This was a 7 day backpacking trip along the Chelan Summit. We call it the "George" Hike, because at the pack check the night before we left, Bill Peckinpaugh's childhood friend, Jorge (George) Gonzalles was looking wistfully as we were getting ready. I asked him if he wanted to go, and he agreed to come.
Unfortunately, I didn't get photos for the middle of the trip, and so I missed a lot of scenery. At the Junction Camp (below Boiling Lake), I missed Shelby's Bug, where on a bet he ate a "cricket" like bug about 2 inches long, not just swallowing it, but crunching it with his teeth. When asked why he did that, he said that "If I'm going to eat it, I might as well see what it tastes like!
Another memorable moment (well that may be stretching it, maybe unforgettable is more appropriate) is when we got a double full moon, as the moon was rising above our camp at Surprise Lake, George decided to bend over when he was taking a bath in the creek.
Adults on this trip:
Bill Mooseker, Bill Peckinpaugh, Jorge Gonzales
Scouts on this trip:
Adam Phillips, Danny Stallings, Charles "Chip" Walker, Peter Goodwin, Roger Shively, Brian Sisk, Shelby Stong, Austin Peckinpaugh
Troop 24 "The High Adventure Troop" Backpacking Trip
-Cascade Bill Mooseker
Date(s): July 1997. Album by Cascade Bill. 1 - 72 of 72 Total. 3650 Visits.
enlarge 354KB, 1024x702 1 pics 1
To enlarge photos, click on the thumbnail - the photo will pop up enlarged to 1024 pixels max (height or width). To view at Original size, just click on the enlarged photo, which will show the photo enlarged to fit the screen. Click on the screen to enlarge that portion of the photo at original resolution. Click again to reduce.
If you want to save photos to your computer, click the box under the thumbnails of all the photos you want to download. Then click the "Download" button at the top of the album. Pick the size you'd like to download (Original is best)and the photos will be downloaded as a zip file to the folder of your choice.
enlarge 416KB, 1024x759 2 Map day 1
enlarge 221KB, 1024x940 3 Day 1
enlarge 351KB, 1024x644 4 Map day 2
enlarge 151KB, 1024x679 5 Day 2
enlarge 499KB, 668x1024 6 97George001 First day stats: 7 miles, 2480' climbed, 490' dropped.
It's a long grind to Martin Lake, and since I'd been on this hike a couple of times already, I didn't get any photos on the first day. This is on the morning of the 2nd day at Martin Lake.
enlarge 416KB, 1024x674 7 97George002 Gang at Lower Martin Lake.
enlarge 490KB, 674x1024 8 97George003 Martin Peak and Lower Martin Lake.
enlarge 462KB, 1024x653 9 97George004 Shelby, Peter (behind tree), Danny, and Adam.
enlarge 417KB, 671x1024 10 97George005 On the trail between Martin and Cooney Lake. Adam, Peter, Danny, Chip, Brian, Bill P., Austin, Roger, and George.
enlarge 527KB, 1024x678 11 97George006 Bill Peckinpaugh bringing his gear into the campsite.
It was an easy day to get to Cooney Lake from Martin Lakes. All the good camps at the lake were taken so we made our camp in the meadows below the lake.
enlarge 456KB, 1024x674 12 97George007 Brian and Bill P. on the Angel Staircase above Lake Cooney. Additional stats for side trip up the Angel Staircase: 1.5 miles and 750' climbed
Not having hiked the Angel Staircase before, Bill P., Brian, and I headed up the trail to check it out. There was a large snowfield that we could see from the lake, and I was worried that the trail would not be open (it was still early in the year).
enlarge 301KB, 674x1024 13 97George008
Brian on the Angel Staircase Trail - Martin Peak in the background.
enlarge 365KB, 1024x762 14 97George009 Cropped version of previous photo.
enlarge 315KB, 1024x674 15 97George010 The signpost here marks the junction with the Sunrise Lake trail.
