I climbed Oval Ck Trail and visited all three Oval Lakes, then over Oval Pass with a side trip to Gray Peak, dropping to the Summit Trail and back to the Eagle Creek trail and returning via Eagle Pass.

This is a strenuous but beautiful loop offering a wide spectrum of scenery and landscape.  26 miles and about 7200 feet vertical but I had perfect late summer weather, no bugs, no smoke, no wind and generally impeccable trail conditions. 

The first 1.5 miles from the Eagle Cr. trailhead passes through the 2018 Crescent burn. This is the worst of the burned area and even here there are patches of surviving trees. It is encouraging to see considerable fir/spruce/pine regeneration along with willow and abundant fireweed coming in.

Aptly named Duckbill Mountain divides Eagle and Oval Creeks. After crossing Eagle Creek the trail climbs sharply about 400 to the junction with the Oval Ck Trail. Above this point the burn scar is more spotty, and after a mile one is back to unburned forest. 

This is similar if one stayed on the Eagle Ck Trail. After a .7 mi level traverse around Duckbill through fireweed and willow brush on well maintained tread the trail crosses Eagle Ck again. After this crossing the trail climbs sharply through the burn but after a mile reenters undisturbed spruce forest.

Both trails were free of all but the most superficial blowdows.

Continuing up the Oval Cr trail, the grade.is mostly gradual through forest dominated by old spruce. There is little water available crossing the trail but in several locations the creek is reasonably accessible. There is a steep but well graded climb for the last mile to the spur to West Oval Lake. 

This lake is truly a gem: deep and sitting in a larch filled basin with ample camping and smooth white ledges leading into the water. I soaked my feet and had an excellent lunch here.

From the spur junction the trail to the other Oval Lakes climbs steeply through larch meadow towards Oval Pass. A few hundred feet below the pass the trail to the other lakes goes left at an unsigned junction. This traverses steep gravel climbing to a rocky rib at 7600 feet that divides West Oval from her sisters. 

Oval Peak, the "Titan of the Chelan-Sawtooth" dominates the landscape here. Gray Peak rises just above this rib, which then connects to Courtney Peak, towering just above the lakes. From Courtney the ridge climbs to the massive rock pile that is Oval Peak. 

From the rib the trail drops 800 feet in a mile or so down through larch filled meadows, then forest to Middle Oval. There is an excellent if currently dry trail camp in the meadows a quarter mile above the lake. This last quarter mile drops sharply to Middle Oval. There are several significant blowdowns across the way. The lake is not seen until near the outlet at a dusty but accommodating trail camp. The cliff face of Courtney Peak gives the otherwise forested lake a dramatic backdrop. 

I camped here and took a morning hike down to the East Oval Lake. The trail to this lake is well worn but there are several more blowdowns. This is the smallest, lowest, most forested lake and appears quite shallow. The shore is difficult to access in most places and I did not see any established camp. Walking around the lake was essentially a bushwhack, with occasional traces of a path. It is an attractive but not terribly accommodating lake but could be friendly to the angler.. 

After  my trip to the East lake I packed up and scrambled back up the thousand feet to Oval Pass. On the way I saw my first other hikers on the trip! From Oval Pass I followed the well established boot path +-.7 miles up to the 8100’ Gray Peak. It was a perfect day and the well documented 360 degree views cannot be overhyped. Here I met a ridge-runner out bagging some peaks. The ridgeline from Courtney Peak to Battle Mountain provides great moderate scrambling,

Sticking to the trail myself today, I dropped down to Tuckaway Lake to soak my feet in the cold water of this small round lake in a lovely alpine meadow. Another short hike brought me down to the intersection with Summit Trail in a larch filled open basin. At this junction is the finest trail camp in the Sawtooth area. There are nice benches, several good tent sites, a nearby open air privy and cold spring water bubbling out of white granite talus. 

The two mile stretch of the Summit Trail back to Eagle Creek Trail is well graded up and over a shoulder before crossing the saddle between the East and North Forks of Fish Creek and then dropping steeply to the junction with the Eagle Creek Trail. 

I filled up with water at the stream near the junction as there is no water this time of year at Eagle Pass. There is also a very accommodating trail camp here. The trail up to the pass is very steep but in good condition, climbing about 800 feet in a bit over a mile. Just below the pass is a broad meadow with excellent views to the west. My camp was a compact site right at the pass with views up into the Pasayten. I climbed the small ridge at the pass to eat my supper and watch  the sun set over Bonanza Peak.

