Stacey had a craft afternoon planned on Saturday- so I planned to get out to try to squeeze one last adventure in the mountains before they closed down. The forecast looked marginal but improving throughout the day and I thought I’d have a good shot at getting in and out before the big rain fell.
I loaded up my UD pack - puffy, rain pants and two shells (one Patagonia Houdini and one OR Helium) and a couple of pairs of gloves. About 3000 calories, pair of poles and couple of cameras and a battery for phone.
I threw my bike on the back and drove the 3 hours over Steven’s Pass, past Lake Wenatchee up the Chiwawa Road to the Phelps Creek trail head where I stashed by bike and the drove 5 miles back down the road to the Little Giant trail head where I parked and slept.
My original plan was to go up Little Giant trail - over Little Giant Pass - down into the Napeequa River valley - up the North Fork of the Napeequa River over High Pass to Buck Creek Pass and then around to Lyman Lakes, over the Spider Gap and down Phelps Creek. A trip of around 40 miles. I optimistically (way over optimistically - which I am very prone to on my first plan) that it would take me 12 hours. Pace is dictated by terrain, as well as darkness and weather. On this trip I’d have all three.
I woke up in the middle of the night with rain falling on the top of the van and I wondered what the forecast was gonna do for the next day. I went back to sleep until my alarm went off at 4 am and I woke up to no rain. I turned on my Garmin InReach and requested a weather forecast while getting ready and eating my bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats. The forecast came back with every 2 hour predictions : 70%, 60%, 40% and then partly cloudy at 3pm and rain coming in strong at 9pm. Optimistically I started my watch and stepped out as the rain started to fall and started down the trail. 10 feet down the trail is the Chiwawa River - the rain is pelting down and there is no bridge. I had just gotten dressed - I was dry and warm - and I knew that eventually my feet would be wet - but I just didn’t feel like starting out wet. So I sat on a rock, took off my socks and shoes, broke out a pole and with my shoes and socks in one hand I hobbled across the rocks in my bare feet.
I started out with a slow jog up the Little Giant trail until the elevation cranked up a bit. Further along the angle turned up again and it got pretty steep. Finally cresting Little Giant Pass just as the sky started to lighten. I start jogging down the descent into the Napeequa River valley. The river snaked through the large meadow of fall grass and red caned bushes. Hitting the bottom of the valley the trail followed the river past Louis Creek Falls and then High Pass Falls - were after crossing the North Fork of the Napeequa River - the trail steeply climbs up through bushes and trees. The slick leaves and mud made for slippery going - I pulled out my poles and started side angling up the trail. The rain had been falling off and on quite steadily for the 5 hours and my gloves were soaked, my hands were cold and my feet were so cold that they were stiff and hurt to bend fully. The effort from the elevation warmed my feet and after I topped out in the falter upper valley and put my poles away I could put my gloves inside my jackets sleeves and my hands warmed up. The trail is unnamed and unmaintained - the trail peters out in places but there are glimpses each time of the trail up ahead. As I approached High Pass at 7000 feet the trees are gone - rocks remain in a jumbled mass of talus with 2-3 inches of snow covering, there are icicles on some of the rocks from the melt and it’s still raining but almost snowing. The trail is full of 6 inches of snow with the heather aside it being spotty and easier to walk on. A white feathered ptarmigan scurries among the rocks and snow.
Dropping down from High Pass the trail edges along - cliffy in a couple of places where careful foot placement is required - weaving in between Rally and LIberty Cap before descending down to Buck Creek Pass. By this time I was about 17 miles in - nearly halfway done but it was already 1:30 pm and my 12 hour plan was not going to happen. If was to carry on around the loop - I estimated that I’d be getting back to the trail head sometime after 9 pm - likely 10 pm or later.
I decided at Buck Creek Pass to bail down the Buck Creek trail that would dump me out near the Phelps Creek Trailhead. The rain was falling in earnest now - and I jogged down the gently sloping valley. The trails were often full of 4 inches of water or more and I had to run on the sides to avoid having ice cubes for feet. The trail wound through an old burn zone full of tan feathered fireweed, golden bracken ferns, yellow thimble berries and a leafed bush and then along the Chiwawa River for ever and ever.
