Trip Report: Clemen Mountain Tour (10-04-08)

[Jerry]

CLEMEN MOUNTAIN TOUR
October 4, 2008


A WET WELCOME

It was a wet welcome to normally sunny central Washington. We had been rained on for two days straight and Friday afternoon was no exception. I had driven from Yakima to our cabin on Hwy 410 shortly after noon on Friday. After turning on the heat and making sure everything was in working order I drove a few miles up the road to the Wenatchee National Forest and the Kaner Flats Campground where some of the guys were planning to camp out for the weekend. When I arrived I found Phil and his son Travis from Newcastle, Washington setting up a rather large pop-up tent trailer. All the comforts of home! We chatted while Phil affixed poles to the awning and pulled boxes of camping gear from compartments in the side of the trailer. We made arrangements to meet later at Gold Creek Station for a dinner.

Dinner was great and afterwards Phil & Travis went back to camp to await the arrival of Jon who was expected around 7:30 and Brandon and his son who were coming in later. I headed back to the cabin in hopes of getting some much needed sleep.


BEST LAID PLANS OF MICE AND MEN, ETC, ETC

Before hitting the sack I plugged in my laptop to the local slower-than-a-snails-pace dial-up connection and found a message from Jon from Seattle. He had been in a car accident earlier in the evening and would not be joining us. Some kid had run smack into his truck. Bang! That was really bad news. If you are reading this, Jon, we hope you are doing okay.

While I was finishing Jon’s email I heard this loud roar from above. It was a gully washer rain storm beating on the metal roof of the cabin. I could also hear the rain beating on the deck and on the ground. It was coming down like crazy. I wondered how Phil & Travis were doing and whether Brandon had arrived yet. What a horrible night to be camping out.


BREAKFAST AT SQUAW ROCK

Under cloudy skies and one or two stray rain drops our hearty group met at the Squaw Rock Resort Restaurant for breakfast. I was up and around early so I arrived first and secured seating arrangements. Then came Eric from Boring, Oregon who had driven his Jeep Wrangler Unlimited up from the Portland area that morning. Next to show was Grant from Everett who had driven over that morning in his Toyota 4Runner. And then came our campers, Brandon and son Farron from Olympia in their Toyota Land Cruiser and Phil and his son Travis from Newcastle in their Ford Explorer. And finally were Brian & Cindy from Gig Harbor, Washington who had also driven over that morning in their Toyota 4Runner. And me, I am Jerry from Yakima, Washington and I was driving my Ford Bronco II.

Over breakfast we learned that Brandon had set up his camp in the rainstorm the night before. And I also informed everyone that Jon could not make the trip.

The restaurant was crowded with elk hunters when I arrived at eight-thirty, but they soon left and made room for our group at the big table. We got out of the restaurant around 10:15 AM and headed down the Chinook Pass Highway under mostly cloudy skies, ala peek-a-boo spots of blue.


GARRETT CANYON

A short distance down the highway we pulled off in a wide spot to air down our tires. It was the last place to fit all six of our rigs before we turned off on the Garrett Canyon Road. The Garrett Canyon Road is a rocky two-track that begins climbing immediately after turning off the highway. The road surface is of heavy crushed rock and pit run, tough material to hold up to heavy spring runoff. We were fortunate in that the usual narrow brushy corridor had been trimmed and we suffered few, if any, pinstripes. The road offered some holes and frame flexing whoop-de-do’s, but nothing serious. Just enough to make it a fun drive.

We were traveling within the Oak Creek Wildlife Area, a Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife preserve set aside to provide for local elk herds and bighorn sheep. As we climbed in elevation we kept our eyes open for wildlife and in so doing we spotted the top of the ridge, or at least as much as we could see. It was covered in fog! Funny, Brandon had announced over the CB only minutes before that the last time he drove the ridge road it was too foggy to see very much. As we were approaching an open area where there is normally a nice view of the valley the darned fog rolled in. We could see our immediate surroundings, but nothing further than a few hundred yards, if that. Dang!

We were on our way to Sanford Pasture, a huge meadow that I remember and reported to our group as being a beautiful place with sparse pines and literally hundreds of deer. I had been there twice before, but the last time was over five years ago. When we reached the meadow all the standing trees and brush were black from a burn and there was not a deer in sight. We passed piles of charred trees that had been placed there by cleanup crews and the meadow grass was brown from the un-shaded hot summer sun. It was a horrible sight and an awful way to dull good memories. Near the top of the meadow we turned off the Garrett Canyon Road onto the Mud Lake Road.