I got up before down the next morning to see if I could view a comet which supposedly would be visible in the predawn. I could see no sign of the comet, although Venus and the Moon were spectacular shining above Oval Peak in the early dawn sky. 

The trip down Eagle Creek was about as nice a 4300’ descent as one could have. After the initial 500 drop off the pass the trail is nicely graded and well maintained through old forest and the occasional meadow. There are several springs crossing the trail although the creek is inaccessible. Halfway down is a sign for the short spur to Silver Lake, which I did not visit. As you reenter the burned area the trail gets brushy and steeper but there is still good tread. A final few switchbacks bring back to the crossing of Eagle Creek and the short, enjoyable traverse back to close the loop at the Oval Creek Trail. Note that old USGS maps show the Eagle Creek Trail descending all the way to the foot of Duckbill Mountain before the junction but this was obviously rerouted long ago. 

Friday (6/23/23) - Sunday (6/25/23)

Two cars: one left at Eagle Creek/Oval TH, one left at the gate approach to War Creek.

Day 1: There is room for a few cars to park near the gate going up to War Creek TH. The washouts of the road are significant, likely to take years to fix, but easily passable on foot. The entire War Creek trail is heavily overgrown, lots of trees down, brush covering the trail, though it's easy enough to follow - suggest to wear pants or have your legs heavily scratched up. The cabin is 6.5 miles from the gate (coordinates below) at the intersection of the War Creek and Splawn Trails. It was too dark when we arrived so no photo evidence (some things are best left to the imagination anyway :) )

Day 2: Leaving the cabin, bugs attached us almost immediately. Bring nets and/or spray. Relatively steady climb in the trees up to War Creek Pass where you break out into the open. We got hit immediately with downpours of rain and hail so we took refuge under a tree for about 30 minutes. Intermittent views of Lake Chelan as we went south(ish) on the Summit Trail. There are a few solid camp sites along this stretch, prior to Trail Camp near Tuckaway Lake, as well. Tough climb up Oval Pass and a steep descent to West Oval Lake for night #2. We saw our first-and-only fellow hikers at West Oval Lake. War Creek Cabin to West Oval Lake: 15.6 miles.

Day 3: Steep descent to Oval Creek in the morning. I clocked 7.7 miles from West Oval Lake to the Eagle Creek/Oval TH.

Overall, an incredibly beautiful and isolated hike. War Creek could use some maintenance but maybe not... the rugged conditions seem to keep the crowds away. There is a log book in the cabin showing 4 other folks making the journey through. So despite the lack of evidence here on the interwebs - people are hiking here.

GAIA links:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Cabin coordinates: 48.34955, -120.51844

This report is for our 2 night/ 3 day loop starting and ending at the Eagle Creek/ Oval trailhead. 

We went clockwise, heading up the Oval Creek trail first. The first 6 miles or so are through an old burn zone and then into a dense forest of mostly dead trees so it provides nothing in the way of views. There are a few water crossings as you make your way up, and one campsite option at about 5.5 miles in. The trail becomes very steep as you near West Oval lake and gains a lot of elevation in a short distance. It was a relief to finally reach the lake after about 4000 feet of climbing, and we had the entire camping area all to ourselves. There are about 8-10 nice sites around the lake and we had a wonderful quiet night under the bright Harvest Moon. The larches here and in general all throughout this area took a big hit from the high wind event on Monday and have lost about half their needles. Still beautiful, but way past peak now. 

Day 2 started with a climb from the lake up to Oval Pass. Both my Gaia and CalTopo maps do not show this trail connecting so we didn't know what to expect but the trail is well established and easy to follow. Awesome views of Oval Peak as you climb up. We did not go over to the other 2 Oval Lakes because the elevation gain & loss is substantial and far out of the way of our loop direction. The pass sits at 7700' and the views are incredible! I also had surprisingly good cell service here with at&t. We continued down to Tuckaway Lake and set up camp at the main spot near the water. (Side note: We found a huge pile of bear scat near where we set the tent which made for an uneasy night of sleep. Also another pile near Star Lake. Make sure to secure your food with a good bear hang.) With light packs, we went for a day hike over to Star Lake which was about 8 miles round trip. It mostly traverses across the slope under Gray Peak, but climbs sharply in places. Star Lake was gorgeous but would have been much more impressive had we caught it before most of the larch needles were blown off the trees. Back at Tuckaway lake we were treated to a glowing sunset that really lit up the red and gold colors in Horseshoe Basin. No animal sightings other than grouse (lots!) and a few deer that came through our camp around 1am.