The first pass along the Angel Staircase - we found that the trail was open (the trail skirted the snowfield that had me worried).
enlarge 311KB, 1024x670 16 97George011
View of Sunrise Lake and Merchant's Basin from the pass above Cooney Lake (Elev 7950').
enlarge 420KB, 1024x671 18 97George013 On our way back down - Brian and Bill.
enlarge 361KB, 644x1024 19 Map day 3
enlarge 188KB, 1024x769 20 Day 3
enlarge 366KB, 1024x673 21 97George014 Day 3: Danny, Chip, and Peter in camp pumping water.
Peter got his nickname as "Bucketfoot" by putting his foot in the Pot we had cooked supper in. Fortunately, we had already doled out the portions.
As you can see, if you are going to hike the Chelan Summit in July there are going to be hordes of bugs!
Cascade Bill tip: If you are going to pump water, always pump from a water jug or pail and not directly from a stream or lake. Doing so allows sediment to settle and you can find a comfortable spot to sit while pumping. As a bonus, your filter will last much longer.
Heading up the Angel Staircase. You can see the snowfield that had me worried.
enlarge 415KB, 1024x674 24 97George017
Shelby and George below with Brian and Bill P. above heading up the very steep Angel Staircase.
enlarge 372KB, 1024x672 25 97George019
View of Cooney lake from this vantage point is very spectacular.
enlarge 351KB, 1024x674 26 97George020
Standing: George, Peter, Chip, Danny, Bill P., Adam, Austin, and Roger. Kneeling: Shelby, and Brian.
enlarge 382KB, 1024x674 27 97George021
If you look close you can see Brian's purple Jansport Pack. He took so much crap about it we never saw it on another trip.
enlarge 374KB, 1024x674 28 97George022
You can see the guys going up the trail as it crosses the talus slope just below the ridge crest.
When you get to the pass above Cooney Lake you groan as you see that you have another 150-200' to climb to reach the ridge above Merchant's Basin.
enlarge 360KB, 1024x671 29 97George023
Chip, Peter, Adam, and Danny at the crest. You can't see Lake Chelan from here but you can see the peaks on the western side of the lake.
You can just make out Glacier Peak at the center as it is masked by a nearer peak on the west side of Lake Chelan.
enlarge 379KB, 1024x671 30 97George024
Once you reach the crest, the trail continues to traverse in a southerly direction before going over to the other side for the descent.
Pyramid Mountain can be seen on the opposite ridge at the center of the photo.
enlarge 405KB, 1024x674 31 97George025 Another view.
enlarge 365KB, 1024x672 32 97George026
Its a steep descent on the western side of the Angel Staircase to the junction with the Chelan Summit Trail. This typical of the stretch north of the trail junction as the trail traverses pleasant meadows with views in all directions. Chip, Peter, Danny Adam, George, Roger, Austin, Shelby, Bill P., and Brian.
Unfortunately, when I changed the film after this shot, it wasn't engaged and I got no pictures from here to the pass above Tuckaway Lake. I've added photos from other trips along this hike to fill in the missing gap in photos.
enlarge 391KB, 1024x675 33 1989-166-015
enlarge 218KB, 1024x664 34 1989-166-019
enlarge 297KB, 1024x678 35 91-191-014
enlarge 355KB, 1024x675 36 Map day 4
enlarge 199KB, 1024x807 37 Day 4
enlarge 292KB, 1024x689 38 2002-387-001
enlarge 414KB, 758x1024 39 Map day 5
enlarge 178KB, 1152x700 40 Day 5
enlarge 276KB, 1024x680 41 2002-386-020
enlarge 415KB, 1024x772 42 Map day 6
enlarge 204KB, 1024x868 43 Day 6
enlarge 359KB, 1024x670 44 97George027 Hey, the camera is working again.
Roger, Austin, and Chip taking a break at the pass above Tuckaway Lake.
Some of us headed up the ridge to climb Gray Peak. While we were away, Bill P. and George put a 15 pound rock in Adam's pack. (to be continued.)
enlarge 412KB, 1024x672 45 97George028
On the way to Gray Peak - we get this view of tiny Tuckaway lake, aptly named as it is truly tucked into a basin.
