Camp Riley Trail to Sheep Lake in the Mount Adams Wilderness

 

I decided it was time to get out of my home range and explore Mount Adams a bit.  I’ve climbed Adams twice and both times I wished I had time to explore the lower trails and hoped to go back and do that.

 

I used the WTA to find a trail that was not too crowded and I used Google Earth to find and area that was not too scorched.

It looked like the Camp Riley trail to Sheep Lake was a good one, so we went.  The drive is 3 hours and I’m not at all used to such high elevations so I planned a pretty mellow trip

We started our hike at about 11:30 on a Wednesday morning.  Before we started our hike my love who is here from New Zealand, took a quick bathroom break near the trail head.  When she emerged from the woods she reported she had been stung twice!  Not the best start to a hike, but she took it well and was still very eager to hike.

The trail beautiful but it was pretty dry, so we let water sources decide where we would camp.  We found a little lake about 3 miles up the trail and filled our water bottles and silnylon water bag there and then backtracked to a pretty campsite with lots of furniture.  The campsite was surrounded by dead trees.

The moon was full and we enjoyed the show as it lit up Mount Adams snow fields in the night. We opted to sleep under the tarp instead of in the tent.   With the tarp hung very high we had a nice view.  In the night we saw hawks and bats.

In the morning woodpeckers joined the dawn chorus.  One woodpecker found a very loud log to peck on and another in a distance answered each time.  After a breakfast of rice with milk, sugar and blueberries, we casually packed up and hiked to Camp Riley.  We were feeling the heat and the elevation so we took a multi-hour break at Riley Creek and then packed up.  As we were packing up two women arrived.  They were going to have a bridal party in the woods to stay covid safe.  The bride to be and her friend hung a white llama piñata to mark the spot where her friends would meet her in small groups over the course of the weekend.

The trail was hot and the elevation was sapping us, as we hiked up to Sheep Lake and then all the way around to the far side of the lake to get the best view of Mount Adams.  We were very hot and tired when we arrived but eventually we managed to get the tarp tent up (bowfin 2) and get dinner in us.  We pitched the tarp because we expected lots of bug and condensation near the lake.

 

The Mountain was having nearly constant rock slides and put on quite a show of noise and dust.  My fiancé loved it.  There were very few bugs and almost no condensation; we could have gotten away with not pitching the tent.

In the morning we got up and slowly packed and then made our way back to the camp below the little lake.  On the way down we took another very long break near camp Riley.

After we left Camp Riley I realized I had left my reading glasses behind and I had to back track to get them.

Back in the campsite surrounded by dead trees, things were different. The trees were making all kinds of popping and cracking noises due to a slight breeze.  All the noise was a bit unreal.

That night we opted to sleep directly under the stars with no tarp. We wanted a better view of the night hawks.  The hawks however did not come back.  Maybe they did not come back because they could see us?

The next day we hiked back to the car and found 17 cars at the trail head because it was Saturday.  There was only one other car at the trail head when we arrived.

We really enjoyed our trip and were glad we went.  We were also really glad that we planned a low mileage trip due to the heat and elevation sapping us.

9 miles with 2,200 feet elevation gain.

Sundown Lake via Wynoochee Pass Backpack

 

Headwaters of the Skokomish River and ancient meeting place of the Quinalt, Dosewallips and Skokomish tribes

My overseas friend Abra, is living with me this summer and I wanted to show her some old growth forests while she is here and I wanted to see some new things too.   We also wanted to avoid the covid crowds. 

 The Wynoochee Pass trail to McGravy Lakes seemed just the ticket.  This little known stub of an old 15 mile long trail is often overlooked.  The road the trail is a bit rough and it is closed for half of each year.  I've never been on the Six Ridge or the Wynoochee Pass trail before.  It was time to go!

Without doing enough research,  I decided we would backpack to Sundown Lake in one day, then go up to McGravy Lakes for one or two nights and then go all the way back to the car on the last day.

