Larch Lake, Lake Julius and Loch Eileen & Lake Donald — Monday, Sep. 7, 2009

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - East

For our Big Pants Trekkers annual backpack this year we decided to take it a wee bit easy. We still wanted to be out for four nights, but we didn't feel up to a long slog, long travel time, or huge elevation gain. So we decided to let the Scottish High Camps give us a lift, literally up to their camp at 5000' near the Scottish Lakes in the Central Cascades. The Scottish High Camp is our kind of place and we are their kind of people. We figured that out right away. Don and Chris are the consummate hosts, with special treats, stories, the outdoor wood-fired hot tub, hot cocoa and coffee, and lots of advice and information on local hiking. After a rainy Labor Day weekend spent playing games in the lodge over fresh baked cookies, popcorn, and our own great meals, we decided to get out and hike. On Monday we started out just after noon in the rain to Lake Donald. The trail starts right from High Camp, heading first up the ridge to the trailhead, then into the woods and down again to Lake Julius which is a pretty, wooded lake about 2.5 miles from High Camp. The trail works around Lake Julius and starts climbing a bit to Loch Eileen, which is a bit more alpine than Julius, sitting in a rocky basin with huckleberry fields mixed in with the trees. We didn't take much time at either lake as it was pouring rain and we just wanted to get to camp. The only good side to the rain: mushrooms, crazy mushrooms everywhere, with variety, size and quantity we have never seen before. From Loch Eileen, the trail crosses the outlet stream then turns into a rough way trail for the final 1/2 mile and 500' push to Lake Donald, a total of four miles from High Camp. In the rain, this section of way trail was a slippery and muddy mess, alternating between straight-up and rooty from the huckleberries, and areas of slick granite to scramble up any way you can. We made it, and found a campsite near the outlet stream just big enough for our three tents. We put up tents and dove in for the night, with the rain turning into snow and all of us soaking wet beyond our ability to stay out and make a proper dinner. We ate cheese and crackers and ended up turning in for the night - at 5 p.m.! Good thing we awoke to fine weather on Tuesday (and for the rest of the week), or we might have had an aborted hike. We were not planning to move camp, so we explored the meadows above Lake Donald almost to Tamarack Peak, trying to find signs of a way trail over McCue Ridge that Don and Chris told us about. It's an offtrail/unmapped shortcut to the Chiwaukum Trail, our destination for Wednesday. After a few hours of pleasant exploration which took us up into some snowy meadows from Monday's storm, we decided that with full packs we had better stick to the regular trail on Wednesday. Tons of ripe berries, especially in the upper meadows, you could have rolled in them. I was surprised we didn't see any bears. Because we didn't want to risk the shortcut with full packs, on Wednesday morning we headed back the way we came, losing elevation all the way past Eileen and Julius only to head back up again to ascend McCue Ridge. From the grassy ridge you can see lots of mountains, I wish I had brought more GreenTrails maps so that I could see what they were. From McCue Ridge, the trail descends again to mile-long Chiwaukum Lake which had a fine campsite right at the junction of the McCue and Chiwaukum trails. We kept going ascending again to beautiful Ewing Basin, and finally to Larch Lake, about seven miles from Lake Donald. Note: there was a beehive right in the middle of the trail between Ewing Basin and Larch Lake, when you stop going up the steep switchbacks and the trail levels out a bit just before you come into the Larch Lake basin. Keep your eyes open, there's plenty of opportunity to back up and go around it by walking through the meadows to the right of the trail. The Larch Lake basin was beautiful, and it was all ours. We couldn't believe that we hadn't seen a single other hiker so far. Unreal. We found a good camp left of where the trail enters the basin, but there were many smaller one-tent sites tucked away into the benches around the meadows and tarns. Gentian and berries galore. Larches might turn early, a couple of them were showing signs of turning. Thursday we hiked to Cup Lake and two of our party were nearly able to ascend the ridge over Cup Lake. We weren't sure if they were heading the exact correct direction to Deadhorse Pass, they went straight when they crossed the outlet and basically went straight up that rock outcropping. They came just twenty or so feet shy of the ridge before deciding that the rock was too loose and exposure too great to continue. Upon heading back to Larch Lake on Thursday afternoon we saw a couple dayhikers and also a couple other backpackers come in, the first other people we'd seen since Monday. Friday we hiked out the six miles back to High Camp, down to Chiwaukum and back up McCue Ridge, then finally back down to High Camp where they were waiting to give us a ride down the hill to our cars, and hamburgers at Gustavs. Another great trip. Next year: Teton Crest?