On June 26th we hiked in from Iron Gate trailhead. The parking lot is in good shape and has been expanded to hold about 30 vehicles. It had two when we arrived. We spent the night in the parking lot and then headed up past Sunny Pass and Horseshoe Pass to Louden Lake where we camped for the night. Trail conditions were excellent. We encountered three hikers, 2 rangers on horseback with 2 ponies, and plenty of spring flora. After dinner at Louden, the weather was clear so we hoofed it up to the top of Armstrong to take in the views.
On June 27th, anticipating a couple days of stormy weather, we compressed two days hike into one and pushed all the way to Tungsten Mine. There we staked a claim in the upper cabin, started a fire, collected wood and water, and enjoyed not tenting in the wintry mix (mixed rain and snow). On June 28th we awoke to snow and more wintry mix. We explored the mine and surrounding area. Upon returning to the cabins we met two groups that had arrived. One had 8" of snow dumped on them at Cathedral Pass and the other had hiked the same 14 miles we had, but a day later in much less fun conditions.
On June 29th, we again awoke to clearing skies so we day hiked over to Apex mountain and gained the summit. The views were outstanding with clear skies and good cell phone reception.
On June 30th we awoke to more wintry mix, rain, and rainbows. Since we we were running out of good weather days, we decided to day hike to Ampitheater and if we had time and inclination, climb up Cathedral on the way back. We hiked out to Cathedral Pass and 100 minutes later we were standing on the summit in a cloud. A couple pairs of boots in our group didn't withstand the waterproof tests after crossing a half dozen snow fields. That and damp spirits precluded a summit bid on Cathedral.
On July 1st we packed up and hoofed it down the Tungsten Mine trail to the Basin Creek trail. I counted about 70 down trees in the trail on that section. At the Basic Creek trail, we turned and headed back Northeast, hoping to make a summit bid on Windy Peak the next day. The first couple miles of the trail had been cleared by a trail crew, making it possible for us to reach the "campground" at 5600'. There the trail maintenance ended with enormous jumbles of trees across the trail as far as the eye could see. Having two pack goats in our group, we improved the campground a bit and spent the night before our retreat.
On July 2nd we hiked back down to the Chewuch trail and out to the Chewuch trailhead. From there we walked down the road to Long Swamp. From there, two of us hitch hiked back to the Iron Gate trail road to fetch our trucks and conclude the trip. Upon arrival at the trailhead, we counted 17 vehicles.
Comments