Chewuch River Trail — Friday, Jul. 12, 2002

North Cascades > Pasayten

My brother Don and I headed for Newhalem on Friday night, 8/12/2002. We car camped at one of the campgrounds in the area. Up and heading for Winthrop on Saturday 8/13/2002, bright and early. We found out the day before that the Forest Service had opened the Chewuch River Road on the 12th of July, the day we headed out. We arrived in Winthrop before the visitor center opened, so headed right for our destination, the 30 mile trailhead. We stopped and saw the Thirtymile Fire Memorial for the 4 fallen fire fighters from 2001. It is a very pretty memorial, very interesting and well done. We arrived at the trailhead, which is now on the West side of the Chewuch River. There is a small parking area, maybe room for about 4-5 vehicles. Now was the time for me to panic as we had to ford the river. Of course we had to look all areas over to see which would be the easiest and safest to cross. The bridge area was too deep, and I did not want to cross where the water was rough, you know chicken. I tried to go across the way Don was going, but slipped and fell and hit my elbow, first blood of the trip. I was fine, but shaking like a leaf. My brother rescued my pack, & 1/2 hour later, from the start, I found what I thought was a safer way across. Very carefully with Don telling me what to do I made it across, piece of cake, oh yeah. The first 2 1/2 miles of the 30 mile trail is in the burned out area and the beginning on the prior road up to the prior campgroud. The area is all burned, signs and all, and all the trees or most of them standing, but the ground cover, grass, flowers etc., are all back and so beautiful. It was overcast, but extremly warm and humid, hence a hard hike after sitting so long in the truck getting there. There are or were 37 trees that were down across the trail, of which only 2 of them we had to crawl over, and me with my short legs ended up being covered in charcoal, but it comes off easily. The rest of the trees you are able to go either over or around. The trail is very dry, no snow at all or animal life at all, at least none that we could hear or see. 2 1/2 miles after we left the truck, we are into the green forest again, with the birds, crikets etc. The trail is very good and open most of the way, easy to walk on. As we arrived at standing water (ponds etc.), the mosquitos came out in full force, just enough to ""bug"" us, no fun when your legs are tired. We stayed at a camping place near Pocket Lake, no one else on the trail all weekend, and so much peace and quiet. The next day, Sunday, 7/14/2002, we headed back to the truck, early, full of energy, and an easy hike back out. Don was fortunate enough to see, right in front of him, crossing the trail, a Moose and her Calf, them & Don being startled to say the least. Don had enough time to register what they were, see the calf, think ""OH OH"", hear the mom snort & the calf cuff, and then turned to tell me to hurry up, turned back and they had vanished! They at least left their scuffle marks on the trail. The rest of the hike out was uneventful, the river crossing a piece of cake. We learned to tie our boots around our neck to counter balance us as we crossed the river. We stopped at the Visitor Center in Winthrop, verified that yes it was a moose and calf that Don had seen. A very long ride home, but all worth it. Don to Renton, and me to South of Chehalis, with a detour of sightseeing, but oh well.