[TR] Wish Slam - Standards - Courtney, Star, Oval 10/2/2015

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Trip: Wish Slam - Standards - Courtney, Star, Oval

 

Date: 10/2/2015

 

Trip Report:

This past weekend I opted to visit the Chelan-Sawtooth wilderness when the temps were not in the 80s and 90s... and get my fill of larix lyallii in their finest glory.

 

We drove up early Friday, getting a pastry at Cinnamon Twisp Bakery en route to the trailhead. The sky was overcast but it did not rain the whole way in to Fish Creek Pass. At the pass however it was blowing like crazy (40 mph gusts) and we wondered what the weather would hold for us Saturday with clouds rolling in. We opted to tag Courtney quickly then drop to Star Lake to camp about an hour before sunset.

 

Courtney summit p0rn:

 

Star from Courtney:

 

Summit views:

 

The weather came in at night, with wind, rain, hail and snow. At 6:30 am we awoke to a whiteout and temps in the 20s with windchill. We slowly got going and headed up Star.

 

 

 

It took about 2:20 to get up Star and clouds were going in and out on the way up, but we ascended into a whiteout on the summit block and resigned ourselves to no views, huddling in an alcove, and taking a food and water break. Miraculously the fog cleared and we got our views, albeit with the prices of admission being a healthy dose of cold and wind.

 

Valley near Star Lake:

 

 

We returned to camp, and packed up, heading over to the base of Oval via the abandoned Buttermilk Ridge trail.

 

Leaving camp:

 

 

We arrived at camp with plenty of daylight to camp and relax but not enough to summit Oval then, so we opted for the former and set our alarms for 6:30.

 

The weather had already improved and that night was quite pleasant - clear and less windy. We got up to a frosty morning and headed up. We made quick work of Oval arriving at the summit well before noon. We lounged around for an hour taking in the views.

 

Pond at camp below Oval Peak:

 

Oval Peak summit p0rn:

 

 

Finally we dropped to camp, packed up and headed to the cars, Kellys in Mazama for dinner, and a long drive home.

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

Warm clothes

[ivan]

hard to comprehend n' capture fall in this fell-land of cyprus n' cedar n' everywhere-evergreen - congrats

[genepires]

in your second photo, is that snow dusting on the ground and mountain? looks kinda wierd, like maybe ash.

 

really nice photos and one to put on my list for next fall.

 

 

[KaskadskyjKozak]

in your second photo, is that snow dusting on the ground and mountain? looks kinda wierd, like maybe ash.

 

really nice photos and one to put on my list for next fall.

 

 

Yes it stormed all night on Friday and we got trace snow. It melted by Saturday afternoon and the weather cleared up and was perfect through Sunday.

 

I highly recommend the trip. We had the whole place to ourselves and only saw one other party in passing near oval. OH, and a cowboy on horseback rounding up his cattle to take back off the mountain from fall grazing. He merely passed us on the trail on Friday.