RT Length: 24.7 miles
Elevation Gain: 6931’
I made it to the Lawn Lake trailhead exhausted. It’s been a fun month, but not one in which I’ve gotten much sleep. I was on the trail at 4:30am.
I followed the class 1, Lawn Lake Trail, for 5.7 miles
After hiking for 5.7 miles I came to a junction with the Black Canyon Trail, and took the Black Canyon Trail past Lawn Lake, and all the way to the Fairchild/Hagues Saddle.
Just after passing the lake I came across 3 bull moose enjoying breakfast. I took a few pictures and gave them their space
Bull Moose at Lawn Lake:
I continued following the class 1 trail up to the saddle
I crossed a small stream. You can clearly see the trail on the other side. The trail became faint in areas, but there were cairns and the trail became easier to see near the saddle.
Just before making it to the saddle, I turned left and this is the route I took to the summit of Fairchild, following the ridge southwest
Here are some close up pictures. Note, the boulders become very large near the top. They’re all stable, but larger than vehicles. My hiking shoes gripped the rocks nicely, but they would be treacherous if they’d been wet.
I summited Fairchild Mountain at 9:45am
Fairchild Mountain:
There was a plastic tube summit register I couldn’t open, and a rock wind break at the summit.
From Fairchild, I looked back at the saddle and could see Hagues Peak, and my route. Now is a good time to get a visual of the way you want to summit, as it’s difficult to see from the saddle/below. This is the route I took, which kept it low class 3, but mostly class 2.
I made my way back to the Hagues/Fairchild saddle
And then followed the ridge until I made it to 12700’.
I then headed northeast towards the ridge, staying on class 2 terrain. Here are some close ups of my route
Also, there were more moths than I’d ever seen this far above treeline, and dozens of crows taking advantage of the situation
I gained access to the ridge with a few easy class 3 maneuvers.
One on the ridge, I turned left and followed it through more easy class 3 terrain west to the summit. If there’s an option, always go right around the boulders.
The summit is circled in red
It’s just a little further southwest past the tower
I summited Hagues Peak at 12:25pm
Hauges Peak:
There were several benchmarks/elevation markers, and another summit tube (full of various loose pieces of paper, so I didn’t bother signing one).
Next on the agenda for the day was Mummy Mountain. I turned and headed back down the ridge the way I’d summited, and then crossed PT 13302, and headed up Mummy Mountain. Here’s my overall route
And some step by step pictures
The terrain became rocky near the top, but this all remained class 2
I summited Mummy Mountain at 2pm
Mummy Mountain:
The weather had held out so far, but on the summit of Mummy Mountain I heard my first clap of thunder in the distance, and wanted to get back down to treeline as soon as possible. I followed the ridge southeast on class 2 terrain.
I aimed for the drainage, and followed it until I made it back to the Black Canyon Trail
I followed the Black Canyon Trail North until the junction with the Lawn Lake Trail
There I took the Lawn Lake Trail back to the trailhead. It rained the entire way. Not the fun, misty rain, but buckets of large water droplets. The sky thundered all around, after large flashes of lightning.
I made it back to my truck at 5:30pm, making this a 24.7 mile hike with 6931’ of elevation gain in 13 hours.
On to the next trailhead!
Wild Wanderer 