Our group of six, Hal, LuAnn, Betsy, Phyllis, Carrie and myself headed over to the Teanaway area for a snow scramble of Earl Peak. After getting to the junction with the Beverly Creek trail, we hiked up the Bean Creek trail were we hit snow after 1/4 mile. After getting up into the Bean Creek valley, we crossed the creek and began the climb up Earl on its west slope. Tough going through soft snow to get up to the ridge line. Once on the ridge we headed northerly to the summit at 7,036'. There were some rocks exposed on top to sit on for lunch and take in the view. To the west were some really bad looking clouds, but they never did come our way. Snowed for about 5 minutes while we were eatting. Even some ladybugs managed to make it to the summit, as they were crawling around the rocks. There were some old ski tracks where some one had skied off the summit. After taking some photos, it was time to head back. From the ridge we lost about 1,700'in elevation while glissading down the west slopes. Once across the creek we followed our path while we had to watch out for some large post holes that you could fall through. At one spot we could look back up the peak and see our glissade chutes. It will be a while before the snow is all gone and you can hike up the trail. All in all, another good day in the mountains.

Whoa!! Fall turns to Winter right in the middle of this trip. But what a winter wonderland it turned out to be. At least we found out most of our equipment and clothing is working under cold and blizzard conditions. We headed East early to escape heavy rains and winds on Westside. Halfway on our ascent, we watched to the south as the pacific storm wound inself around and headed right toward us. The trail is in good shape and easy to follow up to Bean Creek Basin. We ascended on the East side of the creek, about 1.75 miles from the Beverly Creek trail, where trail 1391.1 turns to the NE to South side of Earl Peak. Appreciable snow started at about 5100'. The level reached 6-8"" or so near boulder fields, so we stayed near forested areas until just below ridgeline between Mary and Bean Peaks. The last 200' to ridge was a steep slope over snowcovered talus. Intermittent ice patches were encountered at this point. We chose to go without benefit of snowshoes, which worked for us in most places - a bit more snow and snowshoes would help. Crampons weren't necessary. Visibility on the ridge was reduced to about 50 yards, with winds gusting at 15-25 mph. To reach summit of Bean Peak, we dropped down 30' or so on south side of ridgeline to traverse, rather than manuever over ridgetop. We lunched at what appeared to be Bean, but weren't sure and could have been off by 1/4 mile. With time a factor, we elected to traverse back over to Mary Peak(no name peak 6917'), which is incorrectly labelled Bills Peak in 75 Scrambles book.(we have previous Mountaineer reports that a register naming Mary exists up there). We descended back the same route we came up. It snowed several inches during the trip, and snow level had dropped to about 4000'. However, it warmed up above 40 degrees and was raining back at the trailhead. All in all a great trip topped off by a dinner stop for hand-pressed ravioli at the Sunset Cafe in Cle elum. Yum!

