Foggy Dew Ridge Trail to Stehekin, July 23-July 25
Day 1, Two friends, Nick & Julia from Connecticut joined us for this remote trip. A third friend, Jamie who had scouted this trail from the road to the ridge earlier in the summer drove us to the “trailhead” on the Foggy Dew Creek Road. (Coordinates: 48.19050358862389, -120.23466192453884). It was 11am. The Gold Creek branch off the Methow River Road was paved while the dirt Foggy Road was in good condition. The “trailhead” location was at elevation 3000 feet at the last switchback in the road, it was not at the end of the road where the Foggy Dew River Trail starts. There was not signage. Nick and Julia mentioned that training in Connecticut topped out below 3000 ft. The “trail” began as an old road, but quickly transitioned to a stiff trail reaching the ridge at 4600 feet. We were all working hard on this dry slope. The views were great as we now followed the ridge upward to nearly 7000 feet. The trail deteriorated due to lack of foot traffic, but the open ridge was easy to follow through beargrass. Our original plan was to have lunch at Cooney Lake! This was not going to happen, I was whooped and the ridge continued on and on. Finally the route dropped onto the south side of Foggy Dew Ridge and into a marshy basin with plentiful water at 6900 ft. After a long rest drinking lots of cool water it was decided Cooney Lake would be today’s goal. Eventually we got going and traversed thru a 6900 foot saddle and side hilled NW to meet a valley trail about a mile below beautiful Cooney Lake. We hadn’t seen anyone since leaving the car and had Cooney Lake to ourselves. Surprisingly the bugs weren’t bad. We were tired after the 8.5 mile and 4800 ft elevation gain day.
Day 2, Trail continued up almost 1000 feet before dropping down the Staircase to the upper East Fork of Prince Creek and a junction with the Chelan Summit Trail. The trail was excellent and views spectacular. We now followed the Summit Trail north past junctions to Horsehead and Hoodoo Passes. Here we saw our first hiker, a woman walking southbound. High meadows and great views as we spread out along the trail. At one point, I began following a horse trail toward a basin below Baldy Mtn. only to come upon several horse who were tied with a high line near a big camp. Fortunately a woman with the horses redirected me back to the trail where shortly thereafter I came upon our group patiently waiting for me at the 7400 pass. They had been a bit worried since I had been second in line while hiking, but thought I could take care of myself for a bit since I was our supposedly experienced leader! After eating a bit of crow, I led off northward on the excellent trail. We passed the junction to Fish Creek Pass and Star Lake. Originally our plan had been three nights with a camp at Star Lake. But we pushed on to an excellent camp in Horseshoe Basin below Tuckaway Lake with a cold stream nearby. It was a long day with 18.5 miles and 3600 feet of elevation gain.
Day 3, Light packs and an easy trail brought us to Juanita Lake for lunch. We were really motoring now. The long dry descent from Purple Pass into Stehekin seemed to take forever. During out descent we could see a fire shooting up behind a ridge across Lake Chelan. Cold drinks on the deck in Stehekin finished this portion of our trip.
Comments