Buckskin Mountain shares a ridgeline with Mount Fernow atop Entiat Meadows. It ranks after South Spectacle Butte south of the valley by height. Moreover, the most direct route comes from the Entiat River Trail.
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Buckskin Mountain at a Glance
Access: Entiat River Trailhead
Round Trip: 29.6 miles
Elevation Range: 3160′-8124′
Gear: helmet
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: on the trail
Back to the Entiat River Trail
After spending a weekend out east, we returned to Glacier Peak Wilderness. Until now, I wasn’t familiar with Buckskin Mountain or the Entiat Meadows. But I would’ve seen it from my first Bulger peak by my old photos. Without the new list, I likely wouldn’t have made the long trek to the base of the peak.
It took me years to realize that the Entiat River Trail extended well into the upper valley. The path ran alongside the river through the area of the devastating 2015 Wolverine Fire. In turn, the aftermath of the disaster had sent a bulk of the trail under a ton of downed trees.
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Through the Old Burn of Wolverine Fire
Cody and I began early Saturday morning despite the unfavorable weather forecast. I was excited to visit the meadows for the first time and kept my fingers crossed for a better outlook. Soon, we walked past Anthem Creek Trail a little over two miles. We took that dusty trail to Gopher Mountain and Choral Peak last year.
It was bone-dry between Snow Brushy Creek and Aurora Creek. A year-old, somewhat promising report noted that the path was free of debris at least to Candy Creek. Before long, the sight of the charred, chopstick-like trees strewing Ice Creek Valley appeared. South Spectacle Butte, Freezer, and Icebox were also visible.
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Contending with Downed Trees to Entiat Meadows
Luckily, the cool morning kept the mosquitoes at bay. As noted, it quickly became arduous after Candy Creek, where we started following deer tracks through the massive downed trees. We later lost the path by the clearing and slowly peeled away from the river.
After relocating the path by the river bend, we went through the worst of the worst debris. To top it off, swarms of mosquitoes showed up as we inched toward the 5100′ clearing below Buckskin Mountain. After pitching the tent and resting, I realized we could try climbing today while it was still early.
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Buckskin Mountain Atop the Entiat Cirque
I contemplated climbing the next day until the mosquitoes changed my mind. I also went with my gut, knowing that we could be down before dark in the longer daylight. But as soon as we set off, I noticed the rain clouds over the western skyline. Multiple route options were on the south side, but we picked the rib closest to camp.
I had read about an old trail leading the east ridge but never found it amid the downed logs. So we stuck to the rib since it had the least brush and a straight shot up the slope. The scramble went rather smoothly, and soon, we were above the trees. At one point, we waited out the drizzles under big trees. But luckily, it only lasted ten minutes or so.
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Buckskin Mountain Summit Views via South Gully
I considered following another climbing group’s track to the east ridge at 6600′. Since traversing west over the jagged ridge would be arduous for Cody, we continued in the snow-free gully instead. One time, we went too far east before the cliffs over the steep terrain stopped us short. Then we hugged the buttress to avoid rockfalls and used heather and scree for traction.
We attained the east ridge at 7900′; 200 more feet of steep climbing soon put us on top. The rain clouds from earlier had doubled in size as I felt a flash of lightning before the rumbling. The hair on my arms stood, “Holy isht, we do not need to die right now!”, I thought. So I quickly threw all our metal items to the other end of the summit. Then we crouched under a boulder and waited.
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Waiting Through the Lightning Storm
Lightning, combined with the roar of thunder, went on for a while as we snuggled under the rock. After the chaos finally settled, the evening light seeped through the sky as the weather turned partly sunny. The 15-minute wait was unnerving and felt like an eternity; a first time for everything!
We quickly packed up before hurrying our way back down. Although it didn’t look like the storm would return anytime soon, it was best for us to leave now. As it turned out, descending 3000′ of scree plus the slick heather didn’t go as fast as we’d hoped. Nevertheless, we reached the bottom of the valley safely. Woot!
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Leaving Entiat Meadows
After a restful and starry night in the meadows, we set off for the 14-mile trek early next morning. As the day temperatures rose, the section between Snow Brushy Creek and Aurora Creek was scorching. The poor dog strategically avoided the trail by pushing himself through scrubs.
Water pools in the dying streams offered quick relief as we moved through the arid terrain. Soon, we rested in the shade and took a long lunch by Snow Brushy Creek. Cody finally got a needed break from the heat. I watched him as he dipped by the log jam with not a care in the world.
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