"Peakbagging day in the middle of our annual larch march (aka, Larch Madness). Leaving from Star Lake (an absolute zoo), we started with an AM out-and-back to Star Peak, then began a loop up from Fish Creek Pass to Courtney. Evan decided to peel off shortly thereafter, while Jared and I continued on Buttermilk Ridge to Oval Peak. As noted in Peggy Goldman's Washington Scrambles book, the only somewhat tricky part was navigating around Point 7978 (Buttermilk Ridge North). We descended only a few dozen feet down the east side and then were able to traverse north. Oval Peak had just as much talus as advertised and it was a relief to have soil beneath our feet once more when we dropped into the basin. The old Oval Peak trail is still pretty easy to follow, despite a few down trees. We returned to gather our gear at Star Lake (an even larger zoo on a Saturday evening) and carried on via the cutoff trail towards Gray Peak. The dusky stroll through beautiful whitebark pine woodland was a highlight. We reached the alpine ridgeline SE of Gray Peak just as the moon rose at our backs and sent tired shadows ahead (we never had to turn on our headlamps). We reached West Oval Lake at around 7:30 ..." — TynanRammGranberg • Oct 4, 2025