Old Gib — Friday, Jul. 2, 2004

Central Cascades > Leavenworth Area

Given that the snow pack was nearly 50% of normal in the area this year, I was a bit tardy in getting to the annual trail work project. My lonely ridgelette camp was high-and-dry without the usually reliable snow bank, so I retreated to upper Carne basin where there is a wonderful spring from which to get water. Fortunately the breezes through the weekend were sufficient to wisk the bugs away, even in the basin. The upper basin has easy views to Spider Meadows, Chiwawa mtn, Fortress, Bonanza, Maude, and Seven Fingered Jack. Carne meadows are serenaded with thrush-song by day, and owls by night. On evening wanderings I discovered remnants of an old trail to the LO site above the basin. It departs the Old Gib trail from the gap trending upward and east back into the basin where it rejoins the trail to Rock Creek. It soon departs again before passage into Rock Creek drainage, rounding the peak and attaining the summit. The trail is narrow, grassy and clear, a nice break from the eroding mainstay. The weather was gratefully cooler than usual making trail work downright pleasant. While sawing through blow-down it was hard to resist looking across the Chiwawa to the scenic White Mountain range, or up Buck Creek valley. I have managed to clear almost 1.5 miles of the Old Gib trail (to the 6 foot standard) from Carne Basin. A narrower standard endures to the south saddle of Gib. Beyond that it is anyone’s guess. See prior year’s entries for more detail. This trail still sees little to no traffic save for bears and deer, which makes it the perfect place for 4th of July holiday. I am just happy to have another trail pass to hang in my car for the coming year. Happy Trails!