My battery on my phone was 9% - and when I tried to plug in my battery to recharge - I got the “Liquid detected in your charging port!” - so I turned everything off, shut off my audiobook and kept plodding down the trail lost in my own thoughts. Teenages boys have their fantasies; an ultra runner late in the day fantasizes that someone at the end of the trail will give them a ride back to their car. I’d be ending on the Buck Creek Trail at the end of the Chiwawa River road and then I’d have to tromp 3 miles up Phelps Creek Road to wear my bike was stashed. I was really not looking forward to this road walk. At 5% battery on the map I saw what appeared to be a short cut to the trail head - by cutting up the dirt switch backed Chiwawa Road that came parallel to the trail head and then just a short cross country section to the trail head. Problem was that on a rainy screen I didn’t read the topo map correctly and there was a deep gorge carved by Phelps Creek. When I cut down to the river - it was steep and cliffy and I ended up having to scramble up and around several places before I was able to find a very steep rocky muddy descent to the creek. I pulled myself up the steep banks on the other side with vegetable belays on the huckleberry bushes. The light was dying and I pulled out my phone to get a final directional read on where the trail head was and my phone was flat dead. Nothing. So I put on my headlamp and kept climbing up the steep slope until I thankfully came to the gravel road about 20 yards from the trail head.
I hung my pack on the trail register - and retrieved my bike I’d stashed in the tree. I put on my rain pants, put on a dry new long sleeve top, my puffy and my dry Houdini and then put my wet Helium shell back on and two pairs of thoroughly wet soaked gloves. Crammed my helmet on my head, my headlamp and hopped on my bike to make the ride back down to the van. My teeth were chattering as I coasted down the road, enjoying the couple of spots where I had to pedal uphill which warmed me up a bit. Finally after 5 miles - I saw the reflection of the lights on the van and I gratefully parked my bike, turned on the heat, peeled off all my wet clothes and sat down to take a hot shower. I’d end up getting Chicken Fried Steak at the 59r Diner and then sleep in the van just over Stevens Pass - I was too tired to make it home.
Looking back - on what went well and what didnt.
Weather - obviously wish it had been less rain - all in all because I kept moving I stayed fairly “warm” - I wore Altra Olympus 6, pair of smart wool socks, Path Projects liner, Patagonia Shorts, a smart wool short sleeve and a pair of sleeves - optimistically thinking the sun might shine and things might warm up. I wore a pair of Smart Wool gloves that had a wool inside and a synthetic outer layer. They were not very water resistant and at times I had to curl my fingers inside the glove to warm up my hands.
Extra Gear - I never really needed this - but if I’d had to stop for any reason this would have been very important to have - extra dry wool long sleeve hoody, another lightweight shell (Houdini), a pair of helium rain pants. As it was I only really used it when I had to ride my bike back to the van and I was very glad for them.
I wish I had brought my pair of waterproof mitten covers that I can slip on over my gloves. And I wish I’d brought a magnetic charger that I could have used in place of a wire to avoid the liquid charging issue.
Pace and estimation. Trails never really show you the actual terrain and a buttery smooth dirt trail is very different a steep mud slick leaf covered trail. And of course talus is always slower 1mph travel and put 3 inches of snow on top of that and you end up crawling from rock to rock. Also being cold stiffens everything up and makes me slower - in particular my ankle stiffens in the cold and its hard to be smooth running - I thought I was going at least 15 minute miles but apparently you can jog down hill at 17-20 minute miles and not be walking. So in the end despite what I think or want to believe based on my 6 minute miles - I am going to be much slower 20 miles in.
Calories - this all went well - Going up Little Giant - I didn’t eat as much or as often - but from there on I out I ate regularly - combination of bunch of Salty Peanut Powerbal PowerGel, various Huma gels, a Reeses Peanut Butter cup and ½ a Chicostick. Water was plentiful all along the trail - I barely drank anything from my bottles.