McGregor Mountain Hike

After camping at Howard Lake (formerly Coon Lake), and a brief setback with the trail on the map (I was using OpenTopo) versus the real trail, we skirted around Howard lake and began the long ascent up the McGregor Mountain Trail.  As it turned out both Sho (my hiking partner) and I had a trail drawn on our maps that did not match the actual trail.  The trail on the map indicated it was right next to the lake, on the edge of the eastern shore.  The reality is that the trail is a very well maintained path that is farther east than shown on the map.  For those accessing the trail directly from the PCT, just follow the sign off the trail that points to McGregor and stay on the trail.

We started the hike around 10:00am at about 2240 feet from Howard Lake.  The fall air was crisp, the sky was clear, and we quickly made it to a nice lunch spot at 3600 feet.  Angus Peak, Glacier Peak, the glaciated face of Dome Peak, and the Angus River Gorge were on display from this vantage point.  It should be noted that there was a nice spot for a tent (possibly two) here.  As Sho and I were eating a snack, two girls came hiking up the trail.  Asia (from Poland) and Niko (from Czech Republic) were section hiking Washington State and were filming a scripted movie along the way.  We chatted for a bit and they told us they planned on spending the night at a much higher elevation before attempting the summit.

At 5520 feet, we arrived at Coon Creek (maybe called Howard Creek on some maps?) and exchanged our treated lake water for the cool clear fresh mountain water from the  creek.  It was also a great opportunity to freshen up a bit, wash my shirt, and soak in some rays.  From this vantage point, Glacier Peak could still be seen rising out of the southern horizon.  After our respite, we climbed to 6000 feet where the larch trees began to change their color from pine green to a brilliant yellow.  At this altitude, the larches were joined with small pine tress as well as subalpine firs.  By 7100 feet, we had hit the timberline, and shortly after the McGregor Mountain Trail ended at a talus field.  

After spotting a granite bolder about halfway up the field with a large red arrow painted on the face, we began to pick our way up in its direction.  It pointed us farther up, where we negotiated our way up the talus to the base of the large rock faces that comprise the top of the mountain.  Here, we were confronted by another painted red arrow urging us to the right up a small footpath.  This arrow was followed by another, then another, and another over and over again.  The rock scrambling was not difficult; I'd estimate it to be class 4 level, but the exposure on the rock faces as we ascended was very real.  As we went up, we occasionally placed cairns to aid in our route-finding on the descent.  After going up and over a small notch in the north ridge, we finally saw the northern side of the mountain and a pristine snowfield stretched out below.

A few minutes later we were standing on the summit, where once upon a time in the 1950s an old fire lookout once stood.  All that remains now is the flattened foundation, a few melted pieces of glass, and some heavy gauge wire.  It was 4:15pm when we reached the top (also now occupied by a radio communication tower).  We enjoyed the breathtaking 360 degree panorama of the rugged cascade skyline for a half hour before starting back down.

At 6700 feet, we found the Heaton campsite where Asia and Niko had set up their tent.  They were surrounded by eye-popping yellow larches on a cliff looking out toward Glacier Peak.  It was an awesome camp site.  We talked and relayed a bunch of beta on the summit climb they were going to attempt at sunrise, and then headed down.  

At 5680 feet, we crossed the upper portion of dry Coon Creek, refilled our water at 5520 feet, and watched the sun set as we hiked.  We clicked on the headlamp when it became dark, and made it back to Howard Lake around 8:30.  Our total trip time from Howard Lake and back was 9.5 hours, and I estimated we had about 2.5 hours of stoppage time.  I left a note for the girls on the summit...  I hope they made it the next day!

Trip Info (Note my barometric altimeter is +- 60 feet):

Total Trip time, from Howard Lake and back: 9.5 hours

First Campsite/Lookout: 3600 feet (it looked like there could be another potential site about 80 feet higher than this location)

Water at Coon Creek: 5520 feet

Coon Creek Dry Crossing: 5860 feet

Larch Trees: 6000 feet

Camp Heaton: 6700 feet

Timberline: 7100 feet

A helmet would have been a good idea for the summit scramble.  I don't think a rope would have been helpful (but always nice to have for emergencies).  The red indicator arrows were very helpful, but will need to be repainted soon.

