July 5, 1999

Mt. Saul Day Climb

Indian Creek
Airplane Lake
Mount Saul (7311′)

——————– Trip Report Summary ——————–

Region: North-Central Washington Cascades

Sub-Region: Upper Wenatchee Mountains

Area: Glacier Peak Wilderness

Starting & Ending Point: Indian Creek / Mt. David Trailhead (White River Road)

Way Points: White River log & Indian Creek & Airplane Lake (trail hike & off-trail hike & bushwhack & snow climb)

Summit: Mt. Saul (ascent & descent via East Slope—East Face)

Approximate Stats: 12 miles traveled; 5000 feet gained & lost; 7.3 hours up; 4.4 hours down.

——————– Full Trip Report By Laura Zimmerman ——————-

We arrived at the White River / Mt. David / Indian Creek Trailhead only to find the bridge over the White River washed out! But lucky for us, just upstream was a downed log of substantial size that we could shimmy across, just like happy rodeo cowboys!

The trail is in generally good condition, except for some blowdown, snow patches, and dicey stream crossings. The Indian Creek bridge is on its last legs, too, with a nice curving sag in the middle just touching the surface of the creek. It was crossable, but for how long, it’s hard to say. Stream crossings were better in the morning, when the water level was lower, and more interesting in the late afternoon, after the snowmelt started.

We left the Indian Creek Trail at Airplane Creek for a 2,000 foot bushwack to Airplane Lake. We left the trail too far upstream;  the easier path (as we found out later on the way back down) is much further downstream than Airplane Creek (about 1/4 mile).

The devils club is blooming, and the vine maple was almost impenetrable in parts! Stick to the game trails…the deer and elk know what they are doing! Snow cover began about 4,000 feet elevation and became continuous at about 4,700 feet.

Mt Saul was awesome! Once we got on the snow, step kicking was fantastic. It was snow covered the entire way up the face. (One could also ascend the ridge, which also makes an excellent descent route.)

A cornice broke off on a neighboring rock buttress while we were on the summit, but we didn’t get to see it. The summit rock pile was free of snow, and the summit register indicated that we were the first on top this year.

A great bluebird day, a great climb!!  Still loving life…

————- Photo Gallery (click to enlarge) ——————