I'm a little behind again on the trip reports. A memorial service for Grandma plus the wonderful familial chaos plus a working weekend left no mountain time or even time for recounting.
Two days after the Mt. St. Helens trip, I was back in the mountains with a total different set of girlfriends in an entirely different part of the state for a worthy objective: Hoodoo Peak. Hoodoo is one of the highest 100 peaks in Washington. It's 8464' and ranked 59th out of the 100 peaks.
After possibly 150 emails Jenny, Miyabi, Emily, and I agreed to meet at Jenny's house at 0700 Saturday morning. Miyabi generously drove the giant Pilot to accomodate all 4 of us and our gear. Not to appear ungrateful, but I simply have to comment on Miyabi's driving speed: she drives more slowly than me. She drives more slowly than our absent friend Shannon. Which is to say, slow. However, once we were on the windy dirt road out of the Twisp/Carlton area (after a stop at the Winthrop Bakery and a gear store for a forest pass), Miyabi found the gas pedal. Woohoo!
Two other vehicles were at the trailhead. It was hot but thankfully not buggy. The trail is steep and switchbacks up in the beginning then descends a bit later, which is alarming after all the effort put into the ascent. The trail passes through an old burn and then ascends again into sub-alpine with giant granite boulders. Along the way we encountered a solo dayhiker who had been to the lake. The route description in Peggy Goldman's book advises following the drainage to Hoodoo Peak after on of the boulder fields. However, that was confusing so we continued on the trail, knowing it terminated at Libby Lake, which was our camp for the night.
We reached the old cabin as described in the "Summit Routes" book. A pair of backpackers with old, servicable gear were resting and perhaps pondering their next move. We didn't discuss their plans. An obvious trail went to the right of the cabin but we knew the trail to the lake went left. We decided to go to the lake to set up camp then figure out how to get to Hoodoo.
The lake is stunning as it sits in a rocky circue at about 7400'. Finding camps is difficult as the ground is very rocky. We found two sites near each other and away from the lake. After tents were set up we headed north over the low part of the cirque, descended into a swampy basin then worked our way up to the base of Hoodoo Peak. Hoodoo Peak is a mound of blocky talus. The route is a matter of picking one's way through the blocks. Jenny and Miyabi lead the way while Emily and I were the rear-guard.
At one point Jenny tripped while building a nice cairn and tore an impressive gash in her shin. Undaunted she continued on to the summit. Meanwhile I was daunted without having a major wound. The ascent seemed to take forever with the summit remaining the same distance out of reach in spite of perceived progress. Emily patiently listened to my philosophizing without offering any scoffing.
And then we were all on the summit! The views are astounding. We could see Oval (2007) and Star (rained out) Peaks to the north, the basin that contains Lake Chelan to the west, and Bigelow Peak (2009) to the south.
The route down was easier than I expected and by retracing our route we were back in camp in an hour. After a very quick, invigorating dunk in the lake, dinner was the usual fare of something dehydrated. I attempted a lemon pudding dessert but perhaps added too much water. Or grabbed the packet that requires cooking in the store. I don't know but my pudding was runny. I saved it for breakfast with fig newtons and hazelnuts.
After dinner we sat around a small campfire and enjoyed port that Emily had brought. Twilight lasted a long time, longer than I did which is not unusual. Conversation was dotted with laughter and an easiness that comes with good companionship. The lake was still, the cirque aflame in alpenglow, and the stars just beginning to twinkle.
No other hikers came in that night. It was a fabulously lonely place. There were no critters, barely any birds. Breakfast and packing was leisurely, as was the hike out. We don't know what happened to the pair with vintage gear but we never saw them after the cabin. A young ambitous man hiked up the trail and asked for some beta on the routes. We described Hoodoo and told him that the approach to Raven Ridge appeared to be filled with snow.
Raven Ridge (aka Libby Mountain) is also one of the 100 highest and a neighbor of Hoodoo Peak but time, conditions, and ambition (lack of) prevented us from claiming that peak too. Oh well, Libby Lake is a worthy destination and I wouldn't mind going there again.
Stats: Elevation gain: +4000', Mileage: 10-12 RT (can be done as a day trip but then you'd miss the great lake), TH: Libby Creek, Fun Factor: Awesome!
Here are the pictures.