The route was more up and down than I had realized in my rushed research and my fiancé is a beginning backpacker with a very healthy fear of heights.  I have not been backpacking in over six months and this proved to be too ambitious of a plan for either of us.

After a two hour drive to the washed out road before the current trail head we started our hike at 11:20.  The first half mile or so is on old road bed and then at a switchback in the road the trail starts.  The Wynoochee pass trail used to start 15 miles downriver but has been destroyed by logging, road building and the dam.

Lunch at the car before the start of our hike.  I grew this tomato and cuke.  We lost the cuke on the trail and never saw it again. 

The trail is lined with old growth and it is  beautiful!  We had a very nice but slow hike on this trail.  There were a few downed old growth trees blocking our way and progress with my fiancé who is a new backpacker and is very afraid of falling was very, very slow.  But she is keen and wanted to keep going in spite of a few moments of terror.

After a few hours became clear that we were not going to make it to Sundown Lake in one day, our start was too late and we were moving too slow.

The route to Sundown Lake is up and down, up 1,000 feet to Wynoochee pass, then down 1,000 feet to Graves Creek and then back up 1,000 feet to Sundown Lake.  There is a way trail but I knew that Abra would not be up for it and my trail guide by Robert L Wood says the way trail is so rough that staying on the main path is actually easier.

I’m not sure why I thought we could do all that climbing in one day with an 11am start and 4 days worth of food on our backs,  in the condition we were in. 

Graves Creek seemed a better option for our first night,  but my trail guide said the creek is dry this time of year.  It had just rained though, so maybe there would be water down in that dark gorge? 

Rough going on a trail in need of some TLC

World's tallest Mountain Hemlock tree near Wynoochee pass

World's tallest Mountain Hemlock tree near Wynoochee pass

I had camped at Graves Creek once before and I did not enjoy it much, it was too dark and creepy and I was a bit freaked out by the trip before we got to our campsite.  I was with my reluctant 11 year old and the terrain was very rough and I was worried that we would have to turn back.   That trip report is here: https://mosswalks.blogspot.com/2008/08/trip-over-olympic-mountains_16.html (link opens in a new window)

 

Just before we made it to the top of Wynoochee pass we were passed by Larry.  Larry was headed for some off trail lakes up the six ridge trail.  I told Larry about our plans to camp at Graves Creek and Larry encouraged us to camp in a meadow just below Wynoochee pass instead.

  Before we ran into Larry we saw one other hiker, a day hike with a covid mask on headed back from his hike to Wynoochee pass. He warned us of a “headwall” on the way to the pass.

Eventually we made it to the headwall and we both got up it without too much trouble.  I went up it with my pack and had Abra hand her pack up to me.

Wynoochee pass was lovely with a couple of nice little tarns at the top.  We did not linger though since we were running short on time and were not sure where we would camp.  We did not see any nice campsites at the pass.

On the other side of the pass we saw that Larry and gone to a lot of time and trouble to mark the route down to the meadow for us.  Thank you Larry!  We opted to not stay in the meadow though.  The meadow looked damp and the route down to it seemed rough.

Onward we crawled down to Graves Creek and a campsite that I thought I remembered staying at before.  I was off by a bit, I had stayed at Success Creek before.   

Surprisingly, there were no established campsites at the bottom of the gorge where Wyshoochee Pass and Graves Creek trail meet and the sun was going to set in one hour.  I hurriedly thrashed about in the brush looking for a flat spot to pitch the tarp. 

Any flat spot would do.  Abra labored to stay in my sight as I floundered up and down the river searching for camping.  I checked out a meadow and my shoes got soaked, so the meadow was a no go.  I was not happy and I became increasingly less happy as I looked for a flat spot of any kind to camp,  it was getting late and we needed to camp.  A few expletives flew out of my mouth.   At least there was water down there so we would not die of thirst in the dank river bottom.

Finally I found a dreary but flat place just big enough for us to pitch the tarp.   Next to our chosen tent site we found a nice open area on Graves Creek with great driftwood furniture to cook on.  Our campsite was too small and dark to even cook in. But the open area next to the creek made this a nice camping spot after all.

