PNW Almanac
9-19-19: 40 F at the Irongate Trailhead at noon. 1.5 hours northwest of Tonasket. Last 5.7 miles on a brutal road with patches of snow. Hiked 7.9 miles through 2006 Tripod fire, going over Sunny Pass to Smith Lake, where we set camp in the snow at around 5pm. Larches starting to get that golden hue. Not peaking quite yet. Cold, wet, windy, and rainy night.
9-20-19. Left camp at 10am. Stayed in tent in the morning because of rain, heavy at times, and wind. Knew weather was opening when we heard birds and chipmunks starting their days. Hiked 10 miles from Smith Lake to Haig Mountain, a horse camp. Weather changing all day, but mostly improving. Scrambled to a vista on Haig Mountain. Elevation: 7800 feet. The camp was nice but exposed and no obvious water source. Had we known the weather was going to be exquisite the following day, we should have looked more for a camp and made an attempt at Teapot Dome. There were some camps/water a mile or two before Haig Mountain Horse Camp. Camped behind Rock Mountain, around the corner from Louden Lake. Elevation = 7000 feet. This was an A++ campsite. Protected, spectacular views, owl hooting at night (most likely a great-horned owl), surrounded by larches turning color.
9-21-19 Spectacular morning and a day that got close to the 80s, even at 7000-8500 feet where we ended up. We walked from our campsite to Sunny Pass, where we dropped our packs and majority of our gear, other than water, then descended 700 feet and then rising again another 1000 feet to the Windy Peak Trail's junction with Chewack River trail. Spectacular views. We decided that we would make an attempt at summiting Windy Peak on a cooler day with even less stuff to carry and a smarter campsite, maybe Sunny Pass. 13 miles. Came back to Trailhead. Temp was 50 F at 5pm.
3 days, 31 miles.
Soundtrack: 6-22-73, Vancouver. Like the hike, long, exhausting, but deeply satisfying. with spacey, jazzy, explorative versions of Bird Song, Here Comes Sunshine, China->Rider, Black Peter, Truckin'>Other One.