Other Questions:

It the radio tower a USFS repeater?  

What is with all the heavy guage wire running from the summit down through the talus field?  Lightning protection?

Why is it named McGregor?

What is the story on the old fire lookout?

I did this as a side hike while thru-hiking the PCT.  Most folks will take a day to get here from Stehekin via boat, a day to climb and camp, and a day  go out from Stehekin, requiring a total of three days.

UPDATE:  Lots of good info about the lookout here:

http://willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/mcgregor_mountain_trail/fire_lookout_237.htm

The elevation gain on this hike is comparable to one of WA's big 5. It's no joke. This hike makes the trek up Aasgard Pass look tame. 

As one may suspect from the dearth of trip reports, this is not a frequented trail. Indeed, excepting my friend and fellow backpacker with whom I shared the hike, I saw only 2 other souls the entire day on McGregor. 

For such a lack of traffic the trail is surprisingly well-maintained. It is not until the talus slope that any guess work in routing is required. 

Now I hiked McGregor as a day-hike, leaving from the Tumwater campground in the upper Stehekin Valley. Tumwater served as a great base camp for my multi-day North Cascades backpacking trip; if you would like to read more about this trip, you can find it here: 

Leaving Tumwater campground at a bit past 8:30am we arrived at the TH at around 9am - a distance of ~1.5 miles. Stopping only once on the way up - to snack at a vista and watch eagles ride the termals - we arrived at Heaton camp by 1:15pm, having ascended a vertical mile in just over 4 hours. Here we lunched and rested our legs for what we hoped would be a summit push. 

Just before Heaton we chatted up the only 2 people we would see all day as they were coming down the trail; they informed us that when they tried to summit (about 2 hours prior) a dusting of snow discouraged them, but they reckoned it was now possible in the mid-afternoon sun. The two of them, having left Stehekin at 4:30am (locals with their own transport), noted that when they started the trail and attempted their summit, "[We] were in a totally different season. It was winter everywhere." 

My sense after hiking this trail and reading past trip reports is that McGregor is best hiked in August/early-September, so as to maximize a successful summit while minimizing the need for gear and/or technical experience. 

Tidying up lunch, we arrived at the talus slop by 2pm - a perfect time to summit with the sun high and the snow low. Eyeing on a hunch what I thought the route to be [Hint: look for and follow an old wire, seeminly to nowhere, that appears to dead-end at the base of the wall] we found the first of the red arrows that direct the way. To my surprise the first of the arrows points to the right, where a small path opens. This path immediately switches left and then begins winding it's way up to the summit along a rock wall.  

Be aware, there is exposure on this path - enough to keep my friend from following me. Going at it alone, I diligently made my way through the first four arrows observing, upon looking back, that it would be easy to lose the proper route back without taking care to make mental note along the way. 

At probably 200' shy of the summit, I took in the view, checked my watch (2:30pm), and decided to turn around. It was a phenomenal day to summit, you could not ask for better conditions, but I was weary of going at it alone and the climb up combined with the prior days of backpacking had left me exhausted.  

I hope to bag the true summit someday but I left with my head held high and my feet begging for mercy. 

There is little snow left on McGregor - just three patches on the way to the very top - and by the time you read this, two of those will likely be gone. The second one deserves some caution while it persists, as there is a risk of falling under the snow's surface where it's melted out from below. More details below. Otherwise, the trail is in GREAT shape - no blowdown at all. Maybe a little brushy in places, but that's a small quibble. 

There are road closures M-F from McGregor Meadows to Stehekin Valley Ranch. If you're on the park service bus, though, it won't affect you, because they open the road on the shuttle bus's schedule. 

The first snow was in the lower cirque, leading up to the terminal moraine where you head left towards Heaton Camp. It was pretty firm, but we completed it without traction. The second stretch of snow was covering the talus slope beneath the scramble route. This one posed more problems. I was going off of memory and headed to the right, which is not the start of the route. It was steep, and the snow didn't give much, but I kicked steps and did some steeper scrambling to connect to the actual route. After that, no snow until the backside of the climb, where there is always some snow.

