Lyman Lakes

Well, it has been 3 months since my last post so I thought I would sit down and write a bit. Life has been very busy. Between working at my new job, remodeling our duplex, spending time with Paige and Pear, and eating there hasn't been much time for extra stuff. I did manage to go on an epic 3 day backpacking trip Lyman Lakes with a bunch of great guys at the end of July, and what a trip it was.

The Lyman Lakes are located in the Glacier Peak Wilderness on the eastern side of the North Cascades in Washington State. This is truly a fantastic area to explore.

There were 13 of us on the expedition and the group dynamic is one of the biggest reason the trip was such a good time.

The crew:

• Terry Corrigan (fishing addict, refinery and oil industry guru, enjoys a good cup of coffee, my uncle)

• Trevor Corrigan (active military, cribbage hustler, trained in the art of surveillance, hard-working, alpha male, jackhammer, merciless, insatiable, my cousin)

• Philip Corrigan (crazy, posh elite university student , literature and philosophy buff, frugal, possible socialist, enjoys free clothes, eats books for breakfast, as bent as the Soviet sickle and as hard as the hammer that crosses it, my cousin)

• Sean Roach (budding marketeer, carries a man-purse, fitness buff, frequently concerned of his image with the ladies, poor taste in movies and restaurants, has big heart for people, my friend)

• Dana Brandt (solar energy entrepreneur extraordinaire, well read, refined coffee palate, always up for crazy stunts, never turns down a well crafted brew when offered, my friend)

• John Falcon (industrial/automotive designer, hard-worker, tough, dry humor expert, always willing to eat, innovative, my friend)

• Kirk Rensink (adventurer, easy-going, never turns down or loses an eating competition, freakishly tall, my friend)

• Wyatt Backholm (talented, from an elite bloodline, has the speed of the mongoose, quick with a joke, not verbose, tan, my brother)
  

• Shawn O'Neill (Starbuck's employee, trivia expert, can hold a conversion on any subject, extensive knowledge of hotels, foodie, has watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy more than all members of the expedition combined and then some, my friend)

• Jim Napier (business mind, shipping expert, always jovial, reliable, best candidate to back you up in fight, always willing to eat, generous, my father-in-law)

• Chase Napier (political science major, uber video game skills, friendly, always up for an adventure, responsible, great athlete, my brother-in-law)
  

• Hutton Napier (youngest member of the group, leet video game skills, football player material, my brother-in-law)

• Stephen Backholm
  

Shawn and I have been planning this trip for about 8 months. The plan was, for those of us in the Thurston/Grays Harbor county area to leave Tumwater, Wa on Thursday night July 17 at 5:30pm. Shawn and I drove in one car and Jim, Chase, Hutton, and Wyatt in the other. We arrived at the EconoLodge in Wenatchee, WA about 10:30pm with one pit stop at the Tacoma Mongolian Grill (Shawn regretted this later that night). Terry was in Moses Lake, WA on business so he was already at the motel when we got there. Trevor, Philip, and Sean, coming from Bellingham, arrived shortly after, and Jon, Dana, and Kirk, also from Bellingham, pulled in around 2:30am. We got up at 5:00am and convene in the parking lot at 5:30am.



Our destination was Chelan, WA, but more importantly breakfast (yes, breakfast is a destination). We ate at a little restaurant called the Apple Cup, and then proceeded to the Lady of the Lake boat dock.


We loaded our gear into a luggage container and settled in for the 3.5 hour boat ride.


Six dozen cookies lighter we arrived at Lucerne, which is nothing more than a boat dock about 45 miles up Lake Chelan. From there a bus was waiting for us to take us to Holden Village, which is about a 45 min drive (~11 miles) in a very old bus.


With our packs on our backs, we finally hiked out of Holden Village about 2:00pm. It was hot, about 90F, but the mountain air was clear and refreshing.


We had finally made it to the Glacier Peak Wilderness.


The first mile went well and spirits were high, then reality set it. Hiking sucks. Especially when it is hot and you have 50lbs on your back. There is a point on every hiking trip that I think to myself, "I do this for fun?" I wasn't quite at this point yet, but before the day was over I had reached it a dozen times or more.


Hart Lake was our first stopping point at about 4 miles in. Great scenery.


The last 4 miles of the hike can't be spoken of in mixed company. It was a lot of elevation gain and a lot of cursing.

We finally made it to Lower Lyman Lake about 8:00pm, took off our packs, and then Sauruman unleashed his horde of flying devil birds--the mosquitoes had come.

Jon Falcon sporting his patent pending underwear mosquito netting.


The mosquitoes were everywhere and it kept us all in a state of constant movement and eventually drove us home a day early.

Our group split up the next morning, as we each had different goals for the day. Sean and Philip had the most energy and headed off to Cloudy Pass. Here is a view of Lower Lyman Lake from Cloudy Pass:


Looking down the valley to Hart Lake from Cloudy Pass:


Shawn, Chase, Jim, Hutton, Wyatt, and myself were not feeling quite as energetic and we headed off to Upper Lyman Lake. Jon, Kirk and Dana eventually joined us there, but they enjoyed sleeping later than most of us. There were some really nice views of Bonanza Peak on the way up:




We spent the day up at Upper Lyman were the mosquitoes only roamed in packs in the hundreds (an improvement), and had a pleasant hike down the East side of Lower Lyman on the way down.


The next morning (a day early) we loaded up our packs and said good bye to Lyman Lakes.


Overall it was a great trip. I am truly blessed to have such great friends.

Oh, yeah. Here's proof that I actually went on the trip.



Here are the links to all of the pictures taken on the trip:

Shawn O'Neill's Pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/shawnroneill/LymanLakes

Sean Roach's Pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/biggestroach/LymanLakesCampingTrip/

My Pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/sbackholm/LymanLakes