My friend and I did a four day larch hunting trip out in the Chelan Sawtooth Wilderness from. We hiked the Prince Creek Trail, Chelan Summit Trail, and Purple Creek Trail.

Day 1 (9/30): Prince Creek Trail to Chelan Summit Trail Shelter

We took the Lady Express from Fields Point Landing and were dropped off at Prince Creek around 10:30. We followed the Lakeshore Trail across the bridge over Prince Creek and quickly found the well marked Prince Creek trail. The trail was well maintained and easy to follow, but clearly does not see as much use as the Lakeshore Trail. The first four miles of the trail had no creek access and I imagine it could get quite hot as you head up as there isn't a lot of shade. It was raining for us so this wasn't an issue. We saw two baby rattlesnakes within the first mile or so, but they were very slow in the cold. After about four miles we came to a crossing of Prince Creek, this was the first water source of the trail. There was no bridge, but it was an easy ford for me and my friend opted to rock hop. We had lunch on the far side of the creek it a small campsite. There was a fire ring and you could probably squeeze two tents in. After the creek the trail became more forested and was very overgrown and brushy which means we got soaked. The fall colors were really starting to show though. We crossed several small streams between the Prince Creek crossing and the Chelan Summit Trail junction, one had a log bridge and the others were easy to hop across without getting our feet wet. There were a couple small blow downs to get over, but nothing bad. It looked like a crew had been through recently clearing out blowdowns. After about 8 miles we headed north on the Chelan Summit Trail and camped at the shelter just past the junction. The shelter itself only had one or two bunks you could actually sleep in, as well as a nice table with a bench. There are some holes in the roof so I wouldn't recommend it if it was raining heavily. Just below the shelter there were several good looking tent sites. There is also a toilet here, but its in view of the campsite, shelter, and trail so use at your own risk.  There's a little clearing just down the trail from the shelter that had beautiful sunset views.

 Day 2 (10/1): Chelan Summit Trail to Tuckaway Lake

We had a slow start because we didn't want to put on our wet hiking clothes from the day before. The trail kept climbing and we started seeing larches not long after we passed the junction to Surprise Lake. The larches just kept getting better and better the higher we climbed. We detoured  off the summit trail to go to Star Lake for lunch. The lake was beautiful -- nestled between Star peak and a big grove of larches. We other people for the first time on our trip at the lake, there were several groups camped there. After lunch we went back to the summit trail and continued on. We hiked for a couple miles through an old burn before heading back into the larches. We reached the trail junction for Oval Pass  where there was some camping and another toilet. We opted to head up to Tuckaway lake via the Oval Pass trail to camp for the night. There were two other groups at the lake and not many campsites. The lake was ringed with larches, but it wasn't  as stunning as Star. This was the coldest night of the trip for us. While we were cooking dinner some of the water I had collected to filter had frozen in the bag and we noticed some of the small streams were frozen over in the morning.

 Day 3 (10/2): Chelan Summit Trail to Juanita Lake

After breakfast and packing up camp we headed back down to the Summit Trail. We spent the morning crossing the open hillsides and then climbing up and over a small pass. We then dropped nearly two thousand feet down to and we we're out of the larches. Along the way we passed the Eagle Pass trail junction which had a nice looking camp by it, there was another campsite not long after that. After the Eagle Pass junction it was clear that this area didn't see as much use and there was a lot of evidence of animal activity, although the only animals we saw on the trip were one deer, some sooty grouse, and the two snakes. It was kind of an eerie forest and wasn't somewhere I personally would have liked to camp. There were a few minor blowdowns through this section, but nothing bad. Eventually we started climbing back up. On the climb back up we passed Deephole Spring, which had a large camp and a stream running through it. Not long after this we got back up into the larches and had some of the best views of the trip. The larches up here just go on for miles covering all of the mountainsides. We took a short break at the top of the climb where we officially entered the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. We continued for a couple more miles before ending our day at Lake Juanita. We took a quick detour to check out War Creek Pass to see if there was a good view, and there weren't so save yourself the trip. Lake Juanita was kind of marshy and not particularly beautiful. It was kind of a pain getting water without getting our feet wet or falling in, but the water itself wasn't too gross to drink. We camped up above the lake on its far side and had a beautiful view of the larch covered mountains.

