Getting
there: Drive the Chiwawa River road a few seconds past the Finner Creek campground (trail is on the left). The Trail: The trail begins by crossing the Chiwawa River on a large log jam and then ascends gradually through a sparse canopy of diseased trees. At one point there is a very large tree across the trail but you can crawl underneath quite easily. The trail now switchbacks steeply up to Schaefer Lk. on great trail. From the lake you need to reach the saddle south of point 6,931 ', due west of the lake at ~6,200'. I traversed the south side of the lake en route but returned on a north side traverse (open icy granite boulders on the south and a sketchy fisherman's trail on the north). Easy boulder fields, open forest and grassy meadows lead to the saddle. I was hoping that this would be a straight forward, easy day but... it wasn't. I can't even begin to give a detailed account of the route because I don't even know what I did! Basically you stay on the west side of the ridge crossing numerous rocky spurs that seem to go on forever (sometimes you go up sometimes down, always heading north). A few times I'd go to the top of the ridge but was usually always forced back down. There is no real exposure and on fairly good rock (granite) but the route is always tedious (you want great weather and allow quite a bit of time). After what felt like the hundreth spur I decided one last time to head for the summit ridge (a few spurs before the summit). Finally, I found myself looking northward into a large amphitheater of granite directly below the west peak of Bandit. Ascend directly to the top, the easiest most pleasant section of the climb. There is a fruitcake container summit register with such famous names as Gordy Skoog, Dave Seman & the amazing Heinz Graupe. This is the last high point on the southern end of the the Chiwawa Mtns. The traverse took a little longer than I planned and didn't reach the summit until a few minutes before the sun was about to set (6.5 hours from the trailhead). The descent along the ridge in the dark wasn't all that much fun but thankfully at 10:30 I finally found myself staring into the inky blackness of Schaefer Lk. (what a process!) I was then able to pick up a fisherman's trail and make my way back to the land of the living! The summit is at 7,625', 17+ miles of tread & 5,000' of gain (but much more with all the up & down), a 12.5 hour day, whew! Take it easy. See ya on the trail! Pilar