So on Sunday we set out to make Spider Gap despite early conditions.  That didnt happen though but it was an awesome day just the same.  I added some other area hikes as to share information on the road.  The last few miles always seems to be a concern. Did a quick peak at the river where you enter for Little Giant.  Its a higher and wider then in September so caution might be needed.  I would say at this point the road is in excellent condition based upon future visits.  It was compacted and not dusty, but still full of its typical ruts and grooves so higher clearance is still required as are some driving skill to straddle the ruts.  If you are going to take a car up there it better be a smaller one as they seem to do okay as the can stay to one side or another.  I love this road as it tends to keep some away.  I didnt need 4 wd and despite a front air dam clearance of 6.5" and a vehicle clearance of 8" as well as a long wheelbase, no issues. 

After looking at some of last years trip reports for the same time there is note of water crossings.  There is one that is about a half a mile in that we needed to remove are boots for so sandals or water shoes are helpful.  All of the rest we seemed to get across for the most part.  Your boots will get wet though!! I think there were about ten crossings roughly.  If you are on the fence about hiking poles, BRING THEM.  

On our way to the meadow we encountered snow about a mile or two in.  The trail is pretty straight forward if you have some basic navigation skills.  You do loose the trail and then pick up a small section to let you know you are going the correct way.  We used navigation devices a few times just to make sure we didnt stray.  

There are many creeks that you dont see and I did post hole a few times over some despite being cautious but with a pack I weigh in at about 250#.  I imagine with warmer weather coming that this can me a little dangerous.  

We made it through the meadow and just shy of the intersection that takes you up to the gap or into the far basin.  The meadow is slowly melting out though.  We saw a party of three heading there to camp but didnt notice any place that was flat and dry for camping as of yet.  Travel through the meadow as muddy and a little challenging due to the snows surface as well as more creeks hiding underneath.  There as no evidence of any travel past the meadow in recent days.  

The trip took longer then we thought but even if we did have time looking up and knowing where the trail was to the gap travel looks a little sketchy as some of that trail is very narrow and hugs the hillside.  The hot weather coming up this weekend will help though.  Might need a few more weeks but bring an ice axe if you want to reach the gap.  We didnt use spikes either.

Total time was about 7.5 hours to cover 13 to 14 miles.  Well worth the trip to experience this place in the snow!  Saw a few coming from Maude but otherwise minimal people thanks to that road!!

Disclaimer: I didn’t hike this route; I’m merely forwarding details from other sources — especially because the USFS page (https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/okawen/recarea/?recid=58935) doesn’t note the road closure.

The road up to Phelps Creek/Mt Maude is currently gated approximately 10 miles from the trailhead. One successful party used a bike and did a multi-day backcountry ski trip that was over 50 miles (round trip), including biking: http://www.countryhighpoints.com/chilly-peak-carne-north-spectacle-butte-ice-box/?fbclid=IwAR219bLfC85ei0moL71gJMQGGBqKa7yzZqQPSwk4qY-ghU9j3MnyVFKt2pk .

Check in with the Wenatchee Okanogan ranger station at Leavenworth before going to see what current road conditions are; in theory this access might be opening up in the next few weeks as the maintenance backlog is resolved elsewhere in the district.

6 of us climbed Mt Maude on Sunday. We camped Saturday night at Leroy Basin. Some snow at the basin, but not completely covered. I was able to pitch a tent not on snow, but most of my group set up tents on snow. Water is readily available at camp.

The first half of the trail to Maude is intermittent, sometimes obvious, sometimes cairns, sometimes none. Some bushwhacking. We had tracks and one of us was here in the summer, so we knew the general direction. Once reached the saddle, couldn't see any trail nor cairn. Just go down in knee deep snow, and cross the field, and regain elevation on the far side. Cornice on the ridge, so we had to down hike and cut across the steep slope and regain the ridge later. This might be the only real sketchy part of the entire hike.

Windy on the ridge, and the last up slope. Extremely windy once you crest the summit ridge (you cross again to the west side). We couldn't see a thing on the top, too cloudy.

Condition other than the trail: larches are turning nicely, some needles are falling, but some are still a bit green. The color should be good for at least another week. Huckleberry leaves are bright red, however, no berries to eat. Running water in the meadow. Snow was reasonably soft all the way to the top, made our footsteps more or less stable.

All of us had crampons, ice axes and helmet with us. However, none used crampons. Some used ice axes. Helmet is good for safety.

Saw a pair of ptarmigans.

