Burch Mountain, Little Fool Hen Mountain, Obstruction Peak, and Mount Barney sit above Falls Creek in Pasayten Wilderness. All of these are also within arm’s reach of Big Craggy Peak and Sherman Peak.
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Check out these posts for Burch Mountain near Wenatchee, Washington.
Burch Mountain at a Glance
Eightmile Ridge Slam = Burch Mountain + Little Fool Hen Mountain + Obstruction Peak + Mount Barney
八哩脊滿貫=伯奇山+小樅樹雞山+障礙峯+邦尼山
Access: NF-5130/545
Round Trip: 16.8 miles
Elevation Range: 3820′-7940′
Gear: helmet
Route Info: wildernessed
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: with guidance
The Preface on Burch Mountain
Happy end of the big mountain season! The Cub Creek 2 Fire has kept us out of the area since mid-July. But glad that we could now enter to climb Burch Mountain, Little Fool Hen Mountain, Obstruction Peak, and Mount Barney.
The high note I had looked forward to ending the summer with was anything but. In hindsight, we should’ve waited another day to climb these peaks. So we could enjoy a full day of sunshine with all of our goals in sight.
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Burch Mountain Loop
The four high points were close; only one sat outside Falls Creek. So I planned to make a loop trip but not starting from Billy Goat Trailhead. Otherwise, we’d need to climb up to Burch Mountain on the way out.
Ideally, we’d go in from Falls Creek, but the fire closure order remained intact. Besides, there was still the washout two miles before the trailhead. So, I settled on the closest starting point at the 5100′ saddle on Eightmile Ridge.
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Eightmile Road to Eightmile Ridge
I parked north of Eightmile Creek by the old Road 545. Then, at the crack of dawn, we walked south a short way and moved east uphill. We went through the 2014 Upper Falls Fire debris and brush during this part.
We reached the saddle at 1300′ above before sunrise. Then clouds rolled in as we went north over more rubble now that Eightmile Ridge Trail was no longer around. But the debris dwindled the higher we were.
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Eightmile Ridge to Burch Mountain
At one point, a faint trail appeared from under the brush. So we followed it over Point 6970 down to the flat area in the meadow. Since it’d been a cloudy morning, the nearby valley views were next to nothing.
We had somehow missed the path that continued on the ridgeline. Instead, we turned left and went south. It wasn’t until we had gone a quarter of a mile before I realized we were off route. Then we backtracked.
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The Final Stretch
We stepped out of the old burn amid a ridge covered in larches. Soon, the path became more defined past 7200′, where I noticed a cairn marking a junction. Without a sign, I assumed the other trail led to Falls Creek.
I finally saw the peak through the mists at several hundred feet below the top. Before long, the trail took us through the scree slope to the fork with Burch Mountain Trail. It was a short walk up to the former lookout from there.
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Burch Mountain Summit Views
Wow, the view, yeah?! It was nowhere near the sunny weather forecast from only the day before. I couldn’t even see our next goal a mile away; there was that much cloud. It was also too windy on top to enjoy our short visit.
We hunkered down behind the rock piles and waited for the clouds to shift. At one point, I glimpsed Little Fool Hen Mountain above Drake Creek. Besides that, we didn’t see much, but I didn’t want to wait around.
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En Route to Little Fool Hen Mountain
We dropped onto the rocky northeast ridge from the top and stayed below south of the crest. There was an inch or two of snow throughout, but nothing posed significant issues. Before long, we had reached Point 7482.
Soon, we went north down the joining ridge while avoiding the tall steps on the crest. The minute we were on the saddle, the clouds had cleared up mostly. Shortly, we went straight up while avoiding the boulders from the east.
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Little Fool Hen Mountain Summit Views
Clouds everywhere had lifted but on the south. The forecast held except to the south and east of here, dang! So there were no still signs of Obstruction Peak. But we enjoyed views in the other directions nonetheless.
Since it’d be the only place with views, we stayed a while to enjoy what we got. I didn’t find a report from here to Obstruction Peak. But my hunch was that it would still go, and we’d traverse below the crest at the worst.
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En Route to Obstruction Peak
Back on Point 7482 and back in the mists, we went southeast to Point 7497. We stayed on the crest until right below the top, avoiding the outcrops. After a brief pause, we continued northeast to our next goal.
We walked down through larches with the occasional valley views to the north and south. Soon, we bypassed a knob from the south before the 7000′ saddle. It was another 1000′ uphill over rocks and dirt to the summit.
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Obstruction Peak Summit No Views
Clouds above Falls Creek didn’t seem to have shifted all day. Visibility was almost identical to Burch Mountain, except it was milky the whole time. But we stayed 10 minutes before leaving the sad and lonely summit.
It was tough to pinpoint the south ridge through the mists without looking at the GPS. But it took a while to reach the rocky south edge through thick bushes. It was also impossible to plan my route since it was so cloudy.
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Final Stop, Mount Barney
The sun would set soon, so I hoped we’d get beyond Point 7800 before dark. Then, we dropped onto the south crest through krummholz en route. After going over Point 7650, we moved below west of the cliffs.
We stayed between 7200′ and 7400′ through the top of several gullies. Any lower, we would need to climb in and out of the ravines. Below Point 7800 at 7400′ was a pool of giant boulders that took some time to bypass in the fog.
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Final Stretch on Mount Barney
Things started to look promising past the boulders. Shortly, a broad slab gully with drop-offs at the base showed up before the 7400′ saddle. So we traversed the middle over the narrow ledges.
From the saddle, it was only 400′ to the top of Mount Barney. But we contended with more krummholz while avoiding cliffs from the west. Then we finished the final 100′ up to the top via dirt and rocks, like on Obstruction Peak.
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Mount Barney Summit Plus Outro
It was two weeks after my first time summiting in the dark this season. But I was happy to have the dogs with me since it’s not my favorite thing to do solo. However, I wished we had a more rewarding trip view-wise.
The sky had cleared before we got to the top. After a short break (sorry, pups!), we descended the south-southwest slope and dove back into Upper Falls Fire debris. Then we crossed Falls Creek at 2700′ below.
We went through more down trees, more ash, plus more brush. Afterward, we fumbled onto the 5100′ saddle above Eightmile Creek. Then we plunge-stepped 1300′ through soft dirt onto the old road and walked out.
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