We were doing brief planning for our annual Cascade Loop trip and pondering a larch hike with few people.  My husband suggested the Chikamin Tie Trail based on a geocache posting he had seen with a picture of a lovely larch lined meadowed slope and Garland Peak as the backdrop. It said it was only about 3 miles RT which would be perfect. I checked WTA and there were no recent trip reports so it seemed like a go. Then I put two and two together. Chikamin Ridge. Chikamin Ridge Fire. No wonder there were no reports. But a search on the FS website said the trails had reopened on 9/24 so that was a good sign, right? We decided we would at least go check it out and see how far we could get.

Early Saturday morning, we drove up FR 6210 8 miles to the Chikamin Tie Trail. Knowing what I know now, I would probably have stopped at 7 miles where the road has been widened with a lot of parking space and just walked the extra mile in. Aside from a few ruts and places where the fire had obviously been above the road, it was an easy drive. The last mile, though, was pretty rocky (the sharp, puncture your tires kind) and the parking at the end of the road was minimal.  We were the first to arrive so it was an easy turn around. It was also a little confusing if going by the map, it makes it look like the road continues past the trailhead, which it does not.

The red flagging from having been closed was dangling from the trailhead marker matched some of the fiery blueberry bushes lining the trail as we began our way up.  The trail was in good shape for a bike trail and an easy grade.

My husband was paying attention to where the coordinates were the geocache he was looking for and about .75 miles in, it was clear the waypoint was somewhere off trail to our left and up the drainage of a north fork of Chikamin Creek. There was no obvious boot path or trail junction.  Hmmm...

Now, I'm all for a good scramble but that would most likely eat up more of our day than I wanted to give up so instead we continued on the trail in search of other larches. At about 5200 feet the trail leveled out at a gap nestling another fork of Chikamin Creek and then came out at a scree field with our first views up at the ridge. Larches!!

The further we went, the more fall foliage and views.  We still had morning shade but the colors were beautiful. And we had it all to ourselves!  If wondering about water, all the sources were on the Chikamin Tie for our trip.

We reached the junction with the Mad River Trail at 4 miles and 6200 feet.  We talked about how the waypoint he was looking for seemed to be down from the Garland Peak Trail which ran parallel to Chikamin Tie.  Maybe we could access it from there?  

So, we turned left on Mad River which was a lovely relatively level stroll through green, yellow and red meadows and forest. There were a few strange burnt circles, my hubby thinks they were controlled burns of some kind.  There was no noticeable water in Three Creek.

The junction with Shetipo was in a mile and we stopped for a snack. This is where bikes lose their privileges and the trail heads up onto the ridge for Garland Peak. The trail maintenance also ends here so we had trees to navigate and the trail was faint in spots. We also heard our first sounds of motorbikes coming up Chikamin but far out in the distance.

There were more larches and more open views out across at Chikamin Ridge. In half a mile, there was a viewpoint out at the Entiat Valley where we had been a few weeks before.  A little further on we could see Glacier Peak to our left.

In another mile or so we could now see where the fire damage was.  The flames had eaten a part of the trail and most of the saddle before Shetipo (about 6.9 miles in to our trek). We were able to scramble Shetipo and there was one small corner of the summit unscarred for taking in views of the Entiat side. It was interesting to see where the fire had traveled and what had been left unscathed. 

Walking just a little past Shetipo, we took a spur out onto a small point to the left (7.1 miles), it was clear this was where the geocache was supposed to be. Well, before the fire anyway.  The whole point was toasted black and had, in fact, been cleared for a helo pad. The geocache was metal so my hubs expected to still find it but he thinks maybe some firefighters may have taken it as a souvenir (like the cast iron frying pan we retrieved from the top of Shetipo).

This was a really beautiful hike and if we had had more time it would have been fun to continue on the ridge to Garland Peak.  I wouldn't want to come on a windy day with all the dead trees for sure! We only saw a handful of bikes the whole day. I don't know how they are going to turn around but there were 3 pickups at the trailhead when we left.

We rode (mountain bikes) the Upper Mad River trail from Maverick Saddle to Mad Lake & back. We encountered FS trail crew (on dirt bikes) and two parties of backpackers. The trail overall is in very good shape despite the dirt bike/mountain bike use. Three creek crossings, we used water sandals for the first crossing but the second two we used rocks/logs. Definitely bring bug spray but they were not too bad mid-day.

access

Drove up from Chiwawa Loop Rd. to Maverick Saddle.  Road is OK, although a bit bumpy at times.  Went by a few cars, more motorcycles, and a few (too fast) mountain bikers.

