Buck Creek Trail: Day 2

In the middle of the night, I awoke from a light that illuminated our yellow and white tent. Nothing stands out like a full moon in a dark wilderness. At daybreak, the skies were clear but a high cloud cover would soon sweep into the valley over Buck Mountain (above).

We broke camp and started our long trek to Buck Creek Pass, about eight miles up the trail. According to Fred Beckey, legendary mountaineer and author, “the unnecessary low-gradient switchbacks add needless distance” to the trail. True that, but the moderate tread was a welcome respite compared to some trails in the area.

After an hour or so, ominous clouds from the predicted storm brought rain. The good news was that the precipitation doused the black flies completely for the next 24 hours. More good news: the storm was brief and the sun shortly reappeared for the remainder of the day.

The brief storm led to a discussion of rain gear. Back in the day, wool was the clothing of choice for dealing with inclement weather. Though somewhat bulky, wool would keep you warm even when wet. Today, quick-drying synthetics are the rule in the backcountry: super light and easy to store in your backpack.

By the time we reached Mile 9 on the Buck Creek Trail, the troops were clearly ready to call it a day and pitch camp.

As the trail rounded Helmet Butte on the north side of the pass, we were rewarded with our patience and persistence with stunning views of Buck Mountain, Mt. Berge and Mt. Cleator (above, from left to right) down valley and Glacier Peak (below) to the west.

The next day, we would trek even higher, taking the trail to High Pass on the cusp between the Napeequa, Chiwawa and Suiattle Rivers.

Buck Creek Trail: Day 1

Due to a late night and the need to coordinate gear/food for our excursion, we didn’t make it to the trailhead at Trinity until 3 p.m. on Sunday, August 5. We looked a bit like the Russian army prior to the Nazi invasion: confused. Nonetheless, we would –- like that same Russian army –- ultimately prevail.

The goal was to pack as lightly as possible, which requires coordination. For example, we didn’t need to bring four camp stoves, or four tents, or four sets of cookware. So we worked through the issue of who was bringing what, and planned the daily meals.

Like backpacks, camp stoves have improved over the years. In the early years, we’d simply cook over a campfire. But with wood becoming increasingly scarce, most responsible backpackers started using single-burner stoves powered by white gas. Although certainly serviceable, white gas can be messy and smelly, and you have to prime the pump to build pressure in the cylinder.

Enter propane, the fuel of choice for backpacking in the 70s and beyond. My trusty Camping Gaz Turbo 270 lasted for my entire career as a wilderness ranger. Today, my stove of choice is the Jetboil Flash, an all-in-one design that combines the wind-protected burner and cooking vessel in one compact unit. Everything is stacked inside the one-liter cooking cup. The system lights with the click of a button and boiling water is yours within two minutes.

Having decided to bring two stoves (we brought Frank’s MSR stove as backup), we proceeded up the hot and dusty trail, swatting black flies in the 80-degree temperatures as we hiked. Passing the junction of the Buck Creek Trail and the Chiwawa Basin Trail, we made it another mile or so before settling on a well-worn campsite at the three-mile mark near the footbridge over the Chiwawa River.

Setting up camp near the footbridge (shown below in my wilderness ranger days), we were relieved –- after all the preparation and planning –- to finally be in the wilderness. Tomorrow would be another day. And what a day it would be.