Obscure trail leads to high-country nirvana

You may begin to doubt your sanity as you bump and grind your way to the Carne Mountain trailhead on the interminable Chiwawa River Road. However, when you set foot in Carne Basin, you'll be glad you lost your senses.

You will need an early start for this hike. From Seattle it's a three-hour drive to the trailhead in the Lake Wenatchee region, but you can lessen the pain by staying in one of several campgrounds in the area.

The Carne Mountain Trail is only the first step in a soulful journey that needn't end at Carne Basin. Whatever you do, allow time and energy for further exploration. You worked hard enough to get here -- now enjoy it. Hang out and admire the larch trees in the upper basin, explore hidden trails, climb to a 6,500-foot saddle for views of magnificent Mount Maude, or gaze down into Carne Basin, a green idyll in the eye of a storm of jagged peaks.

The seldom-hiked trail also will appeal to hikers with a historical bent as there are several lookout sites in the region dating back to the 1930s when there were more than 8,000 fire lookouts nationwide, many built by Civilian Conservation Corps carpenters from President Franklin Roosevelt's "green army." Today, most lookouts are gone, many vandalized or destroyed as new fire-detection systems replaced those self-reliant souls who scanned the horizon for columns of smoke.

The first quarter-mile is on the Phelps Creek Trail No. 1511. After crossing a stream you'll come to the junction for the Carne Mountain Trail No. 1508. The trail heads uphill and doesn't stop climbing until it enters the head of Carne Basin at 6,100 feet (2 1/2 miles). We made good time, averaging about 1,400 feet of elevation gain an hour. The trail is in good shape, and the temperature was cool, ideal for hiking uphill.

Here, flower displays and views begin in earnest. A stream from Carne Mountain supplies water, and a short path leads to a hidden campsite with views of the long, bulky massif of Buck Mountain.

The trail levels off in the basin and gives hikers a chance to catch their breath before resuming the climb through a forest of larch, still fresh and green. In July, the needles of these trees are as soft to the touch as kitty tails. Alpine larch survives harsh conditions and can grow at the foot of permanent snowfields or on talus slopes. They are so flexible they can even withstand avalanche debris. Return in late September or early October when the larch turn gold and brazen.

As we hiked through the basin, we watched a wolverine-size marmot bound across a talus slope and listened to his shrill whistle as he warned other marmots of strangers.

At 3.5 miles we came to a trail junction at 6,300 feet. It is a couple of hundred feet below the summit ridge of Carne Mountain. Here the trail splits, and we found the sign confusing. The right fork is the Old Gib Trail No. 1528 that climbs to a saddle at 6,500 feet and continues south with connections to other trails. It is abandoned and shows as a dotted line on the map, which can be studied for enticing loop possibilities.

A baffling arrow indicates the Rock Creek Trail No. 1509 straight ahead, while a distinct unsigned trail takes off to the north (left). Take the left unsigned fork. That apparently is the Rock Creek Trail.

From the junction, the left fork marks the beginning of the Carne Mountain High Route, a high traverse used by mountaineers en route to Mount Maude (9,082 feet). According to trail descriptions, a side-trail near the junction climbs to the site of the Carne Mountain lookout, but we never found that trail or evidence of a lookout.

From the signed junction, the trail climbs about 300 feet to a saddle with dizzying views down to the Rock Creek valley, the Entiat Mountains and Mount Maude, one of the highest non-volcanic peaks in the state. If clouds don't obscure the view, you'll be able to identify many other peaks from the saddle.

It is only another 300 feet from this saddle to Carne Mountain (7,085 feet) and world-class views. In addition to the peaks in every direction, there are larches and sprinkles of candy-colored wildflowers near the summit. We didn't find a summit register but did find a map in a case next to a pile of bear scat -- we hope the bear didn't eat the map's owner.

From Carne Mountain the high route descends and appears more primitive, a scramble better suited to mountaineers than hikers. It was only on our way down that we noticed the mostly hidden sign for the Glacier Peak Wilderness.

My friend wanted to linger on the summit in hopes that the clouds would lift, but I hiked back to explore the Old Gib Trail. From the junction I climbed another 300 feet or so to a high point with a cairn, but this seldom-hiked trail is hard to follow.

Despite the lack of definite trail, this is a gorgeous ridge walk with small meadows and just about every flower in bloom that a hiker could imagine. By then I had gained about 4,300 feet of elevation and that was more than enough "up" for one day.

The Web trail Getaways' Hikes of the Week are cataloged on our Web site. Go to seattlepi.com, then click on "NW Outdoors" and "Take a Hike."

If you go

• Getting there -- Allow three hours for the drive from Seattle. Take U.S. Route 2 over Stevens Pass, continue to Coles Corner and turn left on Lake Wenatchee Road No. 207. At 4.3 miles, turn right onto Chiwawa River Loop (County Road No. 22) and continue 1.4 miles. Then turn left onto Chiwawa River Road No. 62 for about 22.5 miles and turn right and proceed another 2.2 miles on Phelps Creek Road No. 6211 to the end, elevation 3,500 feet. Incidentally, Road 62 shows as Road 6200 on the map. There are no facilities. A Northwest Forest Pass is required.

• Trail data -- It is about seven miles to Carne Basin with about 3,000 feet of elevation gain. It is about eight miles to Carne Mountain with about 3,700 feet of gain. The map is Green Trails No. 113 Holden.

• Information -- Refer to "100 Hikes in Washington's Glacier Peak Region" by Ira Spring and Harvey Manning (Mountaineers, 256 pages, $16.95), or contact Wenatchee National Forest at www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/, or call 509-763-3103. For a good read on the eastern Cascades and the area's history, we recommend "East of the Divide" by Chester Marler (North Fork Books, 293 pages, $14.95).

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