I want to give a quick shout out to this rainy fall weather in Western Washington recently. It’s pushed all my climbs out to Twisp, which is the antithesis of the rainy, foggy PNW stereotype. (Seriously, only 1/10 of the annual precipitation of the other “dry” cities along the East Cascades). Two secrets about the Bulger List peaks out that way: they’re super easy and covered in larches. While the world’s largest conga line was prancin’ their way through the Enchantments, we had this place all to ourselves.
Abernathy Peak is one of the shortest and easiest peak on the Bulger List, as it’s just a walk-up covering around 9 miles and 5100 feet in gain. The trail to starts at the Twisp River Trail, but a few paces after the trailhead, the trail splits and you head left for Scatter Lake. The next 3.5 miles are switchback city, when it opens up into a big bowl of mac & trees.
A half-mile later, you’re at the lake. Skirt the edge on either side and trudge through the talus field to the top. The trip’s super short and sweet (at least when it comes to Bulger summits), so it was pup friendly, and it made a good choice for packing the stove and hot toddy supplies and relaxing by the lake for the afternoon.
FemiGnarly 