. We bravely headed off to what we believed was the summit, knowing very well that our non-standard route might ultimately be rewarded with the wrong summit (being our second back-up, we had only one map, and it was at the lake). The fog was thickening- another notch would thwart our heroic efforts… but the ridge goes, and what's that- a cairn! 4th summit group of the year, and many familiar names on the register. Easy scree to lake, easy hike out. As far as difficulty, the trail is not any worse than the ""Keep Kool"". A problem on rt 2 closed east-bound traffic for almost an hour, making the drive home much more difficult than the hike.