Mc Gregor Mountain is the dominant peak north of the Stehekin River, clearly visible from both Cascade Pass and the Stehekin Landing on Lake Chelan. It was the site of a fire lookout from 1923 to 1955. The summit trail on the southwest slopes is accessed from near High Bridge Guard Station on the Stehekin Valley Road. The elevation gain from bottom to top is more than 6,400 feet, which makes this one of the greatest elevation gain trails in the state. Our group of four did this as a relatively relaxed and very pleasant three-day trip. We took the Lady of the Lake ferry from Fields Point Landing to Stehekin (foot passengers only--no vehicles), and then the Stehekin Shuttle to High Bridge Camp, arriving by 3:00pm or so. The shuttle always stops at the Stehekin Pastry Company, which for some of us is reason enough to choose this trip. After a leisurely evening in camp and enjoying the river gorge at High Bridge, we got going the next morning at daybreak carrying light daypacks for the 6400' climb. The trail has been recently maintained and is in excellent condition. There are three well-marked junctions in the first mile or so, then above Coon Lake it's switchback after switchback after switchback. Water is accessible at the lake, and from several spots where the trail passes near Coon Creek. Heaton Camp is reached somewhere around the 7000-foot level amidst larch trees on a small flat area with terrific views. Water may be scarce in late season, although one of our group did find a small pool that we were able to filter from. It would be quite a haul to reach this camp, and I have to wonder how frequently it gets used, but there are several nice tent sites and a wooden box toilet available. Above the camp are still more switchbacks (there's over 160 on the entire trail) and then you reach a boulder field that leads up to the steeper upper slopes of the peak. One large rock in the middle of the boulder field has a big bright red arrow pointing upward. Many many more will be seen above that one, and they will lead you right to the summit. Apparently these arrows were repainted this year because the old faded ones were hard to spot and created confusion about the proper route. A few rock cairns will help point you the right way also. You will have to scramble up the boulder field for a couple hundred feet, but eventually a trail is discernable again, and if you watch for the red arrows, you will be able to follow this the rest of the way. There is some exposure (narrow ledges) on this upper trail, particularly just above the boulder field, but there are no climbing moves, just a handhold for balance here and there. As you get higher, it seems to get easier. There's some radio repeaters on the top, whcih actually are visible from High Bridge Camp and many points along the trail. You never have to wonder which crag is the summit. The platform where the lookout stood makes for a comfy place to rest. We had mostly sunny skies but some smoky haze thanks to a few small scattered fires in the North Cascades. Views were still grand, though beyond about 30 miles things got pretty dim. Our time up was about 6 hours, 20 minutes, which I suspect would represent an average or slightly slower than average pace. It was warm, we took plenty of breaks, and pumped water a couple times. We took our time coming down, including a nap in one of the sites at Heaton Camp, and a dip in Coon Lake. Made it back to High Bridge by nightfall. We enjoyed sleeping in the next day, since we didn't need to shuttle back to Stehekin until 12:15 to make the 2:00 Lady of the Lake departure. McGregor is a very under-rated trail, based on the lack of reports one sees here on WTA. It would be an excellent fall trip when days are cooler and larches are turning. Strong hikers-- give this one a try.

McGregor Mountain from High Bridge. The Stehekin road is washed out about ten miles up from the Stehekin landing. The Park Service is not running the shuttle bus service this year. A private shuttle service is available as far as the washout. Inquire at the Stehekin Landing. Mountain bike is recommended for travel on the road past the washout which can be bypassed on a foot path and foot log. There is at least one more washout past High Bridge which may not be passable even on foot. See the following link for detailed information on the Stehekin road conditions: http://www.stehekinchoice.com/happenings/postings/road_trail_r eport.htm The McGregor Mtn. trail is in good condition as far as I hiked it: to 3800' elevation. The trailhead is at 1700' and the summit is over 8000' . I ran out of steam after hiking the 15 miles and 5800' elevation gain to Purple Pass yesterday and then mountain biking the 12 miles to High Bridge this morning. Contrary to the most recent trail report by NOCA listed below, the trail appears not to be snow free to the summit.

We took the shuttle from Stehekin, so began hiking around 9:00. A very nice trail. It gains 1000' every mile. Coon Lake is nothing to spend any time pausing at. We had to be back to the shuttle at 5:30, so no matter how far we had made, we had to turn back by about 2:30. By 1:30 we had made it to the basin below the peak at about 6500' and that was enough since we would run out of time before reaching the summit. This is a hard summit to do in a day from Stehekin, but a great trail. Highly recommended.