Onto Ice Creek Camp

Pomas Creek trail

Okay, I am relatively certain that this is not a personal issue. I’m pretty sure that anybody who has ever gone hiking resents having to work so hard to gain elevation, only to lose it, then struggle to gain it back again to climb the next ridge. I guess that is just the nature of the mountains … you go up only to go down. But sometimes it really sucks.

Anyhow… This little section up above Larch Lakes that runs from Larch Pass to Pomas Pass is really quite lovely, even though it was a bit of a grind getting out of the lake basin. But from Poma Pass onward, it was downhill all the way.

Entiat Mountains and Ice Creek Meadows

At 4300’ we crossed Ice Creek for the first time and headed up the Ice Creek trail to a beautiful meadow camp at 5500’. Micki and I gladly took our packs off and I set up the tent in this beautiful setting. It would obviously make a great basecamp for further explorations and I had sort of planned to use it in that fashion.

There’s a short, but steep climb (1300’) to Lower Ice Lake from this meadow camp. I was feeling pretty good after getting that pack off my back and as Micki and I lounged about, I began to ponder the possibility of packing everything up to the lower lake. With a night’s rest, I’d be ready to go!

Entiat Mountains and Ice Creek Meadows

And it would give me the option of extending the hike to Entiat Meadows by going over a pass from Lower Ice Lake. It looks kind of steep on the map, so I’ll have to take a look at the route to see if it would be feasible. If not, I can always come back the same way I went in.

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