One day scramble to Star, Courtney and Oval peaks. 8,086ft of elevation gain over 20.91, in 16h45m, on a relatively slow pace. 

Track: https://caltopo.com/m/7C5B

Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BMoJT4kgpmH2ED549

My general impression of each peak

• Star (scrambly trail) = scree field + boulder hopping on the ridge
• Courtney (walk-up) = trail ("blowdown slowdown") + boulder hopping
• Oval (scramble): trail with many blowdowns, boulder hopping

Approach: Log crossing was about ~8mi in. We butt scooted it in the early more in the dark, in order to not risk it. On the way out, it's walkable. Other other side had a small lower log that helped you get on the log. Tree branches to use as handrail. If you read about the blowdowns on the trail, thankfully they have been cleared in late 2019. Trail was a moderate and steady, trailrun-able. Most in the shade, which was pleasant. Nothing much to write. Enjoy cruising it :)

Star: From the Fisher Creek pass, descend an obvious path in the loose sand towards the Star lake. From the lake, a fainted path, just aim for the base of the west ridge, on top of a scree field. We missed the more gently sloped dirt path (a rising traverse) on the way up, but a steeper dirt path we took also worked great. Once on the ridge, run across the ridge to the summit all the way at the end. Started out from a well defined dirt path, then between dirt path and boulder scramble. There were multiple dirt paths, don't stress about sticking to one. Occasionally we were off the path and ended up squeezing between trees. No need to stay at the high point of the ridge, or you will unnecessarily go up and down the humps. We stayed on the right side. Writing more beta here could just make it more confusing. Route was straightforward, just find the dirt path or boulders that you are most comfortable with. Summit register can be found in a plastic, the Mountaineers branded water bottle.

Courtney: From the summit of Star, we backtracked (through the west ridge, down the gentle traverse on the scree field, to the Star lake for a water refill, and up the loose sandy path) to Fisher Creek pass. An easy trail to the left/northwest finished off with some (solid) boulder hopping.

Oval: On the way down from Courtney, I plunged stepped down the scree field towards the trail, hoping to take a shortcut. Scree was soft and a low angle slow, so scree skiing was fun and fast going. On the trail, we followed some previous track, aiming to leave the trail at around 6,700-6,800ft (ended up leaving at 6,756ft) and turn left. Took a few minutes and some log crossing to catch the climber's trail. The trail to the Oval lake can be described as "blowdown slowdown". Many down trees to hop over. If you find yourself in front of many and/or big logs blocking the trail, there's usually a very obvious reroute to the left/right. We refilled more water at the Oval lake. From there, the mosquitoes nightmare began as it's early afternoon (hot...) and the path were in the thick forest. Route finding was confusing, we didn't find an obvious climber's trail, but were following the general direction of the tracks, and were between short trails, bushwhacking, and stream crossing until we got to the base of the boulder field at 7,485ft. I totally missed the (loose) dirt path to the left of the boulder field. The boulders at the bottom were very solid and became just a little more loose as you go up. Knowing the summit was off to the right once we gain the ridge, I decided not to check the track anymore and just take the more scrambly route up and did a rising traverse across the entire boulder field. It turned out to be more strenuous than expected, especially with the heat. The dirt path could have been much faster going, but I'm usually up for the idea to make the hike more scrambly, especially because the two previous peaks were mostly on trail. On the ridge, some final boulder hopping on a rocky edge led us to the summit. On the descent, we followed the ridge aiming for the pass / lowest point, hoping to save time. It was boulder hopping on a gentle slope. From the pass, we followed the dirt path that we missed on the ascent. When approaching the Oval lake, we tried to follow a track to catch the trail at around 5,800ft. Walked around on the other side (NE side) of Oval lake, and soon began the fighting with the thick bushes, following the direction of a creek on the right. It was tiring and required frequently stopping to check the tracks and mosquitoes all of sudden all swarmed on you. In retrospective, it might not have saved us time. Got back to trail at around 5,800ft and hiked out on a brisk pace, including a quick water refill.  

Timeline

0400 West Fork Buttermilk Trailhead

0705 Fish Creek Pass (7,494ft, 6.94mi, 3,535ft gain)

0745 West ridge of Star

0830 Star summit (8,652ft, 8.45mi)

0900 Left Star

1010 Star lake

1030 Fish Creek Pass (9.92mi, 5,186ft gain)

1115 Courtney summit 

1130 Left Courtney

1225 Left trail at 6,756ft and turned left to Oval

1330 Oval lake

1420 Base of boulder

1600 Oval summit

1715 Off boulder field

1900 Back to trail after bushwhacking shortcut

2050 Trailhead

Gear

• Mosquitoes were absolutely horrible except for above the tree line. Bring bug spray
• Brought helmet but didn't use. Could have used when boulder hopping.
• Water filter. Plenty of places to refill water and they seemed to space out perfectly, all directly off the path, easily accessible. 2mi and 4mi in on the approach, Star lake enroute to Star, and Oval lake enroute to Oval. Perfect spots for before and after tagging the peaks, and on the approach/deapproach.
• Pole was helpful, given the distance and elevation gain, and scree.
• Lots of sun protection. Hat, sunscreen, chapstick.
• No need for any snow gear.

Driving

Road passable by all cars. A few confusing forks - recommend downloading the offline map for this area. Last 3mi was more bumpy. Toilet at the trailhead was clean.

Other trip reports

• 2020/7/4-6: http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8032144
• 2020/6/7-8: http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8031987
• 2020/6/22-23: https://mountainflamingo.com/2019-06-22-23-star-courtney-buttermilk-oval/ (has gpx)
• 2019/6: http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8029749

Forecast

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=48.3656626104&lon=-120.337629318#.Xxp3hZNKjEY