The morning of Day 3 we took a gamble on a shortcut straight over to Eagle Pass from Tuckaway Lake instead of taking the 3.5 loop route around on the Summit trail. We found no other trip reports of anyone doing this, but google earth showed a faint trail down the backside so we went for it. Gaining the ridge behind the lake was steep but still easy terrain to hike across. Once on top we found steep cliffs and rocky chutes on the other side with a faint trail down a spine, so we stashed our poles on our packs and carefully made our way down the class 3 scramble. To our relief it goes, but may not be to everyone's comfortable level especially with large overnight packs. **Absolutely do NOT take a dog here if you attempt this shortcut. It has high consequence exposure on a steep loose slope.** Take the Summit Trail to Eagle Pass trail if you are not comfortable with Class 3 scramble terrain.
Once we reconnected with the trail at Eagle Pass its easy cruising from there on out. All blowdowns have been cleared as of the time of me writing this report thanks to the forest service and local guiding outfits taking clients out to hunting camps. The trail is insanely dusty on the Eagle Creek section due to stock use but was soft on our tired feet. We made a short detour over to Silver Lake which is more like a marsh pond, but the trail is in good shape. I wouldn't make it a destination, but it has 2 big camps if you were in a pinch. 

We saw almost no one the entire time making this route really feel remote and under appreciated compared to its neighbor, the Golden Lakes Loop, which we did last fall. This is comparable in views and larchy-ness but with much more demanding mileage and vertical gain so definitely not recommended for the casual hiker. Be prepared to get your butt kicked! Feel free to comment here if you are attempting this same route and want our gps track for the spicy shortcut from Tuckaway to Eagle Pass.

Gaia stats were 29 miles with 7000' total vert. climbed.

Bonus story: When we arrived on Tuesday morning there was a large tree blocking access to the road about 1.3 miles from the trailhead that had just fallen during the high wind event on Monday. We parked just before the treefall and walked up the road up to find 3 cars blocked in! I sent a text on my garmin to have a friend contact the Methow ranger station. We communicated with 2 of the 3 stranded parties that help was on the way. This is a good lesson as to why an emergency communication device is so important, and perhaps a tow strap or hand saw in the vehicle when traveling on dirt roads especially through burn zones. 

Road: Only rough part is the last 1.4 miles to the TH. Take it slow and any car should be able to make it. TH privy is full stocked.

Trail: Even with the majority of the first 4 miles through a burn zone, you do still get a decent amount of shade and being on a north slope, you stay a bit cooler than if on a south facing slope. But, lots of undergrowth right now that makes those first 4 miles a bit brushy in places. A bit rooty and rocky in places, but nothing terrible. The climb up towards Oval Pass and Lakes is a bit rutted out, but again, nothing terrible. 

Larches: I know while ya'll are reading this right now. Larches are just beginning to turn yellow, but the vast majority of them are still pretty green. I'd say about 2ish weeks until larches begin to approach their prime yellowness. That being said, it's still super beautiful up there right now!

I spent the weekend here with some friends. We drove to the trailhead Friday evening, spent the night there and hiked the following morning on Saturday. WTA says it's 20 miles roundtrip, the trailhead info said 7.6 miles one-way and my phone tracked it as a 8 mile hike.

It was a cold hike! Felt like 40 degrees. The trail was a bit overgrown with brush and there were a couple of downed trees we had to climb over. It is dusty at times and there are a lot of rocks poking out so I had to be careful about where I stepped. I found this to be a challenging hike with my backpack.

Once we got to the lake around noon, we set up camp and then went fishing at Oval Lake! My friend taught me how to fly fish which was really fun. It gets really cold up there once the sun disappears --- I wish I brought more layers! 

It got really smoky overnight from the nearby fires and we all woke up with scratchy throats and stuffed noses and left promptly in the morning. Somehow my friends managed to hike down in two hours and it took me three+ :) . They literally left me in the dust to hike down alone. Whatever. And then we said goodbye and headed out!