route

  Just a short overnight hike, but a lot of different trails!  From Maverick Saddle, we walked down the old road to Mad River (now mostly washed out early on) to the Upper Mad River trailhead.  Hiked up that trail (1409.1) to Blue Creek guard station, then took Blue Creek trail (#1426) to Middle Tommy Creek trail (#1424), which we hiked up to East Blue Creek Meadow for the night.  Second day we continued on to the Hunter's Trail (#1417), hiked down that, then up Tyee Ridge trail (#1415) through Cougar Meadow to the intersection Cougar Ridge trail (#1418), a brief detour up Cougar Mtn, and then down Jimmy Creek Trail to Mad River and out.

trail conditions

  Trails weren't too bad, given the time of year.  Nearly all trails had been used very recently by motorcycles, including the "closed" ones like Mad River.  So there was some very slippery and messy mud in places, and a lot of torn up vegetation where motorcycles had gone around down trees or snowbanks.  Plus the usual motorcycle erosion of trench-trails, mud (or dust), poor drainage, and long stream crossings.  There were also fresh mountain bike tracks on Mad River trail on our way out (also supposedly closed to them).  There were snow patches throughout - almost everywhere EXCEPT the top of Cougar Mtn.  Mostly in shady or north facing areas, but I think we hiked on snow on every one of these trails.  There were sporadic trees down throughout, also.  Probably not more than 30 or so total on this hike, but definitely enough to slow you down.

  Almost all trail intersections were well signed, with the exception of: 1)  the lower end of Jimmy Creek trail is unsigned but had a cairn, some  flagging, and the hard-to-see "JC" carved into a tree  2)  The upper end of Jimmy Creek is much harder to find - The intersection with 1418 Cougar Ridge Trail is clear and signed, but when you hike down it, the old trail to the saddle W of Cougar Mtn (on an old topo map, but not a 2004 Green Trails map) is MUCH more obvious than the Jimmy Creek Trail itself.  Jimmy Creek is a sharp left down a faint trail off the obvious trail which must continue to the saddle.  There is a small cairn, and we tried to put up a post (that won't last),  but it's very easy to just keep hiking and possibly end up in a totally different place.  We actually had looked for the bottom end of the saddle trail at Mad River, but hadn't found it.  The upper part of the Jimmy Creek trail (but below the old saddle trail) is steep and quite eroded.

  On 1409.1, we had two fords of Mad River, one mid-way between the Lost Lake trailhead and Blue Creek Meadows, the other near Whistling Pig Creek and trail 1415.  The first was pretty wide, but if (northbound) you walk upstream 2 minutes or less, you will find a large tree down across the stream that is a pretty easy walk across.  Coming southbound, you should be able to see this log from the trail a minute or two before the ford.  The more northerly ford did not have any obvious easy crossing, and we found it easiest to walk barefoot on a submerged log along the downstream edge of the ford

flowers

  We saw a moderate assortment of flowers, from yellow glacier lilies and phlox nearest snowbanks to Clintonia lilies and Lewisiopsis tweedyi at the lowest elevations. Highlights were Lewsiopsis near the trailhead; bog laurel, white marsh marigolds, anemones,  and shooting stars in the wet meadows. 

wildlife

  Not much out there...  some scattered birds, grouse calling on Cougar Mtn.,  some frogs calling at night in E. Blue Creek Meadow, some salamanders (looked like western red-backed) there also, some fresh deer, elk, and bear tracks.

other

  Quite a variety of mushrooms were scattered around during this hike, and we found a few morels (slightly gone by) near the trailhead.

  Cougar Mtn. has great views of the eastern 300 degrees or so, but Glacier Peak and surroundings are blocked by trees.

  We saw no other people on this hike, but as mentioned, there was very recent motorcycle use, mountain bike use during out trip, and a few footprints.

Hiked from Maverick Saddle to Blue Creek Meadow today. 

CAUTION: The 0.3 mile spur road to the trailhead cannot be used. The roadway has slumped right after the first turn, and only about 1/3 of the road is left. Be careful; it is not signed. Park at Maverick Saddle. 

The trail is now open to motorcycles. Suggest perhaps not going on the weekend. 

Jimmy Creek trail looked unused and unmaintained. There were several large logs across the trail right after the start. If you want to do Cougar Mountain, I think going around may be easier.

Can't recommend this hike. It's dusty, there are mosquitoes and flies, there are two stream crossings that are not particularly easy or safe, the meadows are not great, there are no views out to any of the surrounding mountains. Flowers were in full bloom, but nothing worth hiking 12 plus miles to see. The trail goes up and down quite a bit. Probably interesting if on a motorcycle, but just irritating to a hiker. If you want to access this area, suggest using Chikamin Tie trail. Starting elevation is the same as this trailhead, but more interesting trail. If you do want to get up to this area, better plan a trip soon. There are a lot of dead and dying trees, and when it burns, it will burn hot.