Trip Date: September 29 – October 2, 2016

GOLDEN LARCH OUTING:  CHIWAUKUM MOUNTAINS

Chiwaukum Mountains Climbing Trip & Deadhorse Traverse:  Lake Ethel to Grace Lakes

Lake Ethel
Point 6935 aka McCue Peak aka Tamarack Point 
McWaukum Pass aka McCue–Chiwaukum Pass
Big McWaukum Peak (7423′)
Larch Lake & Cup Lake
Point 7123 aka Jason Point 
Deadhorse Pass
Deadhorse Peak (7534′)
Lake Grace aka Lower Grace Lake
Wildhorse Creek Valley

Trip Report Summary

Region: Central Washington Cascades

Sub-Region: Chiwaukum Mountains

Area: Alpine Lakes Wilderness

Starting Point: Lake Ethel Trailhead on Gill Creek Road (Elev. 2400 feet)

Way Points: Gill Creek Ridge & Lake Ethel & Ethel–Eileen Saddle & High Meadows & Big McWaukum Peak summit & Larch Lake & Cup Lake & Deadhorse Pass & Deadhorse Basin & Grace Lakes & Wildhorse Creek Valley & Whitepine Creek (trail hike & off-trail hike & rock scramble)

Ending Point: Whitepine Creek Trailhead at end of White Pine Road (Elev. 2800 feet)

Campsites: High Meadows & Larch Lake & Lower Grace Lake

Summit: McCue Peak (off-trail hike via Northwest Slope)

Summit: Big McWaukum Peak (off-trail hike & rock scramble via East Ridge; descent via Southwest Ridge)

Summit: Jason Point (off-trail hike & rock scramble via West Ridge)

Summit: Deadhorse Peak (off-trail hike & rock scramble via South Ridge)

Approximate Stats (excluding sidetrips): 20 miles traveled; 8,300 feet gained; 7900 feet lost.

Approximate Stats (including sidetrips): 23 miles traveled; 10,000 feet gained; 9600 feet lost.

…

Related Posts

High Chiwaukum Traverse: Lake Ethel to Lake Mary + Big Chiwaukum Peak + Ladies Peak – September 2016

Deadhorse Traverse: McCue Ridge to Wildhorse Creek – October 2009

Deadhorse Traverse: Chiwaukum Creek to Wildhorse Creek + Big Chiwaukum Peak – September 2001

Full Trip Report

For our annual Golden Larch Trip, Eileen and I returned to the Chiwaukum Mountains to do an abbreviated variation on our recent Labor Day Weekend trip.  We were joined by Doug, Todd, Kevin K, Kevin W, Kevin L, Lisa, Fay, Steve, and Deb for some or all four days.

Day 1: Lake Ethel Trailhead to High Meadows

With eleven people and five cars in our group, we started the day by executing a complex car shuttle to leave four cars at the Whitepine Creek TH.  This resulted in a staggered start up the Lake Ethel Trail.  We eventually convened on a rock outcrop 6 miles up the trail.  From there, we went cross-country to the Ethel–Eileen saddle and then ascended to the High Meadows above the Scottish Lakes.  Camp 1 was established in a grassy basin below Mt. Baldy.  Fortunately, there is no shortage of tent space here.

Day 2: High Meadows to Larch Lake + Summit Climbs

Morning sun turned the grasses and larches in our basin a fiery red color.

Before breaking camp, we made a quick jaunt up McCue Peak (Point 6935) for some views across the High Meadows…

…and over to Big Chiwaukum Peak.  The sky was strikingly blue due to recent rains.

After returning to camp, we packed up and headed out to Big McWaukum Peak.

“Big Mac” offers remarkably good views for such an easy ascent.  Steve and Deb made this summit their turnaround point for the trip and headed back to the Lake Ethel TH.

We scoped out our route down to Larch Lake.  Rather than dropping directly into Ewing Basin, we made a high descending traverse.  Our group now had nine people, and we ended up with a similar number of variations on the descent route.

Our route passed by hundreds of gneiss and schist boulders, some of which displayed amazing textures such as this.

By mid-afternoon, we all arrived at beautiful Larch Lake (4.2 hours + 1500 feet from High Meadows, including sidetrips).  K.Ko and Todd took advantage of the warm weather by plunging into the green water—although not for long.

Larch Lake sits in a basin with numerous ponds, tarns, and creeks.  One could wander around here all day and keep finding scenic treasures such as this…

…and this.  Many of the larch trees appeared to be at their peak of color, whereas others were either before or after their peak

Some of the schist outcrops had interesting shapes and details.  The outcrop below presents an ominous simian face.

Having a couple hours of daylight before dinnertime, Eileen and Fay and I scrambled up Point 7123 east of Larch Lake.  The summit of this rocky point overlooks the three Jason Lakes, so we dubbed it “Jason Point.”

Day 3: Larch Lake to Grace Lakes + Summit Climb

High-level winds during the night signaled an incoming weather front.  We awoke to colder temps and partial cloud cover.  Our agenda called for breaking camp and heading up to Deadhorse Pass.  Along the way, we stopped at Cup Lake and admired the golden colors around Larch Lake.

From Cup Lake, there is a crude footpath leading up to Deadhorse Pass (1.7 hours + 1350 feet from Larch Lake).  Hikers crossing over this pass will find a large tube and sign-in booklet that was placed by the Scottish Lakes High Camp folks.  To my knowledge, this is the only “pass register” in the Cascades!

Lisa and K.Lo were eager to get home, so they continued over the pass and down to the Whitepine Creek TH.  The remaining seven of us scrambled up Deadhorse Peak closely north of the pass.

Deep-blue Larch Lake and its surrounding golden meadows were clearly visible from the summit.

Once back at the pass, we descended westward into Deadhorse Basin.

We stopped for a break partway down and had some fun with a nearby schistose “hoodoo.”  This interesting feature could be called “Deadhorse Balanced Rock.”

In the lower basin, Eileen and Fay peeled off and headed down to the Whitepine Creek TH.  The remaining five of us turned southward and headed to Grace Lakes.  We contoured across open hillsides for a mile until encountering an old, partly overgrown sheepherder’s trail.  This trail led directly to the lake basin.

We made camp in a bouldery lawn between the lakes (7.0 hours + 2550 feet from Larch Lake).  Although weather forecasts had predicted rain or snow today, and dark skies threatened us all afternoon, we never got more than a few light snow sprinkles.

Day 4: Grace Lakes to Whitepine Creek Trailhead

Following our coldest night of the trip, we awoke to a light frost on our tents and a layer of ice in our water bottles.  Morning sun dramatically highlighted the Bull’s Head and Bull’s Tooth across the valley.

To exit Grace Lakes, we hiked back northward on the sheepherder’s trail for a mile, then descended huckleberry slopes to intersect the Wildhorse Creek Trail.  From there, 5 quick miles led to the TH (4.3 hours + 250 feet from camp) and completed a very fun Golden Larch Trip.

Route Map

Photo Gallery

Click to enlarge…