Day 2 of my weekend in the Teanaway was a Mountaineer scramble of Bean Peak. The sunny weather of Saturday was replaced by clouds which were moving in by 9:00 in the morning. We met at the Beverly Creek trailhead at 9:00. My previous time here this year was in April for a scramble up Iron Peak. At that time the parking lot was buried under 5 feet of snow. This day the only snow we saw was on Mt. Stuart and Ingalls Peak. The snow may all be gone but it delayed the flowers this year. The trip up to Bean Creek Basin was nearly a continuous flower fest. The Paintbrush, Scarlet Gilia, and Columbine I recognized. The other few dozen varieties I did not. The flowers began just after reaching Bean Creek and never stopped. Most years they would be nearly done by August. The trail on the right side of the creek is fairly overgrown. Once we crossed the creek it was in great shape. The creek crossing is no problem. As we ascended into the basin Earl Peak came into view. Higher up Bean Peak was visible. Bean is the reddish peak at the head of the basin. The rock is very good and it is one of my favorite rock scramble peaks. There are any number of ways up it and I seldom go up the same way. As we moved into the basin the wind picked up and a little light mist fell. It felt about 25 degrees cooler than the day before. At the end of the basin we left the flower fields and began the climb to the ridge top just to the right of the summit of Bean Peak. The hill side begins at a moderate grade and gets much steeper near the top. I went out ahead here and reached the ridge top first. This ridge connects Earl Peak and Bean Peak. At the top we were only about 300' below the summit. Our leader Laurie led the way along the ridge. I have done Bean annually for many years but it had been a long time since I did it from this ridge. The fear of bad weather had reduced our group from 12 on Thursday to only 6 who didn't bail out. It was much easier doing the rock scramble with a smaller group. It also gave us much more room to spread out on the summit. Our group varied greatly in scrambling experience and this route proved to be a good challenge for some. There were several more difficult places and everyone managed to make it up. I hope the beginners gained some confidence in the skills they are developing. They all did very well. Considering the weather, the views on top were pretty good. The summit of Mt. Stuart was in the clouds and never came out. The Cascade crest was also in the clouds. The Teanaway peaks were mostly clear. I suspect hikers near the crest did not stay as dry as we did. We had a nice leisurely lunch as the wind died down. We had some brief light precipitation that sure seemed like snow. It's not supposed to snow at 6743' in August in the Teanaway. In an effort to spare our knees and add some variety we took a different route down. The drop down to Volcanic Neck was pleasant. The back side of Bean Peak was also rich in wildflowers. This area is usually dry but this year it is wet and filled with flowers. The last section was the Beverly Creek trail. I last hiked this trail in September of 2001. At that time the trail was in great shape. On this descent we crossed over at least 8-10 big avalanche fields. They brought big piles of rock down and across the trail. Some were as much as 30' wide and went all the way down to the creek. I have hiked this trail for at least 15 years and have never seen close to this much avalanche damage. It will take much work to dig out new trail here. The good news is that it is not difficult to across the debris and reconnect with the trail. Half a mile from the car we crossed Bean Creek and closed the loop. The rain finally began here and continued lightly until we reached the trailhead. All in all, we were very lucky with the weather. Those who chose to cancel missed a great trip. The loop was about 9 miles with 3200' gained. We had lots of flowers, a fun scramble peak, good views, and good company. A very successful day in the mountains. Photos have been posted at http://www.kuresman.com. Look under ""Trips-2002"". There are 3 photo pages and 24 total photos.

We four left Seattle and headed east and this time there was no weather related reason to head in that direction.....just the Cle Elum Bakery and the wildflowers! After our official bakery stop we drove the North Fork Teanaway Road and encountered fire crews shortly past the 29 Pines Campground. We stopped to ask what was going on as we didn't particularly want a ""hot"" lunch that day. They were great and assured us they'd come get us if things deteriorated. So at 9:15 we started out. The trail was very dry and dusty but the creek was full and noisy..delightful. Crossing was no problem and we continued up with flowers all around. In the Basin there were flowers of every color and texture. We saw yarrow, buckwheat, shooting stars, scarlet gila, wild roses (oh, the smell!!), lupine, penstimmon, Indian paintbrush, it was glorious!! And the backdrop was a bluebird sky!!! Bugs were minimal, no snow, no blowdowns. Perfection!!

This incredible loop hike is now putting on an awesome flower show. In fact I'd probably say that this is the best flower display that I've ever seen. I decided to go up the Bean creek trail and return on the Beverly Turnpike so that the return would lose elevation more gradually. The trail to Bean Basin is in good condition. The entire Bean Basin is carpeted with Jeffery Shootingstar. The trail proper dissappears about 1/2 way up the meadow. I choose to go clamber up to a shallow saddle just east of Bean Peak. Bean peak is a red jumble of boulders straight up the end of the valley. It's the rightward most of the 2 red colored peaks. The view of the Enchantment peaks is enchanting. The easiest way up Bean peak is to skirt your way around the South side of the peak and then ascend the south west corner. It ends up being easier than it looks. Hands needed in only a few places. The dog could make it to within 40 feet of the peak and then had to wait for a bit while I took in the great views. Next I followed the trailless ridge due north to Tooth Saddle. Tooth Saddle is just south of the prominent black volcanic rock peak near the north end of the ridge. Trail 1218 traverses wet meadows adorned with tons of Glacier Lilys. Unfortunately the trail has been torn up in places by horses. It only takes a few horses to trash a trail in such a sensitive area. A left on Forth Creek trail quickly intersects Beverly Turnpike and completes the loop. There are cools flowers, plants and scenery from beginning to end on this hike. There were a few black flies in the wet meadows but no mosquitos. The entire route is snow free. Good water available now most of the way except of course on the ridge. The flowers are mostly right at there peak. Many of the Lupine will be peaking in the next few days. This weekend flowers should still be spectacular. RT ~8 mi, 3100 ft.