Monday, August 24, 2009

Lakes, Lutherans, and Mountains

So Brandon and I saw the summer was wearing thin and we still were needing to climb a big mountain. With no volcanoes in the picture we decided to go for a remote big boy: Mount Fernow, third highest non-volcanic peak in Washington, lord of the Entiats, at 9249 feet (but who's counting right?). I have to make it sound dramatic because no one's really heard of it. Here's an idea of what we were dealing with:

The trip started with a ride up Lake Chelan on a Ferry. We got off at Lucerne, about 4/5th of the way up the lake and caught the bus to Holden, an mining village turned Lutheran retreat. Being the only Mormons within 50 miles we decided to lay low until we could retrieve our bags and head up the trail. That trail got us to this nice meadow. From there we had to go up and over the saddle you can see in the background.The other side of the saddle is the dramatic headwaters of the Entiat river. We found a soft, flat place to pitch our tent. The view wasn't bad either:

The next morning we set out at 4am and arrived at the summit just after dawn. If you're not in on the secret, the best time to do anything outdoors is at dawn; this was no exception. The views were amazing in the hazy dawn glow. Here's Brandon with the North Cascades beyond.

We had to run back down to be back in Holden to catch the bus at 1pm. There's only one bus a day. The fact that Bri didn't murder me is proof we got back in time.

1 comment:

Shaela said...

gorgeous views! and you're right: never heard of it, haha. John took me on my first backpacking trip this weekend. It was... a learning experience. :)