McGregor Mountain

As we were coming up-lake (Lake Chelan) on Friday, we had crystal clear skies and a great view of McGregor - which had snow at the top. A quick trip to the ranger station in Stehekin - and they said that the snow 'dusting' usually melted by midday. Took the trail to Coon lake and then the in numerous switch backs up past Heaton Camp. There is a very good water source after climbing ~ 4000’ to the right of the trail. The approach trail is easy to follow (first ~ 5,000’)– a bit bushy as you get up higher. A slide a few years ago wiped out a few small sections of switch backs in one of the upper basins - but very easy to see pick up the trail on the other side of the mudslides. We saw no evidence of wild fires at all - except for some burnt areas. The final approach involves crossing a talus field and then going up rock – with several ledges that has significant exposure. Care should be taken to stay right on route as it gets pretty dicey if you get off route. The red arrows that were painted several years ago are in varying states of fading – so don’t count on them 100% for navigation. Recomend helmet for this section due to potential for rock fall - although none of the other groups we met had them. Once we got past the notch, we ran into a 'dusting' of snow, which slowed us down a bit, but not too much. The glacier continues to recede - and we did not have to cross any glacier-related snow. We met a total of 6 other people on the trail in spite of it’s being glorious weather and fantastic views. We enjoyed quite a crisp wind and fabulous 360 views immensely. If you want photos that include the scramble route, the best ones I have seen is the Aug 31, 2009 trip report on WTA by Alpine Andy. Note that his report was before the mudslides – and the red arrows have faded since then - and that our party choose to stay at the ranch/log cabins (lodging, food and transportation) rather than camp. 11 hours.