On the way down, I exited the scramble route in the correct place. The snowfield just below it has melted out from below in a couple of places. Not a huge risk, but there is potential for breaking through and getting stuck. Pick a good route down is all I can say.  

The bugs weren't bad on the way up, but the short section of the PCT we had to come out at the very end had a large, aggressive population of mosquitoes that tormented me when all I wanted was to be done. I killed quite a few, so probably now it's fine (haha - I wish). 

The WTA trail guide on this hike is one of the first I wrote for WTA, and I think I might need to do it better justice - doesn't read as well as I'd like. I love this hike, and it doesn't get a lot of love from many folks, something I wrote about here: 

https://zerotosummit.wordpress.com/2017/07/20/the-underappreciated-majesty-of-mcgregor-mountain/

We took the National Park Service bus from Stehekin to High Bridge and jumped on the trail around 09:00. Trail was snow free up to the one creek crossing around 5800 ft or so. The creek is running hard from melt off and there is a snow bridge crossing over to the trail. It was probably stable enough, but the melt-off is happening quickly so we opted for the safer route of crossing below the snow bridge where we could - maybe 50 foot decent. The creek was a nice break after a long haul from the TH starting around 1600' and a good portion of the trail exposed to the sun. After breaking, we continued to Heaton Camp at 6700'. The camp itself is snow free, however there is a snowfield gaining around 700 ft before hanging a left into Heaton. Since we carried full packs, we opted to chill the rest of the day and summit the following morning. We were the only ones in camp, which was fantastic! Summit morning we headed up at 06:30 am. The snow was in great shape, soft, no moats to worry about currently. Originally we took the wrong snow gully (the gully on the right facing McGregor), gaining about 1500 ft when we realized there was no way to the summit - too much exposure, not the correct route. Back down we went and looked up at the second gully to the left - steeper and longer. Having been up McGregor several times, we were pretty certain we needed to gain the top of that gully and get onto the ledge to the left. This in fact was the case. The snow gully is about a 50-55 degrees mid way to the top (1000 ft total for the gully of snow). Crampons not required, but do bring your ice axe. Once on the ledge to the left at the top of the snow gully, you should see an orange arrow directing you the correct way. The rest of the trail is snow free (except at the end, where you may need to jump on a short snowfield) and easily followed. The summit is spectacular and well worth any effort it takes to reach it. Additional info: Bobcat tracks near our camp Bear scat on the way up the trail Watch for rattlesnakes Wildflowers in full bloom

We were in Stehekin for a quick weekend overnight and had a little time to hike in the evening.  We were staying in the Tumwater campground and did a short loop up the Old Wagon Trail to the PCT and then south with a short jaunt up the McGregor Trail around Howard Lake for a stop about 2785ft up by a waterfall and a view point down at the lake with Bannock, Agnes, Moore and Skookum Puss Mountains for our dinner backdrop.  Stunning.

This was my first time up McGregor and I'm still not entirely sure we were on the actual trail.  We started out where the sign was off the PCT at 5:37pm and followed an obvious trail around the northwest corner of Howard Lake but the trail was not matching in anyway what I had on my map or GAIA.  The switchbacks were much wider.  Now, the trail is quite overgrown in places but where it wasn't we were clearly on a trail.  And when we were standing where GAIA said there was a trail, there was clearly not one anywhere near us heading up or down perpendicular.  At about 6:10 the trail we were on crossed an obvious recent avalanche path where the brush was hacked off at the ends and shortly we reached a switchback at Coon Creek (not sure they are going to rename this like the lake) with a lovely waterfall coming down over a cliff band.  From here the trail went left and we wondered up a bit but then decided time wise we would head back down to the outcropping by the waterfall to make dinner.  I imagine the switchback would have eventually began those tight switchbacks you can see on the map toward the summit.

We completed our loop on the PCT down to High Bridge and were back to camp about 8:45pm.  Someday I'll make it all the way to the summit!

On a side note, we talked with a FS crew attempting a log out on the PCT south and they said they were turned back by snow 6 miles south of High Bridge.  Also, the shuttle bus is now $8.

Link to more pics and GAIA below.