 Day 4 (10/3): Purple Creek Trail to Stehekin

We got up early and didn't make breakfast because we were determined to make it down to Stehekin by 11 to catch the shuttle to the bakery. There was a short climb up to Purple Pass, and then it was all down hill. At the pass we got our final expansive view of the larches and could even see Lake Chelan way down below. The upper trail was a bit rougher than we expected with lots of rocks and sticks, so we had to watch our steps. As we descended there was also a lot of Snowbrush growing over the trail that we had to push through and it often coincided with narrower trail, so again I was watching my step pretty carefully. There were a lot of great views of Lake Chelan on the way down. Eventually the forest opened up and the trail became easier to navigate so we were able to cruise the rest of the way down to the lake. We somehow managed the decent of 5,800 feet in 4 hours and popped out in the campground by the visitor center a few minutes before the boat got there. We made a quick bakery run to get treats before loading back up on the Lady Express and back to Fields Point.

 Despite the cold and the first day of rain, this was one of the most stunning backpacking trips either one of us had been on. The larches were at their peak and I have never seen so many before. We spent the better part of two days hiking through them and soaking it in. It's truly hard to describe how magnificent it was out there. Also the sheer diversity of this hike made it really fascinating. We started in a dry ponderosa forest with snakes, hiked through subalpine fir and Doug fir forests, through larches, and all the way back down to lake Chelan. There was a little bit of everything. We were also pleasantly surprised about how well maintained the trail was and how easy it was to follow given how little information there is out there compared to other trails and how few people we saw out there. It did seem like a crew had been through recently because there were a lot of freshly cut blowdowns. The lack of crowds was also a huge plus for us. I think we saw 12 people in total, all but two of which were camping at the lakes. If you're looking for a beautiful, but challenging, larch hike and want to avoid the crowds I can't recommend this loop enough!

Decided to take a chance with the weather hoping that the storms would release their precipitation prior to getting this far east of Cascade crest.   I had been here last week and knew the larches should be primed by now.  This time I wanted to skip the any scrambling and just go for a pure trail loop with Cooney Lake being the focus.  

Road is in my opinion, in great shape.  Plenty of parking and a restroom at the TH.  Eagle Lakes Trail is in great shape as it is shared with cyclists so they ensure that trail maint is up-to-date.  About an hour into my hike, the snow flurries started and would continue throughout the day.  However, very little accumulation, even on the peaks above me. Fortunately, the cloud cover was fairly high so my views were not affected too much.

After Horsehead Pass, hopped onto the Summit Trail south.  Nice wandering here through stands of larches.  I noticed that the had taken a beating the day before as the ground was covered in their needles.  They were still looking pretty good though.  

From Summit Trail, I hopped onto Angel's Staircase.  Again, more stands of larches as you switchback up to the pass.  Great views though from the saddle. From there, worked my way to the Cooney Lake trail and looked down on the lake. Holy larches.  Perhaps the thickest stand of larches I have ever seen surround that lake.  The drop down to the lake is the most technical section of the loop as it is steep and a bit loose.

Wandering through the larches surrounding the lake felt like another world.  After the lake, hopped on the Martin Creek Trail to head back to the junction with Eagle Lakes.  This trail is in good condition.

Notes:   Plenty of running water sources along Summit Trail but the other sections are a bit sparse with the exception of the lakes.  Also, I think the larches are already on the downside and with another storm rolling in, they could lose a lot more needles.  This weekend will probably be the last prime viewing of them.  Saw three cyclists and a trail runner for the whole loop.  

Stats: around 23 miles with 5k of gain.