Hiked into Spider Meadows on Saturday night before back tracking and taking Leroy Creek High Route to Upper Ice Lake. The hike into Spider Meadows is an easy 5.2 miles with no obstructions across the trail. We were treated the next morning to the sun stunningly lighting up Red Mountain and the surrounding ridge lines. Due to the relatively high humidity and brief down pour from the day before, the dust was very minimal on our way up to Ice Lakes. Several trees were across the Leroy Creek trail, with two somewhat early on that posed a bit of a challenge to cross (especially if you have shorter legs). Once at the lake, the fishing was unimpressive to say the least. I did spot one nice rainbow trout floating belly up, but did not see any fish rise not did I get any bites. The next morning we hiked to Mt  Maude from Upper Ice Lake, which took about an hour and a quarter. From there, we had unobstructed views of Rainier, Adams, Glacier, and Baker. The hike up to Maude is not super technical and well worth it if you are staying at the upper lake.

A few things. The sign at the trailhead states you do not need a Northwest Forest Pass. I did not have one and was not ticketed. Also, the road up to the trailhead is significantly more rutted than earlier in the season and has a somewhat deep last of fine dust on top. If you do not have good clearance of four wheel drive, I would not recommend it.

This was an intense overnighter, but it made for a great adventure!

Started at the Phelps Creek trailhead, which is at the end of a very bumpy road. There are lots of rocks and washed out ruts, so I would definitely recommend a higher clearance vehicle, but I've seen some sedans pull off some pretty impressive achievements. The Phelps Creek/Spider Meadow trail is in good condition all the way to the meadow, and there are a few stream crossings, but they are all quite easy. The meadows are beautiful, and we stopped by just on our way out from our trip, but the views were tremendous nonetheless. 

We hiked in about 4 miles to the crossing of Leroy Creek, where the Leroy Creek trail branches off of the Phelps Creek trail, and starts ascending to Leroy Basin. This trail junction is signed, and is fairly obvious, so I wouldn't worry too much about missing it, if that's the way you're headed. The trail is steep, and has plenty of downed trees, that you'll have to get over and under in creative ways. The trail also has some very rooty and rocky sections, and can also be quite dusty on drier summer days. If you're planning on tagging some summits, this is a good indicator of what is to come. The trail eventually levels off after gaining lots of elevation, and you eventually emerge into Leroy Basin, which has several campsites spread around the trail. There is water access close to almost all the camps, and there is also a toilet if you need it. The basin is quite lovely and is filled with lots of various wildflowers. Above the basin Mt. Maude and Seven Finger Jack loom about 3,000 feet above your current camp.

After our hike to the basin and establishing camp, we then began our ascent of Mt. Maude. We worked our way along the trail that runs up from the camp, all the way to the rocky shoulder of Mt. Maude that allows you to see into and descend to the ice lakes basin. I believe this is the Leroy Basin High Route, but I'm not quite sure. The trail along this route is fairly well defined, if narrow and not well maintained. I would call it more of a climber's trail, and although there are lots of cairns and its pretty tracked out from the basin, It is still pretty easy to get off track, so I would be comfortable with off-trail navigation. Once we got to the shoulder of Maude at about 7,800' we began our ascent of the mountain proper. We loosely followed a GPS track from a prior ascent in August 2019, and dropped down a couple hundred feet, before again climbing up the boulder and scree fields, and following the faint trail that runs to Maude's summit (Class 2). Certainly a workout, and I would advise anyone who plans to attempt it to again be comfortable with off-trail nav, and do their research before climbing. We did get cell service on the way up, so that was nice. The views from the top of Maude were great, and make the long slog up the absurdly loose rock very worthwhile. We then returned to camp via the same route.

We woke up at about 4, then started our ascent of Seven Finger Jack (7FJ) at about 5. We followed the trail that ascends from the Leroy Basin (Same trail that we followed to the shoulder of Mt. Maude) but after about 5 minutes, we followed the left fork of a Y in the trail after it crosses a stream, and began the climb up the climber's path of 7FJ. This trail climbs quite steeply, and one can easily slip on the heather. It's a climbers' trail, so understand what you're getting into. There are lots of trails running up various routes of 7FJ, and I would advise paying very close attention to your routefinding. We didn't traverse across the boulder fields early enough, as our GPS track recommended, and we ended up having to do some class 3 scrambles to get up, in addition to some climbing up super loose rock. ROCKFALL DANGER ON BOTH ROUTES IS HIGH. WEAR A HELMET, STEP CAREFULLY, AND KEEP PARTY SIZE SMALL. We were then able to traverse back to the main trail, and follow that to the summit, which has great views. If you stay on the main trail for the ascent, it should be a class 2 climb, so if you encounter anything above that, you are probably off route. We descended via a somewhat different route, but there are trails all across this mountain, so its  not too hard to find one that will eventually get you down. 

We then descended the Leroy Creek route, hooked back up with the Phelps Basin trail, hiked to the meadow, and raced back out to the trailhead. Phew, what a trip!