Bailey Range: Day 3: Ferry Basin

This was supposed to be our easy day since we had such a long day the previous one. So we got a casual start enjoying the sunrise and the mosquitoes that came with it. Needless to say, it was not long before we were moving again. Our path followed the creek that drained into Cream Lake. We had to pull out the map quite frequently on this one to make sure we were heading the right direction. There were options all around and every direction seemed inviting. We climbed out of the river valley at one point and onto the grassy slopes above.

 Here the views were amazing and made the entire trip worthwhile already. There were lakes that we would stumble upon, beautiful meadows with awesome flowers, and excellent waterfalls to enjoy. All this while casually gaining elevation in a trailless wilderness. It really could not be beat. Eventually we came to a point that was above treeline and there were our three lakes in Ferry Basin which was our goal for the day. We wandered around until we found an appropriate spot for a campsite. We set up the tent, played some cribbage, and had some lunch.

 Now we had the entire afternoon. There were some peaks above us including Mt. Ferry and Mt. Pulitzer that looked interesting to climb. Ferry was going down tomorrow, Pulitzer looked like more than I was wanting to take on by myself.

It was 3-4 class and given that Carrie was supposed to be class 2, I decided to focus my wandering elsewhere. I went up to the small unnamed peak that rose over the tarn below that we were camping at. It took a slight bit of scrambling to gain the summit, but without the full pack on, I sure wouldn't have called it difficult. The view from up top was just amazing. Dad said later on that he was sure that there would be many days that he wished he could just be in this spot that we were in now without having to do all the work to get there. I couldn't agree more because it didn't get too much more scenic and wild than this.

I wandered on down the other side of the peak and then back to camp. Most of the rest of the day was spent playing cards, taking dips in the freezing cold lake, and reading in the hot sun. We learned later on that there were records set for high temperatures on that day in Western Washington. We could feel it because even though we were camped right below a lake with snow drifting in it, we still were trying to avoid the sun which above treeline is nearly impossible. At least there were no mosquitoes at this elevation. It was a warm night, which was strange because during the previous one at lower elevation we had some frost when we awoke. This one it was tough to stay cool enough. 

Bailey Range: Day Two: Cream Lake

This was by far our longest day of the entire trip. There was a lot to try to fit in so we got an early start. We awoke to Mt. Olympus and a perfect sunrise. We were going to have good weather on this day also and that was a must. We started up the steep trail after breakfast and packing up. I hung with my dad for a short period until we were at the base of the slopes of Mt. Carrie.

Having climbed the peak before, Dad left me to go scramble up the peak alone. I dropped my pack in a clump of trees and then started to ascend the steep slopes. I made it over the grassy treeline and on to the rocky ridge. This I followed up until I got to a great basin with the peak's summit rising just above me. I was going to have to traverse over to it. Now the guide books make it sound like not a big deal to get to the top of Mt. Carrie, but I was having some issues. The talus slope did not provide me good footing and there was no ridge line that would be good to walk.

 I made it just below the summit and I could tell that if I could make it past this steep crux I would obtain the summit. The fact was, though, that I was out there by myself and it would be easy to make one slip and get myself rather injured. So my nerves got the better of me and I decided to turn around. It was a frustrating choice because I might have been able to push through it. I did not want to ruin the trip or myself in the process, though. So I flew down the slopes as quick as I could to pick up my heavy pack again.

 I was once again on the "trail". This was a  path of use made from trips through the Bailey's. It traversed the steep slopes and frequently I looked down to see thousands of feet falling away below me. I would traverse until I got to a steep flowing creek where I would have to negotiate some steep obstacles to get back on the mainly flat path. Eventually, I ran into Dad again who was slightly nervous about me getting back from the peak. I took a while trying to find the route. I had to tell him that I chickened out of it. He did not seem too bothered by that.

