Gothic BasinThe weather report promises that this will be one of those days that I'm glad I have off from work. I'm to meet Carl, a machinist and volunteer fireman, in Granite Falls at 6:30 AM -- a two-hour drive for me. But being at an early hour, I made the trip in just over 60 minutes. Within 15 more minutes, after contacting Carl on his cell phone, we were driving to the Verlot Ranger Station to sign in and park one vehicle. The Barlow Pass trailhead is another 20 miles from the ranger station. As we were driving and talking, something in me asked Carl if he had everything (hikers do this, ya know) - suddenly he realized he left his boot back at his truck. Fortunately, we were only 10 minutes down the road, so we didn't lose much time.Within another half hour, we were shouldering our packs and took off down the road (yes, road -- Barlow Pass is closed to traffic so the first mile is on a dirt road.) At the junction of the river (actually a creek -- Weden Creek), we turned right and began the slow, steady hike towards Gothic Basin. The trail first follows along a river and to the right. We hear the sounds for close to an hour before fading away and is replaced by other sounds of moving water. We hike through a few small meadows, thick and full of rich greens of ferns and small growth plants. One aspect of this trip that we immediately had views of the surrounding mountain peaks, Sperry and Vesper. The views continued with us the entire hike, at first mostly to our left. The trail, though not easy, was well-traveled. Exiting the meadows, we entered into a second-growth forest which offered welcome relief from the heat that was intensifying. Accompanying the heat, which we discover when we stopped for our first break, were hungry black flies. They really didn't bite, but they were definitely a nuisance and very thick. As a result, we now had some incentive to keep moving as much as possible. The trail had few switchbacks, therefore ascended rather steeply for almost an hour before we had a reprieve. As we gained elevation, the trail traversed around the Del Campo 'massif' (which is on the opposite side from where we were heading). We gained a clearing and could now see that the trail crossed one of three small, but steep snowfields. Just before the first snowfield, and as we came out of the forest and into the sunlight, we passed by a beautiful waterfall about 100 feet above us. The water cascading down along the rock face and splashing about, then pooling around the trail and our feet, was a refreshing pause. We stopped, took a couple pictures, rested and had a snack. The second snowfield was interesting. I approached it first and determined that, though small, we should take out our ice-axes out. As I looked up the snowfield, which is just a gully filled in with snow, from which underneath the snow-melt is creating water for the rivers below. This process carves the snow out from the bottom and inside, creating a cave for the water to flow. On top, to us, it's a 'snow bridge' that we need to either go over, or around. We chose to go over (not the best choice, however, as we found out later that the snow bridge was only a couple of feet thick). But we had no problems and continued up and around the slopes, still ascending higher. The trail now changes perspective and becomes more of a boot path, or climbers path as we near the basin. Sperry and Vesper mountains are now behind us and Del Campo is out of sight, but off to our right. One more snowfield to go, but this time we go straight up for about 100 fet. I'm in front and kick steps for Carl to follow. As I reach the basin, I discover that the entire basin (about 5200 feet) is still covered in a heavy blanket of snow. The temperature is about 75 to 80, no clouds, no wind, and here on the snow, the bugs seem to diminish in intensity. In the basin, straight ahead is the pointed peak of Sheep Gap Mountain (5819 ft). To the left at 2 o'clock position is Gothic Peak and at 4 o'clock is Del Campo. Now on the snow, sunglasses are a must because of the sun's bright glare reflecting off the snow. As we continue on toward Del Campo and Gothic Peak (with Foggy Lake at the foot of both), we pass by a few small ponds that are still frozen over with melting snow and ice. As the snow melts away, it reveals a pretty blue ice underneath. Projecting out of the snow are 'rock mounds' appearing like islands amid a sea of snow. One more snow ascent of about 500 feet brings us to the edge above Foggy Lake. Del Campo rises to the right (1 o'clock) to a height of 6610 feet. Gothic Peak to the left, a height of 6213 feet. At the foot of both, a still-frozen Foggy Lake serves as the drainage point for the melting snow, that eventually drains into Weden Creek. This marks our destination point after a little more than four hours of hiking. We find one of the rock islands to set back, relax, eat lunch and drink in the surrounding views. A difference that I noted here, as compared to the mountains at Snoqualmie Pass, is the peaks and landscape have more of a 'wild' or 'untamed' appearance to them. They seem less accessible and require more effort to reach the various peaks. But with the effort, the reward is also greater. After a rest, we decide to at least gain one "summit", which for us, was a peak that connected to Del Campo. We left the packs at the lake and scrambled (rather boulder-hopped) along the slope, to a small, wet but steeper heather meadow leading up a shoulder to a high point. At the crest I find a old weathered tree snag, and claim this as my summit. A short stay on the top, a few more pictures and it's time to leave. Before we reach the packs once again, Carl replenishes his water bottle with the snow melt from the lake. I tried the water first - it was some of the cleanest tasting water I've ever tried (though it's always advisable to purify the water prior to drinking it). |
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