North Lake — Friday, Sep. 30, 2016

North Cascades > Methow/Sawtooth

To end our autumn pilgrimage to the Okanogan we hiked the old mining road to North Lake. The trail quietly switchbacks upward and into the North Creek drainage. Abernathy Ridge rises steeply to your right and Mount Gilbert forms the center of this creek's inward spiral to your left. There is some old growth, there are a few open meadows where flowers would dominate in season, there is ample shade for a sunny day. Being an old mining road the trail is mostly very wide and gradual in grade with the exception of one reroute. Our favorite part of the day was finding an old enamel "Chelan National Forest" sign. As Romano notes, the CNF was dissolved and changed to the Okanogan NF in 1955. This means that this sign predates 1955. We noted that the sign (which is partially obscured by tree growth) mentions "North Creek Butte Lookout". We did a little research when we got home and discovered that a little known fire lookout once existed at "North Creek Butte" or point 6580' on Abernathy Ridge. This lookout was abandoned in 1952. As the trail curls counter-clockwise into the valley below Mount Gilbert the trees thin and mountain views dominate. Meadows open up and a few fantastic campsites are available. We fished in the larger lake and quickly made our daily quota. Further wandering invited and tempted us. This would be a great place to spend a night or two.