CLEMEN RIDGE

The Mud Lake Road, named after a pond at the lower end of the road, made a couple of switchbacks and ended at the Clemen Mountain Ridge Road. We were finally on top with only a short distance to go before we reached the highest point of 5115 feet. There used to be a lookout tower on Clemen, but they dismantled it a couple of years ago and all that remains today are concrete foundations.

By now the fog was worse, sometimes allowing only a couple hundred feet visibility. We stayed in contact via our CB radios and tried to keep a good sense of humor as we drove past obvious view points. We made our first real rest stop on the ridge road. Although it was foggy, there was just enough of a breeze to be uncomfortable and it was c-c-cold. Fortunately the fog cleared barely enough to get a glimpse of the valley, teasing us to come back again someday for the real thing. While most of us enjoyed the view the boys were playing and getting along great.

Clemen Mountain is steep with high cliffs on the west side, but it gently slopes eastward into the Wenas Valley. As we drove the ridge we passed a couple of roads closed to the public that led down the east side of the mountain. There are several closed roads in most wildlife areas that are managed for the betterment of the animals. Our goal was the Hardy Canyon Road, a green dot road, that when we reached it we hardly recognized it as a road.

END PART I

[OlympiaFJ60]

Thanks Jerry for another fun outing. Farron and I had a great time. It was a great excuse to get one last camping trip in this "summer".

Here are a few pictures.

The Camp






Into the Fog


A quick glimpse of a view


Out of the Fog


Looking forward to the next one we can go on.

[Photog]

We had a great time, and wish there was time to stop for more photographs. Here are a few of the ones we had time to take.

Our first stop, and the views from this point.






The trail was a little muddy.


We were up in the clouds. We stopped here to have lunch, and see if the clouds would break. They didn't.


Parts of the trail were brushy, and plenty of sharp rocks; but nothing too serious.


Fall colors were out in force, and there were many great photos to be taken. Every little stream had colorful brush and trees.



After the drive, we stopped over at the Kaner campground for some more chatting, and a steak. Thanks Phil.






We had a good opportunity to check out Brandon's ARB roof-top-tent.


Great trip, even with the low clouds.

[Albino94ltd]

You guys missed the movie We watched it inside the tent trailer, where the heat was

I haven't done anything with my pictures yet. I got a couple of the travel trailer going up the trail

There was about 2" of snow on the road when we headed back over Chinook Pass

[Jerry]

Originally Posted by Albino94ltd

You guys missed the movie We watched it inside the tent trailer, where the heat was

I haven't done anything with my pictures yet. I got a couple of the travel trailer going up the trail

There was about 2" of snow on the road when we headed back over Chinook Pass

Thanks for the update. Two inches of snow?! No wonder you guys watched the movie inside the tent trailer. It's a good thing you have a BIG trailer. Thanks for everything, Phil, yours and Travis' company, the pics, the steak and the refreshments. Much appreciated and we are looking forward to doing it again tomorrow...well, soon.

[Albino94ltd]

for being a gracious host. You're a mountain of knowledge, must have come the your days in Real Estate?

When we make a weekend of it, we MAKE A WEEKEND of it

I see Brian made it home safely

I only have a few pictures, I'll send them to you, to post as you see fit. I spent more time with the old video camera. That's the first time I tried that set up. It might work pretty good as long as the image stabilization is on. It is kind of hard to see to the right though

[Photog]

When we came across the pass, Saturday evening, the temp was 36 and falling. The rain was turning to snow. I figured it would probably be sticking by morning.

[Jerry]

CLEMEN MOUNTAIN TOUR (PART II)
October 4, 2008


HARDY CANYON

Spotting the Hardy Canyon Road was tough. By watching our odometer we knew it was close, but seeing it in the fog presented a problem. The ridge had turned to a rocky surface of gray colored stones and there was little vegetation to delineate the roadway. Thank goodness for a green dot marker that gave us our only clue. We drove in the direction of the Hardy Canyon Road, but decided to stop for lunch before venturing further into the fog. Maybe it would burn off while we ate?

We got lucky as the fog drifted off for a few minutes. We enjoyed a great view of the Wenas Valley and spotted our road as it dropped off the ridge, but the fog was back again before we finished our lunch.

Enough waiting already! We drove ahead and slowly dropped down the east side of the mountain and out of the fog. Wow, a clear view! We saw the valley and also saw another ridge, part of Clemen Mountain I did not know about. I am coming back again next year.

As we descended a couple of quads (ATVs) came up the hill and we talked for a few minutes. They warned us that a pickup truck pulling a camp trailer was on the way up the two-track Hardy Canyon Road and that there were few places to pull out. They told us the trailer was a couple of miles down the hill and to watch out for it.