The Chelan Summit Trail is beautiful, rugged and slowly turning back to wild. I encourage anyone who has thought about hiking this trail to get out now, before it disappears and to help keep it around.

We started our 3 day, 41 mile hike to Stehekin at the Crater Creek Trailhead (we had a dropoff). The road has some potholes but is passable even for a two wheel drive sedan. The trailhead is one of the best; clean bathroom, nice parking area, camping sites.

The first part of the hike to Eagle Lakes is a 2500' uphill slog, easier done in the early morning than the 11 am heat. We ate lunch at the overlook of lower Eagle Lake, and finished the push to the pass. The only person we saw in the Sawtooths was in this section, a friendly horseback rider making camp at Boiling Lake.

After cresting the pass and dropping to Boiling Lake, its a short hike to the connection to the Chelan Summit Trail. From there, the trail goes up and down passes, through meadows with stunning views of all around for miles. We crossed a very large avalanche slide, and there were some trees down intermittently as well, but everything was passable if careful.

While there were no campsites listed on our map, I read the FS trail description of the North Fork Prince Creek Shelter and was determined to see what it was. You'll find it about 3/4 of a mile past (Northbound) the intersection with North Fork Prince Creek, but it's worth the extra miles! A beautiful CCC shelter with bunk beds, a table and the cleanest composting toilet I've ever seen. We had a great camp for the night and saw no one.

The next day of hiking took us through a burn zone on the section between Courtney Peak and Gray Peak that had a lot of blowdowns to maneuver over/under/around. Take it slow and they're all passable.  We had originally planned to camp at Lake Juanita for our second night (reminder that you need a Backcountry Permit from the NPS in the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area), but after looking at the elevation loss for Purple Creek Trail, we reevaluated our plan. After lunch at another great campsite at the intersection with Eagle Creek Trail 410 (Eagle Pass), we turned towards Lake Chelan on the North Fork Fish Creek Trail.

This was the least pleasant part of our hike, as it started to get hotter every step down we took. We had had plentiful water crossings the rest of the trail, but they dried up in this section. As well, a burn had come through here a while ago, so the tree cover was gone, which we desperately wanted as it pushed 100 degrees.

Finally we made it to Moore Point campground, where much to our surprise, we were the only campers! We had the place to ourselves, cooled off in Lake Chelan and went to bed early.

The final section of our hike was my first (and likely last) hike on the Chelan Lakeshore Trail. We started hiking at 6:30 AM to beat the heat, which only works so well when it doesn't get very cold at night. This section doesn't actually stay on the lakeshore, its usually a few hundred yards if not half a mile away from the water. It was a nice enough hike, but nothing compared to the views and vegetation of the Summit Trail.

We finished our hike in Stehekin before the sun came around the lake, and booked it to the bakery for a well-deserved breakfast feast. I plan to return to the Chelan Summit Trail, and highly recommend it if you like the high alpine hiking of the eastside with no other people around.

Started on a Thursday with a ride up to North Navarre/Summer Blossom trailhead. We elected Summer Blossom trailhead over South Navarre as the Summit trail 1259 sustained major fire damage from South Navarre to Deadman Pass, which has been made worse with moto traffic. We were very happy we took the Summer Blossom trail as it had no fire damage and provided a slightly better elevation profile.  

We hiked ~15 miles first night and camped on a tent sized river gravel patch. The next morning we hiked .5 mile to stumble across the The North Fork Prince Creek Shelter. Whoops. The mark for this shelter on FS maps is in the wrong place - it should be one creek north. 

Day 2 there were a lot of blowdowns in the Fish Creek drainage from the 2001 Rex Creek fire. Nothing we couldn't deal with but they probably added an hour to our day and a good chunk of much needed energy. Awesome camp at Fish Creek Pass trail 1248 intersection and 2 excellent camps near  Eagle Pass trail 1259B intersection. We ended up camping at "Comfort Camp" ~1.2 miles from the National Recreation Area boundary. This camp was large, relatively flat, had good water nearby, but was a little buggy. 

