Buckskin Ridge, Robinson Creek (Middle Fork Pasayten River), Shellrock Pass, Robinson Creek - South & Osceola Peak — Thursday, Jul. 11, 2019

With unsettled weather forecast for the west side, we decided to head for the Pasayten wilderness for our first multi-day outing of the year.  Day-by-day description follows:

Day 1: After dropping off two PCT through-hikers at Hart’s pass that we had picked up hitchhiking in Mazama, we left Slate Pass trailhead around 3 PM for the 4.5 mile trek to Silver lake.  We did not see anyone on the hike in, but on arrival were surprised to see two twelve person parties camped there – one from NOLS, and one from Outward Bound.  This would not be the first time we ran into them on our 6-day outing.  Great to see these young adults getting out in the wilderness. The trail was in good condition.

Day 2: After a leisurely start, we headed north on the trail to Buckskin Lake.  The trail was also in good shape and easy to follow, but seemed to be much longer than the 5.1 miles shown on my old (ca. 2003) GT map.  It took us 6.5 hours of hiking to get there, including breaks.  Yes we are slow, but not that slow!  The trail dropped down quite a bit lower than what was shown on the map.  The traverse section north of Silver Pass before crossing to the east side of the ridge was particularly enjoyable due to the western views of the central north cascades, and the expansive meadows.  We had the trail and Buckskin lake to ourselves, and fresh morels we found along the way to add to our dinner! 

Day 3: Our intention was to cross the middle fork Pasayten at the first opportunity to head for our next objective: Lake Doris and Osceola Peak.  The map showed a potential crossing about 6 miles north of the lake where the Buckskin ridge trail first reaches the river.  I also had some information about another, unnamed trail that heads straight down 1600 feet to the river from a point on the Buckskin ridge trail just north of the lake.  We found this trail easily, and followed it all the way down to the river, crossed the river (mid calve deep), and continued up the east side of the river (still on a good trail) to hook up with the middle fork trail.  I don’t know who developed this unmarked trail, but it is well graded and easy to follow – thanks whoever – you saved us about 9 miles of walking!  The shortcut allowed us to easily make it to Lake Doris for the evening. 

Day 4: Not really knowing the most efficient way to get to the west ridge of Osceola, we headed up a talus slope directly north of lake Doris to gain the west shoulder.  We traversed along the west shoulder all the way to the base of the west ridge.  From here the climb was straightforward on a climbers track and broken talus.  On descent we found the most direct route to the lake, by heading south from the base of the west ridge to an orange colored rock intrusion, where we picked up a climbers track.   On arrival at the lake it was windy and two other parties had set up camp.  Being solitude snobs, and deciding it was too cold and windy to go for a swim, we decided to pack up and head east toward Shellrock Pass to a camp spot we heard about, and found, about 2.5 miles in.  It’s about a mile past the (abandoned) Eureka creek trail 474 junction.  Not a particularly scenic camp, but quiet, wind and bug-free, and with good water.

Day 5: Went on a short day hike east along the trail just to check out the approaches to Carru and Lago (for future reference). The trail is pretty sketchy east of our camp spot due to blowdowns and overgrown areas, but still not a problem to follow.    We had to turn around after about a mile or so, to head back to camp and pack up and head out to the middle fork trail to position ourselves for a short hike on Tuesday to the trailhead and car.  We made it all the way south on the middle fork trail to the river crossing.  There is a lovely camp spot just past the river crossing in expansive meadows.  We had the place to ourselves. There is another large meadow and camping area about a half mile north of the river crossing, but the same NOLS and OB groups were there so we decided to push on, and were glad we did so.

Day 6: Short hike back to Silver pass.  The meadows and wildflowers were quite spectacular along this section!