McGregor Mt. Loop: 9/11/14-9/14/14

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Born2BBrad
Posts: 1086
Joined: May 1st, 2011, 7:26 pm
Location: The Dalles

McGregor Mt. Loop: 9/11/14-9/14/14

Post by Born2BBrad » September 16th, 2014, 2:55 pm

Opening picture:
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What: Backpacking loop around McGregor Mt. in the Lake Chelan NRA/North Cascades NP area
Who: Me (Born2BBrad) and Dawn (Forest Panther)
When: 9/11/14 (drive), 9/12/14-9/14/14 (hike)

Route day 1: Lady Express ferry in Chelan (1100'), up Lake Chelan to Stehekin, shuttle bus to High Bridge (1600'), north on PCT to Bridge Creek (2185'), up Bridge Creek on the PCT to South Fork Bridge Creek campsite (3125')

Route day 2: South Fork Bridge Creek campsite (3125'), ford Bridge Creek, up Rainbow Lake Trail to Bowan Pass (6200'), down Bowan Pass continuing on the Rainbow Lake Trail past the Rainbow Meadows campsites (4900'-5000') to Rainbow Creek crossing (3570'), up to the Rainbow Creek Trail and Bench Creek campsite (3850')

Route day 3: Bench Creek campsite, down the Rainbow Creek Trail to Stehekin River Road (1175'), Stehekin Pastry Company, shuttle bus to Stehekin, Lady of the Lake ferry down Lake Chelan to Chelan
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With summer winding down, my wife, Dawn, and I decided to get in one more outdoor adventure. Dawn had procured a one-night stay at Campbell's Resort in Chelan, Washington, so we thought we could use that as an excuse to go uplake to Stehekin and into the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area and North Cascades National Park. The general idea was to do a loop around McGregor Mountain (8122').

View of Lake Chelan from our room at Campbell's Resort:
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Cialis moment with chairs instead of bathtubs:
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A person can only get to Stehekin via ferry, float plane or from many miles of hiking. Taking the ferry to Stehekin and going on a backpacking trip from there required quite a bit of logistical thinking. Ferry and shuttle bus schedules, camping permit wrangling, route options and more. Before picking a route, I had to find out where the Stehekin shuttle stops and when. Then I had to align that with the two ferry options.

I ended up selecting the Lady Express ferry over the Lady of the Lake II ferry. Both left the dock at 8:30 AM, but the express got into Stehekin a precious hour and a half sooner. That would mean we could take the 11:15 AM shuttle bus, rather than the next one, which was at 2:00 PM. That's two hours and forty-five minutes more of daylight hiking time, all of which we would need.

Freight and gear on the back of the ferry:
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A view from inside the ferry cabin:
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Facts about Lake Chelan:
• 51 miles long. Average width is 1 mile.
• 1486' deep at its deepest point, 3rd deepest in the United States after Crater Lake and Lake Tahoe. The 26th deepest lake in the world. The deepest point is 386' below sea level.
• If measuring from Pyramid Peak (8245') three miles from the shoreline out to the bottom of the lake (1486' below), it would be a 9731' canyon, deeper than Hells Canyon.
• Named for a Salish Indian word, "Tsi - Laan," meaning "Deep Water".
• Carved by glaciers 14,000-17,000 years ago.

View from Stehekin boat dock (Boston Peak 8894', Booker Mt. 8280' and Buckner Mt. 9112' in the center and McGregor Mt. on the right:
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Once we arrived at the Stehekin boat dock, we had 15 minutes to get to the NPS visitor center to get our backcountry permit, pick our campsites and get a shuttle bus ticket. Getting a shuttle bus ticket was easy, as that could be done at the bus, which was right there on the landing. However, at the visitor center, there was only one employee there and she was helping another person who was asking every question in the world, many not pertaining to information specific to the reason the visitor center is there for. "So, do you like living here?" and "How much does a loaf of bread cost here?" for example. Time was ticking.

Once it was our turn, we had to get our backcountry permit, which is free, and get our campsites. This is because people cannot just go into North Cascades NP and camp anywhere. You must camp only in designated campsites specific to your itinerary. Fortunately, the places we wanted to camp were available, but others we were told were full. I don't know how the NPS keeps track of information, but I can tell you that some of the campsites that were supposedly full were not.

By the way, here is a link to the most useful webpage that will help you plan your trip if you ever go to North Cascades NP.

With only minutes to spare to catch the shuttle bus, a quick restroom break was next on the list. With two minutes to the 11:15 AM scheduled shuttle bus departure time, we walked out of the store to see it driving away. We missed the bus! The next one was scheduled for 2:00 PM. I asked one of the locals with a car if he could give us a ride to where the next stop was for the shuttle bus, and he obliged. I think most of the people that live there are friendly and helpful to the tourists because their economy is reliant upon them.