Considering the possibility of confronting the trailer on a narrow road with few pull outs, I drove ahead leaving the group behind to await a radio call as to road conditions. I found several places to pull off the road so I radioed back to the group to come ahead. Brian was in the lead and when I ventured too far ahead he still received my signal and passed it on to the others.

We encountered two groups of quads heading up the hill. They told us of the trailer and also of a slow moving pickup. As I continued in the direction of the notorious trailer I was beginning to wonder if it was still on the trail. And yes it was! Right in front of me was a big bulky camp trailer taking up the whole road and behind him was the slow moving pickup. In talking with the guy pulling the trailer I told him we had five more rigs behind me. The plan was for everyone to find their own pullout as they should have plenty of time to do before the trailer reached them. It worked out fine and the slow moving pickup followed the trailer allowing for clear sailing the rest of the way down the Hardy Canyon Road.


ELK FEEDING AREA

The Hardy Canyon Road led to a large pasture at the base of Clemen Mountain, one of several places where the DFW feeds wintering elk herds. But, there were no elk this day, only elk hunters. They were camped all over the place.

After a short meeting and agreeing as to which route we should take next Eric decided to take advantage of the paved road leading back to the freeway. He had a long drive in front of him, all the way back to the Portland area and we appreciate his traveling such a long distance to be with us. But before we could reach the pavement we tried exiting at the closest gate to the Wenas Road, but it was locked and we had to drive to the next exit. We crossed Wenas Creek, opened two gates, closing them behind us, and Eric turned south while the rest of us turned north and drove to the community of Wenas.


ROCKY PRAIRIE ROAD

We drove the mostly unimproved Rocky Prairie Road as it followed Wenas Creek to the base of the mountains. From there the road led us through wide open spaces of shrub steppe to small clumps of pine forests as it continually climbed the east side of the ridge closely following the historic Fort Walla Walla to Steilacoom Citizens Trail. Before long we had entered the Wenatchee National Forest and came out at Rocky Prairie, a name dubbed by folks on the 1853 wagon train that crossed Naches Pass.

The trip down the west side of the mountain was fast; all improved gravel Forest Service roads. The road came out on Hwy 410 near Squaw Rock and we pulled over to air up our tires and plan the evening activities.


BARBECUE

Phil and Brandon offered everyone to come back to their campsites at Kaner Flats to enjoy some barbecued steak and refreshments before their treks home. It was on the way to Chinook Pass so how could anyone turn that down? While we enjoyed some good food we looked over Brandon’s homemade off road trailer complete with generator and other heavy duty camping gear and we all had a good chance to visit. It was a good group.


THE TRIP HOME

The west-siders reported snow on Chinook Pass on their way home, the campers watched a movie Saturday night inside Phil’s trailer and my trip back to Yakima was absolutely and completely uneventful. But, I had a really great day and thanks to everyone who came.

[OlympiaFJ60]

Originally Posted by Albino94ltd

I see Brian made it home safely

Originally Posted by Photog

When we came across the pass, Saturday evening, the temp was 36 and falling. The rain was turning to snow. I figured it would probably be sticking by morning.

We headed home the way Brian started out. It will get you home but it would have been hard to find the correct gravel roads in the dark

Heading up the Little Naches Road (Rd 19) we turned right onto the 1914 road. This road makes it's way up the east side of the mountains and travels through forest service, State and possibly private ownership. Not too far from the 19 road we crossed the path of the "Naches Trail" that travels close to the original wagon route. We crested near 5,000 feet but didn't see any snow. The road turns into the 7038 (?) I think. This road turns onto the 70 road near the other end of the "Naches Trail". From there we followed the 70 road to Hwy 410 just east of Greenwater.

I am trying to get my GPS tracks onto a TOPO! map and will post them up when done.

[Jerry]

Originally Posted by OlympiaFJ60

We headed home the way Brian started out. It will get you home but it would have been hard to find the correct gravel roads in the dark

Heading up the Little Naches Road (Rd 19) we turned right onto the 1914 road. This road makes it's way up the east side of the mountains and travels through forest service, State and possibly private ownership. Not too far from the 19 road we crossed the path of the "Naches Trail" that travels close to the original wagon route. We crested near 5,000 feet but didn't see any snow. The road turns into the 7038 (?) I think. This road turns onto the 70 road near the other end of the "Naches Trail". From there we followed the 70 road to Hwy 410 just east of Greenwater.

I am trying to get my GPS tracks onto a TOPO! map and will post them up when done.

We refer to that as the Pyramid Pass route. The FS road becomes a private road at the pass and crosses the Cascade Crest near Pyramid Peak. To the best of my knowledge the pass has not been officially named, but just say Pyramid Pass and anyone in the know will know what you are talking about.