Jaberwocky Ridge? Hagen Lakes Traverse

[Flying_Ned]

Has anyone been on Jaberwocky Ridge NW of Mt. Stone? I'm wondering if this has ever seen a traverse or asent of the major gendarmes. The view of JR from the west is impressive, with many big walls and narrow chimeys. Any traverse of this ridge looks like an achievement.

 

I spent an evening staring at the ridge from Hagen Lake while on a loop to Mt. Hopper, returning via the ridge. This is an easy cross country tour, which is highly recommended for wildlife viewing and beautiful countryside. My trip started at the Putvin trail around noon, stopping for a late lunch at Lake of the Angels. The route from the low pass straightforward, with one 10' downclimb as you take the path off the north side of the headwall. Once down, a well defined game-boot path traverses scree to the Great Stone arrow (30-45 minutes). There is a good camp here near the rock markings, and remnant snow banks on the north side of the pass. The "easy" walk down to the lake probably exists when covered in snow, but it does take minor focus when the bedrock is exposed and you're tired. There are a few good camps at the lakeshore, and I dug out a sandy bivy on the beach at the little peninsula. Day two: Coffee and a few hours staring at the light on Jaberwocky Ridge. I lingered at the lake all morning as I didn't have far to travel this day. Finally heading west after noon, I backtracked to the park service marker at the south end of the lake, ascended a little hump and dropped into the second Hagen Lake, where two huge elk stood in the meadow on the east shore. Route finding on the traverse is mindless, as obvious game trails take you exactly where you're heading. Rounding a ridge, I traversed slightly upward into the basin containing the third, and smallest of the three lakes. From here, the most obvious way leads up the cirque to low pass SW of the lake (another excellent spot to take in the scenery). Follow game trails down into the lower level of beautiful Elk Basin. I followed a meandering game trail that eventually brought me up the east side to the upper terrace, just below Fisher Pass. This is the spot where Lt. O'Neil's scouts shot eleven elk during the summer of 1890. It was only 3pm, but I set up camp under a large tree near the stream that bisects the upper basin. Bears roamed the eastern slopes of Mt. Hopper, and I had an early dinner while watching them and listing to elk in the basin below me. At 5pm I headed off for the summit of Hopper, which took a little over an hour to walk to the summit. I had stood here exactly 20 years ago when I met a team of Boeing Engineers gleefully using a satellite phone and a ham radio operator to call their buddies from atop a minor peak. Phones in the backcountry seemed like a novelty then. After sunset I returned to camp and a magnificent night sky. The next morning I found an old hand saw blade, worn and rusted with an unual cutting pattern. The teeth matched the old "misery whip" log bucking design. The blade was bent near the handle attachement, clearly discarded by a hunting party or trail crew from decades ago. After packing up the saw blade, I began the trek back along the easy ridge. Again, game trails traverse the ridge on several levels, but always stay on the south side below the crest. This is the easiest travelling, and a climb to the ridgetop generally involves swimming through thick and stunted alpine fir. At an open swale, near the mid-point of the traverse, the headwall above Lake of the Angels comes into view, and Mt. Skokomish is due south. A herd of elk grazed in the meadows just below me, and I could make out a path traversing the shoulder of the ridge ahead of me. From this open spot, avoid the impulse to climb higher and contour at this level through meadow, mixed timber and scree. The route makes a bee line toward the Great Stone Arrow, ascending to a low pass in the trees rather than turning south with the ridge. Easy slopes lead down to the pass above Hagen Lake. From here I retraced the route back to Lake of the Angels and down to the car.

 

I highly recommend this area for a quick weekend tour where you can get off trail, stay high, view lots of wildlife and have some solitude.

[bremerton_john]

Great recommendation. I like that area too, and haven't done the ridge yet, so I've got that to look forward to on a future trip in there.

[olyclimber]

made that traverse (First Divide, around Mt. Hopper, to Lake of the Angels) and funny enough we saw a bear where you described seeing one. this was the hike my mom had made us "Rocky Mountain Spotted Frog", a mixture of ramen noodles, onion soup, and some other stuff (good and cheap for us po' white quilcene kids), and all the kids except me and one other got sick at Lake of the Angels. We didn't find the intended traverse over to scout lake, so we just beat brush down to the road north of the putvin trail. It was the end of a 75+ mile hike we did, linking up a bunch of trails.

[PhilU]

Sounds like a great trip. You got over to Elk basin by tracking around the lakes? Interesting, I tried that but stayed high on ridges above lakes:

 

http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15267&highlight=hagen+lake

 

Didnt make it there in a day...but close.

[Flying_Ned]

Yes, you can make an nice loop by descending from the Great Stone Arrow and contouring past all three lakes into lower Elk Basin, returning via the ridge. The lake picture on your NW Hiker post is of the 3rd, or westernmost of the three lakes. The lake route traverses up to the outlet of this lake and climbs to the pass SW of the lake (lower left and just out of your picture). From here you drop into lower Elk Basin and climb through fairly open country toward Fisher Pass.