Bachelor Meadows, Downey Creek — Saturday, Jul. 27, 2002

Central Cascades

Downey Creek #768 - The trail is in fairly good shape. It requires 30 or so logs of up to 40"" to be removed. Bachelor Creek to Cub Lake Way Trail - trial has about a hundred logs to cross for the first 3 or 4 miles, however when you approach the first views of the climb to the upper basin a 2 mile long avalanch has made the trail impassable and impossible to find. You can not avoid the logs and brush, but you can make it easier if you stay to the right and go strait up the headwall and rejoin the trail on top of the ridge. Plan on 2 extra hours of dregery and gasp in amaisment that an avalanch can be so big - this was a monster. Cub lake is mostly frozen over and two campsites are open. The trail continues up tward Dome Peak in good condition crossing major avelanches and the Dome Peak climb is snow after Itsook Ridge. WTA please schedule to clear this trail, 2-weeks with 4 chainsaws and 2 green machines running 8 hours a day would do it. [Online Editor's note: The Downey Creek is in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. No mechanized equipement - including chainsaws - is allowed. We last logged out the Downey Creek trail using crosscut saws 2 years ago. It took many long days.]