 Then we continued traversing until we made it to Eleven Bull Basin. Finally, I could relax a little bit. Here we had a more open basin without sheer drop offs. I felt like I was taking many steps to make sure I did not stumble and now I could open up my gait a little bit. This did not last long, though, and soon once again we were negotiating the steep slope with amazing views. This place was spectacular. It was wild and pristine. It really was kept so much in its natural state just by how difficult it was to access.

Not soon enough, the steep, open slopes gave way to a tree lined forested area. Our goal for this day was to get down to Cream Lake. I could see a lake below us, but unfortunately it was not Cream Lake. Instead, we followed a use trail until we came to a junction that was cairned. The nice part about out here was that the cairns were few and in the correct places. The problem was that after this we were in the trees. We followed some open meadows that just led to more trees. We were avoiding a big bunch of slide alder that had come down in an avalanche.

 Whether this was productive or not, it is hard to say because eventually we found ourselves just fighting the trees anyway. We traversed until we were directly above Cream Lake and then we descended steeply. It was very relieving to finally make it down to the shores of this mosquito infested lake. Immediately the first thing that I did was jump right into the lake for a dip. It had been a hot day and I was dirty and sweaty. This was great relief to jump into the cool waters, but quickly I had to get some long sleeves on to keep the mosquitoes away. We found a campsite slightly removed from the lake where the mosquitoes were not so bad. We would wake up in the morning and start hiking again feeling good about the progress that we had made on this day. 

Bailey Range: Day 1: Boston Charlie's

Well, I had been excited about this trip for quite some time. My dad had stories of him doing the Bailey Range Traverse when he was younger. It sounded exciting, adventurous, and beautiful. We tried to do this hike several years ago, but the snow was just too deep for when we wanted to go. So I planned it for a month later in September when we surely would not run into snow, but we could run into bad weather. We watched the weather and so far, it looked immaculate. We were lucky. So I flew out from Vegas and dad picked me up at the airport.

That night we were packing and the next morning we were to get up and go. We first drove a car over to the Elwha where we would be coming out and left it there. Laura gave us a ride over to Sol Duc where the start of our hike began. We had to hike up above Sol Duc Falls and up into the High Divide near Heart Lake. Strangely, I had already done this hike 11 years earlier while a junior in college. The day was just perfect and we moved steadily uphill. I was excited to be back in the lush forest with the big trees and the moss growing thickly next to the trail.

Our plan, though, was to not stay in the trees for long. Soon we were moving up into the high mountain meadows. Here we had our permit checked by a volunteer backcountry ranger. I told her that I did the same thing in Zion and Dad had some bad joke for her about doing this hike before she was born. I told him that we hated comments like that. Thus she didn't talk to us for too long. As we hiked along, many hikers and backpackers would stop to converse with us. When we told them that we were going into the Bailey's the common expression was "Be safe".

This made me kind of wonder how difficult of a trip we were embarking upon. The trail was definitely not that quiet and as we left Heart Lake, it seemed like there were folks all around. From Heart Lake we continued on an old trail that would eventually dead end in a steep climb up was called the Cat Walk since it hugged the slopes of Cat Peak. I heard that this was the steepest part of the trip. It turned out to be steep, but not horrible. There were places of exposure, but nothing that could not be managed even with a full pack on. I left Dad to make his way up as I hiked out to Boston Charlie's camp.

When I made it to Boston Charlie's, it was pretty distinguishable by a small flat spot and a small pool of water. I dropped the pack and looked back for Dad. He was moving along pretty well and soon made it to camp. We set up here for the night looking down a beautiful valley below us. If we climbed to the edge of the other side of the saddle, we could see Mt. Olympus from there. This was a pretty fantastic spot. We assumed we had it all to ourselves, but then another young guy from Seattle came wandering in about an hour from dark. He wanted to set up camp for the night and we were fine with it. After thinking about it a bit, he decided to try to make his way over to Eleven Bull Basin. We were fine with this, too. He would be the last person we would see until the last day of the trip.