Havin' fun on the shuttle bus full of stinky PCT thru-hikers:
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The shuttle bus at High Bridge:
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High Bridge over Stehekin River:
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Spawning salmon in Stehekin River:
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The happy couple departing on the trail at High Bridge:
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Coon Lake along the PCT:
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Lots of equestrians and pack horses on the PCT as it follows Stehekin River:
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The vine maples are starting to turn:
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Bear box at Bridge Creek Campground:
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CCC shelter at Bridge Creek Campground:
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One of the local beggars at Bridge Creek Campground:
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At Maple Creek on the PCT, the flow was low enough for an easy rock hop crossing. Even so, we just had to go up higher and cross on the swaying suspension footbridge. As Kennedy would say, "We do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

Suspension footbridge over Maple Creek:
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Dawn crossing the bridge, making it look easy:
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Dawn fording Bridge Creek first thing in the morning on day 2:
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Good view of the east side of McGregor Mt. from the Rainbow Lake Trail:
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Talus slope going up Bowan Pass:
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Pretty meadow below Bowan Mt. (not seen, but to the right):
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View of the mountains (Van Marmot style) climbing up Bowan Pass:
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Trail going up Bowan Pass with Bowan Mountain (7895') in the upper right:
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Rainbow Lake with McGregor Mountain above it:
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Coming down Bowan Pass below Bowan Mountain:
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Talus slope switchbacks going down to Rainbow Meadows:
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Free trail food huckleberries! Nom, nom nom!
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In one of the meadows that make up Rainbow Meadows, there was a patch of trees that had been sheared off, all pointing in one direction. Looking up the steep slope, it could be seen that there was a line of broken trees. Dawn deduced that the cause was an avalanche, to which I agreed. It's amazing the amount of force in an avalanche.

Evidence of an avalanche:
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Dawn crossing Rainbow Creek on a log:
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Once at the Bench Creek campsite, Dawn began to let on that her left foot was hurting. What she didn't tell me, because she knew I would be consumed with worry, is that her foot was in excruciating pain with every step. It hurt so bad that she could not even let it touch the ground while trying to sleep throughout the night. All that and 6 miles and almost 2700' of elevation to lose on the last day. She toughed it out and made it back.

Another suspension footbridge, this one crossing back over Rainbow Creek:
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View of Lake Chelan from the Rainbow Creek Trail:
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Once at the trailhead on Stehekin River Road, it's only a half mile to nummy nums:
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Brad is very happy with his pizza, cheese danish and sticky bun:
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As the shuttle bus entered town, the bus driver called for the riders to notice a mother bear and her two cubs wandering around. There were many people nearby. A NPS employee appeared to be running interference for them to keep people away. It was definitely a recipe for disaster.

Bear cubs in town (mother was nearby):
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Only $90 one-way per passenger back to Chelan in 30 minutes on the float plane:
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Dawn icing her sore foot on the ferry:
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As the ferry got closer to Chelan, several groups of jet skiers raced towards the ferry, some of them circling the boat. For some reason, it made me think of the movie Waterworld with Kevin Costner. The jet skiers then began jumping the wake caused by the ferry. It was quite a show. Several of them were a little too aggressive and fell off their jet ski into the water. I was worried that with all the other jet skiers racing around, the people in the water would be run over, but there were no incidents.

Jet skier jumping the ferry wake:
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Tracks in NatGeo:
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Tracks in Google Earth (High Bridge to South Fork Bridge Creek):
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Tracks in Google Earth (South Fork Bridge Creek up to Bowan Pass):
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Tracks in Google Earth (Bowan Pass down to Rainbow Creek):
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Tracks in Google Earth (Rainbow Creek to Stehekin Pastry Company):
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Final comments:
• Miles: 35.3 (trip computer); 32.4 (GPS Fly)
• Elevation gain: 6993' (trip computer), 6656' (GPS Fly)
• No mosquitoes until back at the pastry company.
• Dawn's foot is feeling better, but we're still waiting to get the X-ray results. She thinks maybe she shouldn't do any more difficult hiking.

I learned that there is a North Cascades National Park Complex, made up of three units: North Cascades National Park, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area and Ross Lake National Recreation Area. 94% of the Complex is designated as the Stephen Mather Wilderness. Combined, the three units total 634,614 acres of wilderness. Stephen Mather was the first director of the National Park Service.

Link to all the pictures on Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54959080@ ... 267671918/

Hike the good hike!!

Brad
Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.
- Jean Luc Picard

Link to GPX tracks
Link to Trip Reports

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rainrunner
Posts: 627
Joined: June 29th, 2011, 6:55 am

Re: McGregor Mt. Loop: 9/11/14-9/14/14

Post by rainrunner » September 17th, 2014, 6:45 pm

What a great trip report that encompasses so much from leisure to the various transportation methods it took to do the trek! There is hardly a PCT blog that doesn't discuss the Stehekin Bakery!
The mountains are calling and I must go.
John Muir

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Sean Thomas
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Joined: February 25th, 2012, 11:33 pm

Re: McGregor Mt. Loop: 9/11/14-9/14/14

Post by Sean Thomas » September 21st, 2014, 8:42 am

Nice TR dude :)

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Peder
Posts: 3401
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:02 pm
Location: Lake Oswego

Re: McGregor Mt. Loop: 9/11/14-9/14/14

Post by Peder » September 21st, 2014, 8:55 am

Lake Chelan temps me more every time I read about it! Great TR Brad.
Some people are really fit at eighty; thankfully I still have many years to get into shape…

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