Alpine Scramble - McLeod Mountain

On a sunny but chilly Saturday morning, we met up at the Goat Creek SnoPark, then headed up the Goat Creek Road, taking the spur to 5225, but then turning off and not going to the lookout TH, taking spur 100 instead.  Spur 100 is in excellent condition, then we took the spur at the approximately 4300’ mark.  This road is okay, but gets skinnier and rougher and rockier.  We were in an SUV and did fine.  We elected to stop at the SW trending shoulder at 5300’, but probably could have continued further if we were braver.  (It was not my car…)  Not bad for an easy 1000’ of gain!

After getting boots and packs sorted, we walked the road to its end, then began heading up the ridge line.  There are sometimes deer trails, some possible boot tracks, and then up a bit higher, some fire remediation scars left over from the 2018 McLeod Fire.  The way is generally easy.  As we ascended, there were increasingly clear marks of old trails cut into the land.  Some day, I will find an old map of the Okanogan NF and learn more about this.  At the 7000’, there is a memorial to a skier who perished in an avalanche in this area.  The way now enters the actual burn, not just the remediation scar.  The occasional trail gets lost in some of the fire scar, but then is found in the final traverse to the former lookout site on Setting Sun Mountain.  Super nice views into the Lost River drainage, back towards Washington Pass, as well as south and east - a really lovely viewpoint!

But I forgot to mention the larches!  Definitely coming into full glory.  It is interesting to see more clearly which areas they love to grow in, and which they would rather ignore.  We retraced our steps back, following the ridge.  We briefly contemplated running the ridge east to Peachy Peak, but decided to instead just enjoy the afternoon and head down, so that the one party member heading back to the coast could get over the passes before dark.  We only saw two others this day - hunters who reported coming in from the Peachy Peak side.  Definitely a trip to repeat!