Dave picks Cougar Lakes, and we 'accidentally' climb Majers Peak along the way.
- September 1, 2019
- Team: Dave
- Peak
- Peak 8401, aka Majers Peak, 8401', Class 4
- 18 mi (10 mi on bike), 4600' gain, 8:50 car-to-car
Note: click images to see a larger version in a new window
Dave laboriously pored over my website looking for an accessible area that I had not visited. He came up with Cougar Lakes. That meant we also got to ride our bikes: Bonus! About here, a big yellow lab appeared out of nowhere and played with Ruby for a bit. Then he started following us up the trail.... I found the owner's name on his collar, and after yelling "Mark" a few times I (and the dog) heard a very faint whistle. Problem solved. This is our second crossing of Kennally Creek, about 5 miles in. And right at the junction of the trail to Cougar Lakes. Dave Beck photo |
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We understood the Cougar Lakes trail to be basically unmaintained. So this shot shows a particularly brushy area maybe 10 minutes after we had transitioned to hiking. |
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But for the most part, the trail is in wonderful shape. A few trees down, and it could use some brushing in a few spots. But ironically, one of the nicer hikes on the McCall District. |
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It's a long climb, but steady. And we were in the shade. |
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Finally, after about 1700' of climbing, there's Cougar Saddle. |
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Our plan, as mentioned previously, was to hike down to Cougar Lakes. That's about a 400' drop and less than a mile away. But then I noticed the distant highpoint, one which was on my list....hmmm. That doesn't look too bad. Scrolling down the tiny screen on my GPS, I set a waypoint on the ridge. Only a mile! We gotta do this! Spoiler alert: I put the waypoint on the wrong high point. It's actually a little more than two miles as the crow flies. |
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| So after a considerable amount of shucking and jiving over and around intervening ridges, we finally had the actual summit in sight. I was concerned, but Dave said he could already envision me standing on top. |  |
But that wasn't the highpoint, anyway. Right behind it was this mass of granite, and it went with just a 10' section of non-exposed Class 4. |
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From the summit, I also noticed this little ledge system on the other (exposed ) side. So you could probably do this as Class 2 or 3. That's Blackmare Peak on the left. Looking pretty much south. And Squaretop and The Castle mid/right on the horizon. |
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Looking east, that's the lookout atop Miners Peak. |
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Then it was time to reverse our tracks and find some water. We didn't stay quite as high on the ridge on our return. And it seemed like the traverse took forever. I was really happy when we finally saw the lake in the trees. And now quite fatigued, I was hoping optimistically that the trail back up to the saddle would be as good as the other side. |
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There are three lakes here, but this is the big one. We all swam- Ruby actually swam out to us. Then I filtered water while Dave had a brief but successful fishing moment. |
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| Time to head home. Here's our peak from the trail out, with the highpoint on the right. |  |
| As hoped, this part of the trail was also in great shape. And now, in the shade! |  |
It seemed a long, long way back down to Kennally Creek. This is the view from about 600' above the valley floor. Click for a bigger version, where you can see the trail way down there. The trail is a fun ride, but I was very tired. And although I was dying to rip the faster parts (to get to the beer more quickly), we had to let our tired little Ruby set her own pace. |
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Also see Dave's wonderful photos Dave Beck photo |
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Map I left some of the Kennally Creek trail off here to provide better detail of the climbing portion. Click for the pdf, which shows the entire route.
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