The previous day we had day hiked up to the lake to do some fishing for small trout.
enlarge 315KB, 1024x670 46 97George029
Another view from the ridge on the way to Gray Peak.
enlarge 246KB, 1024x671 47 97George030 Gray Peak is a "bump" along the ridge.
enlarge 240KB, 1024x671 48 97George031
If you enlarge the photo you can see the guys as stick figures along the ridge.
enlarge 230KB, 1024x671 49 97George032
Enlarge to original size to see the guys at the summit of Gray Peak (Elev 8082).
enlarge 257KB, 1024x669 50 97George033
Adam, Shelby, Austin, and Brian at the summit of Gray Peak.
enlarge 228KB, 1024x673 51 97George034
Looking SW from the summit - Pyramid Peak can be seen at the left side of the picture (peak with finger like snowfield extending to the ridge.
enlarge 373KB, 1024x670 52 97George035 The guys are heading back down the ridge.
enlarge 346KB, 1024x670 53 97George036
Looking north from the summit towards Tuckaway Lake. If you enlarge to original size, you can see the packs and the guys that didn't want to climb Gray Peak on the ridge just above where the trail down to the W Oval Lake heads down the slope.
enlarge 422KB, 1024x668 54 97George037
Looking east, we can see West Oval Lake, which is our day's destination.
enlarge 290KB, 1024x675 55 97George038
Looking south from the summit. If you enlarge the photo to original size, you can see the old sheepherder trail as it reaches the crest of the ridge below Gray Peak. My son Greg and I tried to find this trail in 1982, which was marked on the old Green Trails map, but we couldn't find it. In 2002, Danny Stallings, Kyle Meissner, and I came up it after Danny found the vague tread. The Chelan Summit Trail comes over the pass to the right of the peak above the snowfield at the center of the picture.
enlarge 385KB, 1024x672 56 97George039 Another view of Tuckaway Lake.
enlarge 480KB, 1024x670 57 97George040
Packs on and heading down. We don't go on the trail that extends up to the top of the photo as that goes over the ridge to Middle Oval Lake. You can't see the junction with the Oval Lakes Trail from here.
By the way, I wonder if Adam is feeling the extra weight!
enlarge 290KB, 1024x670 58 97George041
On the way down, a snowfield covered the trail. Shelby took a spectualar spill along here, and Adam found a "lucky" horseshoe.
enlarge 307KB, 1024x674 59 97George042 On the way down.
enlarge 256KB, 1024x674 60 97George043 Chip and Danny - taking a dip in West Oval Lake.
When we got to the lake, we were all sitting around deciding where to set up camp, when Bill P. and George pulled big rocks of their packs (which they had just surreptitiously put in). George looked at Adam and said, "I can take a lot of things, but this is just BULLSHIT!. Adam said "It wasn't me, it wasn't me", and then found the big rock in his pack. We all got a big laugh.
enlarge 454KB, 1024x673 61 97George044
The fishing was good in the lake. We had a pool going for the biggest fish (about 25 bucks), and there were some big fish caught.
Adam (it just wasn't his day) got a really big one on. Bringing it in he picked up the line, and gave it a whack with his "Lucky" horseshoe. Instead of killing the fish, he knocked it back into the water.
enlarge 172.12MB, 1024x682 62 BillP-Luckyhorseshoe.mp4 VIDEO - Click Photo to View.
Bill Peckinpaugh tells the story of the "Lucky" horseshoe and the rocks in the pack. - Troop 24 Kickass Trekkers 2010 reunion.
enlarge 336KB, 675x1024 63 Map day 7
enlarge 186KB, 1024x747 64 Day 7
enlarge 491KB, 1024x670 65 97George045 Day 7 - heading out from our camp at West Oval Lake.
enlarge 410KB, 1024x641 66 97George046
Cascade Bill, Austin, Shelby, Brian, Peter, Adam, Bill P., George, Danny, Chip, and Roger.
enlarge 486KB, 1024x671 67 97George047 Another view.
enlarge 402KB, 1024x673 68 97George048
The Peckinpaugh Clan:Bill, Brian "Buckwheat" Sisk, and Austin.
enlarge 383KB, 1024x671 69 97George049 The old Farts: Bill P., Bill M., George.
enlarge 383KB, 1024x672 70 97George050 The "kids": Austin, Shelby, and Roger.
