War Creek, Chelan Summit, Oval Pass, Oval Lakes & Eagle Creek — Friday, Jun. 23, 2023

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