Hiking Oval Peak in the Chelan Sawtooth Wilderness
Contents
Oval Peak Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 20.00Km (12.40 Miles)
Elevation Gain: 1,520m (4,987 Ft.)
Highest Elevation: 2,665m (8,743 Ft.)
Average Gradient: 15.20%
Effort/Reward Ratio: Very High / High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 8 – 10 Hours
– Moderate: 7 – 8 Hours
– Fast: 6 – 7 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: ~June to October
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: Class 2 Unexposed
Oval Peak Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 48°18’41.6″N 120°20’10.2″W
Oval Peak Overview
Oval Peak is a summit located in Lake Chelan Sawtooth Wilderness in Washington. There are a few different routes to climb Oval, but the most common approach is from the West Fork Buttermilk Trailhead near the town of Twisp. Oval Peak is a Washington Bulger (top 100 highest peaks) and also a prominent peak, with over 800m (2,600 Ft.) of prominence.
Many parties will combine an ascent of Oval Peak with climbs of Courtney and Star Peak as part of an overnight trip into the zone. That being said, while Courtney and Star offer relatively straightforward climbs, Oval is more involved and requires a lot more self-navigation, an element of bushwhacking and a steep ridge scramble (Class 2).
The hike begins on the West Fork Buttermilk trail, which is a long, gradual hike that climbs to Fish Creek Pass, however hikers will depart this trail before the pass to make a direct climb to the summit via an unnamed lake below. If combining this with Courtney and Star (as the linked GPX did), you may also approach via the unmaintained Oval Peak trail that forks off of the West Fork Buttermilk Trail nearer to Fish Creek Pass. The Oval Peak trail is faint, rugged and likely requires navigating around numerous deadfalls along the way to the lake. Another option is climbing up Courtney Peak and following Buttermilk Ridge across to Oval. This ridge requires scrambling up to Class 4 at times, so should only be attempted by capable parties.
Due to the long drive (for most) and approach, many parties will opt to complete Oval as part of an overnight hike, typically combining it with Courtney and Star Peak while camping at Star Lake. The valley around Star Lake is filled with larch trees, and during the golden larch season in the early fall this trail becomes incredibly popular, with masses of visitors. Of course, the scenery is breathtaking during this period, but if you’re looking for solitude you may want to avoid it. Oval Peak alone does not go through any larches, so if your plan is for larches, don’t bother with Oval Peak.
Dogs are welcome in the area and of course camping is fine as well.
(Note that the linked GPX includes both Star and Courtney Peak as well, so if you only plan for Oval Peak, make sure you only follow that section of the route)
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Is Oval Peak worthwhile?
The Lake Chelan Sawtooth Wilderness is a beautiful region filled with massive peaks and clear lakes. While Courtney and Star offer relatively simple access into this beautiful zone, Oval does not. Oval alone does not even really get into the core of the wilderness, with no larches and a rather average lake (when compared to the others). Combined with the fact that Oval requires bushwhacking and a somewhat tedious boulder scramble to the top, it’s nowhere near as nice as the other peaks you could do. Indeed, Oval is more of a peakbaggers peak, given its significant prominence (it’s slightly higher than Star) and the fact it’s a Bulger. The average hiker won’t bother with Oval Peak and would just go straight into the core zone to Star Lake and perhaps the Oval Lakes.
The views from the summit of Oval Peak are indeed very nice, they’re just not as nice as the other peaks and the approach is a lot more involved and annoying.
How difficult is the hike to Oval Peak?
As a standalone hike Oval Peak is a fairly big day at over 1,500m elevation gain (4,921 Ft.) from the trailhead. Most of this elevation gain is off trail (900m – 2,950 Ft.), with a portion of it bushwhacking and the remainder open forest and steep (Class 2) ridge scrambling.
If combined as an overnight coming from Star Lake, the stats are generally a lot more amenable, likely around 16km (10 Miles) and 750m (2,460 Ft.) gain if you follow the Oval Peak trail to the unnamed lake, climb up the peak, descend back to the lake, then bushwhack down to the West Fork Buttermilk trail and hike out.
Oval Peak Route Information
This hike begins from the West Fork Buttermilk Trailhead which is easily accessed for any vehicle via a simple gravel road. There is only one trail from the trailhead, so get cracking. After a few hundred meters of largely flat hiking, you’ll need to cross a large log over West Fork Buttermilk Creek. On the other side of the creek, the trail continues its long, gradual ascent.
