Upper Mad River Trail, Middle Tommy — Friday, Sep. 7, 2001

Central Cascades > Entiat Mountains/Lake Chelan

I first visited Mad River 20 years ago, before the Forest Service created a motocross out of the area. I had heard reports of the amount of NOVA funds put into the trails and wanted to see it for myself. I considered it a shame that such a fine area had been delegated a race course for loud, smelly machines. Still, since Bobbie and I were heading in on a weekday after Labor Day, we hoped to miss most of the commotion. Despite its new status, Mad River is as charming an area that I've ever been to in some 20 years of hiking. It's kind of like a more wild version of Tiger Mountain, a minature wilderness. Despite the noise during the weekends, a huge wildlife population thrives in the area. There's been sightings of grizzly and wolves in the area. We came in on the Upper Mad River Trail, which starts from Maverick Saddle. The road to the Saddle is airy, steep and narrow. The trail first crosses the ""river"" on a wide bridge and slowly gains elevation following the canyon. After about 4 miles, the trail fords the creek and the loops begin. We decided to stay at Blue Creek, near the old Guard Station. The next day, we hiked up to Cougar Mountain, an old lookout site, with 360 degree views. Some smoke was still rising from the Rex Creek fire near Lake Chelan. I also enjoyed tracing a portion of my Chiwaukum Mountain trip as I found Cape Horn and Big Jim Mountain on the southern horizon. On the third day, we hiked up to Mad Lake, a lovely green-blue lake that sits in a wide golden meadow. We set up the tent in a horsey camp and created a branch barricade to ward off motorcylists who might be visiting the area. Sure enough, we had 15 visitors throughout the day, including one of the local sheriffs who performs ORV education and monitoring on weekends. It was quite a different experience to talk with these armored folks, but most were very friendly and impressed that we had walked in so far (8 miles!). The weather was perfect for the trip and we met fewer motorcylists than anticipated. If you want to avoid the machines altogether, go before July 15 or when the trails dry out. The sheriff said the season for motorcyles will be ending soon after about two weeks of frost. Temperatures at night were getting cold; we had 32 degrees F for two nights and frost on the meadows. Bugs were no longer a problem. If you plan to go this fall, check on the hunting seasons. We did see one bear hunter on our trip. And yes, the trails are in good condition, although dusty in softer sections. There seems to be quite an ongoing construction project in the area. The area was perfect for easy walking and meadow watching. I definitely would visit it again to explore some more of the local summits and lakes.