Cooking area near Graves Creek

Dank camp spot that we found

old trail signs in need of repair at Graves Creek

In the night something kept running across the plastic sheets we had layed out under our tarp tent to keep the floor dry.  We decided the creature must be a mouse and we named the creature “crinkle toes”.  Eventually, I got up and tucked all the plastic neatly under our tent and we did not hear from crinkle toes again.

The creek made creepy noises all night long, but  we got used to them and had very fitful and uncomfortable nights “sleep” in the dank gorge.  I never sleep well next to creeks, they make too many random noises.

The next morning we got up, had a leisurely breakfast and started our hike up to Sundown Lake.  

The hike up towards Sundown Lake was Lovely and the climbing went well.  There were some downed logs and exposed spots that scared Abra, but we made okay time to the lake.

We had Sundown Lake all to ourselves for two nights.  We saw a bear a few times and we picked lots of blueberries.   We opted not to try for McGravy Lakes at all but really enjoyed our second unplanned night at Sundown.  

On our second day at Sundown we made a side trip to Sundown Pass and the beautiful meadow below it.  I want to camp there someday. 

After two nights at Sundown we got up at about 7 am and had a quick breakfast and packed up for our trip back to the car.  I had misplanned how much stove fuel we needed so I had to cook  over a tiny campfire later in the trip.   We started hiking out at 8:20am and made it back to the car at about 6pm.  It was a very long day of hiking.

While driving back down to the dam on the dodgy road,  we could hear gunshots and soon found a truck parked dead in the middle of the road with its occupants holding a long rifle with a site on top of it.  They slowly packed up and left without even making eye contact with us.  Welcome back to civilization… sigh...

We had a quick cup of coffee at the dam day use area and then drove home the long  way through Montesano since Cougar-Smith Road was closed.  I found the noise from crowds at the dam to be a bit disconcerting after so many days in the woods.  

I’m ready to go backpacking again.

 There were blueberries everywhere on our hike and we gorged ourselves on them every day. 

According to Google Earth our trek including a side trip to Sundown Pass was 12.5 miles with 5,150 total elevation gain and loss the maximum grade was %45.5 percent and the average grade was %14.

Salmon berries and Chicken of the woods

Frog at Sundown Lake

Sundown Pass 4,125 feet was the high point of our hike

Tarn at Wynoochee pass

Bowfin 2 tarptent at Sundown Lake

Mushroom

View of the route up to Wynoochee pass from Sundown Pass area.

Old growth log blocking the trail, one of many

Big Cedar rootball

Lowering packs down with a rope to get back down this spot near Wynoochee pass

Our complete route in google

A small fire to cook at Graves Creek

Upper Upper Jefferson Lake Attempt

 

                                              View where we turned around

Phil has been eyeing a lake near Jefferson Lake for a couple of years.  Closures due to the Maple fire prevented us from going to look for it until now. 

My Fiance is here visiting me from New Zealand.  She can't stay for long due to the US not issuing any Visas at the moment.  New Zealand is not allowing any non-citizens in.  So we are limited to seeing each other for just 90 days on a visa waiver.  

We have no idea when we will see each other again after she goes back.  She had never been backpacking before this year and she had never been brush crashing either.  I did not realize how hard this hike was.  If I had known I would have waited a bit longer before taking her.

We turned back short of the lake when it became clear that we were going to run out of time.

On the way out my fiance found a cell phone and I was able to unlock it and track down the owner. 

I'm struggling with a new blogger format. 

Side trip to Goober Pond  

                                                          Our track log on google earth

                                                    View from turn around

                                        Spot where I insisted on turning around for my fiance's sake 

 Climbing!

                                   Phil helps 

                                                       Very nice bike parked at the end of the road

                                                     Walking the road leading to the scrample

                                                              Phil doing his sock and shoe changing ritual

                                                         Rock caught in a tree