Bean Creek Basin is melted out and the Jeffrey Shooting Stars are glorious. Also spotted some elephant's head in the water meadows. The lupine and buckwheat are beginning to bloom in the lower canyon, while the Spring Beauty and glacier lilies are still hanging on in shady spots in the upper valley. This is a lovely spot, but fragile. We did see two large backpack parties going up the trail. I'd rather do a dayhike in the area. The weather was extremely hot, but the tree shade was well spaced out for sunbreaks. The creeks are quite crossable now and the only snow is on the ridge crests or a bit of avalanche stuff left over from the winter. The entire face of Earl was clear of snow. Looked like a hot, exposed climb. Go when the weather is a bit cooler. It was close to 90 degrees in Cle Elum this date. Take plenty of water or a filter to get more. I probably drank 3 quarts and then some after the hike! Enjoy! P.S. Biting flies are beginning to show up, especially near moist areas. The few blow-downs were easy to get around.

An easy, quick, day hike. The trail is relatively flat all the way. Don't soak up your tennis shoes crossing the marsh when entering Bean Creek basin (no bugs, thankfully!). You can go further ahead (east) before turning left to climb up to Bean Peak, or just wear better shoes :) Small patches of snow up top, with a small somewhat steep section. Poles or ice axe would be nice. The trail disappears near the basin but it's hard to get lost. Pick a target peak and use your instinct! Ashish, and the UW karate group

What do three left-handed, fifty-year-old men have in common? On this day it was the joy of a hike in the glorious Teanaway. Roger, Ken, and I took off from the Earl Peak trailhead on the Beverly Creek Trail loaded with enthusism, creeky bones, stories of our decaying relationships with women, and a love of sunshine. Soon we were on top of Earl, a modest achievement given the trail to the top this time of year. Ten to fifteen folks greeted us, and we decided to stretch our itinerary out and traverse over to Bean. The traverse on the west side of the ridge was quite pleasant, as we were able to plan our route from the viewpoint offered by Earl. The last 100 feet or so was easy buy pleasant scrambling. Another large group of convivial folks were also on Bean. Looking over at Mary, a lovely pyrimidal peak to the northwest, we decided to go for it. We debated the north or south side of the ridge, and took the south side as one snowfield on the east side looked too steep for us geriatric-types (probably speaking for myself). The summitt of Mary was lovely, and finally we achieved the silence that comes with having a mountain to yourself. While we could have descended down to Bean Creek Basin, we couldn't resist the 15 minute ridgewalk over to summitt number four-- sweet, diminutive Judi. For our descent, we hobbled down a gully that turned into a creekbed--easily visible (to the eye and on topo) from the Bean Creek trail just after the turnoff from the Beverly Creek Trail. This gully was the price of all of our ecstacy. It went, as we are here. But it was rather treacherous, and slow going. At the end, we had done a 360 degree traverse of the Bean Creek Basin, and summitted four peeks. It took us roughly 9 1/2 hours, and we estimated the elevation gain at 4500-4800 feet. Cat Woman would be proud! I highly recommend this trip, alhtough one might ascend the gully up to near Judi and have the luxury of descending the trail down from Earl. May you have peace with every step! Idaho Slim

This was my first trip into the Teanaway area. Really beautiful country. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the greatest - overcast all day, with light rain off & on. The creek was running high, but if your destination is Beverly Turnpike, there's a solid snowbridge just upstream of where Bean Creek trail turns off. Or at least there is for now. No such luck at Bean Creek trail's creek crossing. I hunted for a dry-boot way across to no avail, and wound up having to get the Tevas out of the pack - boy that water was cold on bare feet. Not far beyond the creek crossing, there are some short snow patches, but the way is obvious. At the turnoff to Earl Peak, I made a left, heading toward the Bean Creek basin. The trail quickly peters out, so I easily crossed the creek and headed up the basin, mostly on snow. I followed some existing tracks, figuring someone knew where they were going. These lead me straight up towards the east ridge above the basin. My new trekking poles were indispensible here - lots of fairly steep snow and scree. I finally topped out on the ridge, which provides a tremendous view across the Ingalls Creek valley to the Stuart Range. I didn't stick around long, though, as the weather was deteriorating, with dark clouds rolling in from the east. On the way back down I tried another way, further up the basin, which was mostly steep gravel/dirt slopes instead of snow. I kept thinking, if only I'd brought a pair of old skis, I could schuss down this gravel in 2 minutes flat. On the way back down the trail, I noticed at some point that I was missing one of my Tevas (I'd hung them from my pack to dry). So, my re-crossing of the creek meant soaking my boots. If anyone finds a size 9 Teva up there, let me know! Total mileage about 7.5, with 2800' elevation gain.

This was actually a weekend trip up Bean Creek to scramble Earl and Bean. As we worked our way through Snoqualmie Pass, acting like it was still March or something - it felt like we were in for a long and cold weekend. Sat we drove to the trailhead (completely snowfree up that way) and began our hiking at 10am. Followed the trail for the first mile or so, then had to do some workarounds because of the snow cover. This meant walking on the edge of the creek on a snow bridge, then lumbering up the side hill to get around some difficult areas, finally fording the creek on a snow bridge that barely held us. As we made our way up the creek, we could see flowers just beginning to come out. The sun was around, the most difficult part was the strong wind. On the way to the basin we walked through a large avalance that had come down in the winter months. A great view of what the snow looks like when it settles - and you could see major trees broken off from the run out. Series of snow bridge crossings brought us to the basin where we set up camp. Went for Earl Peak by gaining the ridge through large snow fields. Had to kickstep all the way. Gaining the ridge we moved on up to the peak, picking our way around cornices, trees and rock outcroppings. The enchantments had an eerie feel with clouds covering most of Stewart, but everything else more or less out. Gained the top of Earl and felt like we summited Everest - with strong winds blowing and lots of ice around. Came down the same way we came up, and enjoyed the glissades - good long runs with no danger! Night was amazing with full moon out as the skies cleared. In the am went for Bean peak, kick stepping our way up through freshly frozen snow - sore toes to beat. Gained the ridge and made it though the little shoot up to the top. This day there were great views as the clouds had gone away. Everything was out and about - we could even make out Rainier and its new fresh coat of paint. On down the glissading again was grand, if not faster since we were earlier in the day. Hit the bottom, had lunch, packed up and headed out. Made all the crossings with no one falling in, but can't promise the same for others over the next few weeks. But this day was wonderful. Fantastic set of days, celebrated by eating Mexican and the el chaparell in Cle Elum. Coming through the pass brought us to summer again. Have fun!