Much of the trail passes through a burn zone where a previous fire tore through. This means a lot of the trail is exposed to the sun, and as noted it also means deadfall covering the trail is a common occurrence. If locals have cleared the trail then this won’t be a concern, but it’s not unheard of for some parties to face 100+ dead trees to climb over along the route.
There is really little to note on this trail as there are no junctions and relatively little to see the entire way to Fish Creek Pass. At one point you do cross a wide mud slide, but other than that is a nonevent. At ~1,750m (5,740 Ft.) elevation you will want to pay attention to your GPX as this is approximately where you depart the trail and begin the bushwhack up to the unnamed lake.
The bushwack is a bit annoying, starting off quite steep, with a number of deadfall to navigate around as you continue. The gradient reduces a bit as you gain elevation, but all in all it’s around 350m (1,150 Ft.) of gain until you reach the lake, at which point the bushwhacking section is over.
From the lake you will note our GPX goes up and down the mountain via different routes in a clockwise manner. This is the route I would suggest, but if you prefer the same way up and down I would opt to go via the east ridge rather than the southwest ridge.
Assuming you’re following the route as we did, go clockwise around the shore of the lake and navigate through the forest towards the SW ridge by following your GPX. The forest here is open and easy to navigate. Once on the ridge it’s merely a matter of following it to the summit. The views open up now, mainly of Buttermilk Ridge to the SW, and also the Oval Lakes next to it.
Ascending this ridge is a bit of a tedious affair that gradually gets more annoying as you progress. The boulders start off on the smaller side, but as you gain elevation they increase in size, eventually resulting in massive boulders and steeper scrambling. It’s all a wide, unexposed climb, but the combination of a steep gradient and large boulders just make for slow and tiring progress as you weave through the boulder field. Some parties opt to stay high on the ridge crest while others choose to cut across the slope and make a more direct attack on the summit. For what it’s worth, it seemed faster to stay high on the ridge.
Eventually you will reach the summit where the views are now very nice, with Star and Courtney Peak offering the nicest views. The summit is quite broad so you may need to walk around a bit to see the best vantage points.
Not impressed by the SW ridge, we were tempted to try descending via the east ridge back to the lake as it looked more like scree/sand than enormous boulder, so we headed that way. Indeed, this route was a lot nicer to descend as we could largely scree/sand ski down the slope, getting a boot full of scree as we did. Ascending this route might be challenging given how loose it is, but we didn’t exactly try to find a mellower grade, which probably does exist if you looked for it.
Once back at the lake you simply bushwhack back down to the West Fork Buttermilk trail before the long plod back to the trailhead.
Buttermilk Ridge / Oval Peak Route From Star Lake
A quick note on the other possible routes from Star Lake. Some parties opt to follow Buttermilk Ridge between Courtney Peak and Oval Peak to reach Oval, which is a good option for confident scramblers. This ridge has a few ups and downs as you need to climb and descend both Buttermilk Ridge and Buttermilk Ridge North before reaching the Oval Peak ridge. There are some Class 4 steps along this ridge to do so. This route is the most involved and slowest route given the undulation and scrambling involved, but some parties like an adventure.
The other option (which we did) is to follow the Oval Peak trail that forks off of the West Fork Buttermilk Trail nearer Fish Creek Pass to the unnamed lake below Oval Peak. The Oval Peak trail is unmaintained and quite indistinct, with plenty of blowdown to navigate around along the way. Overall it wasn’t too bad, and while not obvious at times we always managed to follow the route just fine. From the lake you just follow the same route as noted above.
When should I hike Oval Peak?
Given the elevation of these peaks and this trailhead the season generally runs from early summer to early fall (June to end of October). If you are planning to hit the golden larch window, that generally falls into the late September early October window. Snow will likely linger in June so if you want to avoid that entirely you may want to wait for July.
Top Tip
Personally I don’t think Oval Peak is really worth the effort as a standalone day hike. It’s a much better option as an overnight combined with Star and Courtney Peak, and even then it’s nowhere near as nice as those two peaks and it requires a lot more effort.
Make sure to bring plenty of sun protection on this one as much of the approach is sun exposed due to the burn zone you pass through.