Day 3 we left early for a push to Stehekin. Lake Juanita was low and had a lot of algae - we were very happy we filled our bottles with water at the camp as we didn't want to bother stopping to filter water just to carry it down to Stehekin. Purple Pass trail was completely clear of blowdowns with only the occasional overgrown bush or two. We felt every foot of that 5700' descent but were very happy to make it to Stehekin before noon. 

Day 1: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7223010011
Day 2: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7223017770
Day 3: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7223025600

I took my Packgoats: Grant, Albert, Bryce and Kahlua for a 5 day pack trip in the Chelan Sawtooth area, starting at the West Buttermilk trailhead.  I started on Friday, July 9^th.

The lower West Buttermilk creek drainage was burned in a forest fire a few years ago, although the trailhead area itself escaped.

The trail crosses West Buttermilk creek about 0.3 miles from the trailhead at a horse ford.  There is also a trail that goes a couple hundred feet up stream to a sloping log across.  I forded the stream with the goats, it was about knee deep and moving fairly swiftly at the deepest point.

The burned area continues for about 3 ½ miles up the trail from the trailhead.  There are some trees still alive in the burn area.

The Forest Service reported the trail logged out to the snowline as of mid-June.  At about 6 ¾ miles from the trailhead there are some trees down at a pair of switchbacks.  A horse created path makes it pretty easy to bypass these downed trees.

Friday night I camped in the Star Lake area.  Saturday, I headed northwest up the boot path to the ridgeline between Courtney Peak and Gray peak, then continued NW toward Gray peak and a trail that leads down to Middle Oval Lake.  To access the trail, I needed to cross about 30 feet of snow on the east side of the ridgeline.

I continued down the trail to Middle Oval Lake.  The lower potion of the trail had a dozen or more trees down, some required detouring around.  After a nice break, I headed back up the trail to Oval Pass and down to the Tuckaway Lake area.

The next day I continued down the trail in Horseshoe Basin to the Chelan Summit trail, and then northwest on the Summit trail.  This section of trail was in pretty good shape to the junction with the Eagle Pass trail.  From there the Summit trail traverses down into the North Fork Fish Creek drainage.

 At first there were a few blowdowns, which were not too much of an issue.  As I got further down into the timber, I started encounter more blowdown.  At about 1.6 miles form the Eagle Pass Junction, there were several trees down, with no obvious way to get the goats around them.  At that point I decided to turn around and head back. That evening I camped in the basin near the Eagle Pass Junction.

Monday, I headed back south on the Summit trail.  A little south of the stream in Horseshoe Basin I encountered blowdown from an older forest fire.  The trail also makes a gentle switchback in this area to the signed junction with the Horseshoe Basin / Oval Pass trail.  I lost the trail in this area, but my GPS helped me find the trail junction and continue south.

If anyone is doing this section before this spot gets cleaned up, it’s likely easier to go the camp site a couple hundred feet up the Horseshoe basin trail.  Heading south there is a signed trail to the camp and Oval Pass.  Heading north the trail is also signed, however, at the camp site which has a fire ring with four logs forming a square around it, it’s time to turn off and head back down to the Summit trail.  There’s a path with a rock cairn to mark the way down to the Summit trail.

I continued south on the Summit trail, partly in burned trees, partly in meadow, as I got further south, towards Fish Creek Pass trail and the Star Lake area, I encountered more blowdown of dead trees from the old fire.  Some of these spots took some time to get the goats through or around.  There were around two to three dozen trees down across the trail in this area. 

That night I camped in the Star Lake vicinity, and Tuesday hike back out to the trailhead.

Insects were quite variable, sometimes, or in some places, quite annoying, other times not noticeable.  There were some biting flies, but mostly mosquitoes.  Insect repellant did a pretty good job of minimizing the insect bites.

I saw very few people in the five days.  On the first day, while hiking in, the horse packing outfitter passed me, with his string of mules.  I saw four other groups of people during the 5 days.