Windy Peak — Thursday, Sep. 16, 2010

North Cascades > Pasayten

From road end at west end of Long Swamp, trail descends about 500 feet. Once down in the valley, turnoff for trail #342 up Windy Creek is obscure. It's about 25 yards before the bridge built by Backcountry Horsemen over Windy Creek. Entire drainage was burned in 2006 Tripod Fire. A few patches of green remain that fire skirted or burned less hot so that it didn't kill the trees. In much of the valley, especially the upper end, fire burned hot, consuming all needles and ground litter down to mineral soil, exposing roots and rocks and destroying the trail tread. As a result the trail is rough and hard to follow. Watch for cairns and orange flagging. Post-fire vegetation is profuse, especailly in moist areas. The trail is already overgrown in places with fireweed and new willows. In a few years it could be even more brushy from the lodgepole pine seedlings that are sprouting by the thousands. In the upper valley, USGS map incorrectly shows trail switchbacking up ridge on north side of creek. Haven't checked Green Trails to see if it repeats the error. Trail actually recrosees Windy Creek in NW corner of section 5 to south side of stream, and follows it up into a basin SE of Windy Peak. From there it traverses up to ridge line west of Windy Peak and climbs steeply to the summit.