Trail was in great shape. But my main reason for this post is to report a pair of glasses I found on the trail. If these look like yours please put a message below with your email and we can figure out how to get them back to you. (Sorry this took so long).

The Teanaway area is quite interesting for outdoor recreation and worth the commute, although I had a dog that wasn’t thrilled with the curvy ride. After cleaning up a mess in the back of my car, we were able to hit the trail by noon, later than I had planned. The road in had shallow potholes but was smooth enough at this time for everyday vehicles. We were the seventh vehicle in the lot, which the WTA description says could fit 20. Even with my vehicle squeezed in between two others, I don’t see how. Definitely at least 10. Maybe I didn’t see the entire lot because I went out the same way I came in. The pit toilet was stocked and had a large trash can with a lid.

It was warm when we started. I had two Teanaway hikes with flowers and peaks on my list to choose from, and I decided to do this longer one since the weather forecast was cooler than this time next week. And in case I could only do one of them this year, I figured I wasn’t getting any younger. After doing this hike, I highly recommend on a warm day to take advantage of either the early morning or early evening for cooler temperatures. I actually enjoyed ending my hike in the early evening as we got to enjoy cooler temps when we were more fatigued. And this was a hike of perseverance to get to the peak. Between the pass and the peak, there were a couple of spots that had that nasty combination of being steep and having loose soil. These are areas that are harder to go down than up when you really don’t want to fall or slide down any bit of the hillside. Only one spot that had some snow completely over the trail, but it wasn’t hard to go around. Although not a clear day for best views, it was still spectacular, especially for someone who’s not used to seeing these peaks. The flowers were also spectacular. The trip reports from AlpsDayTripper will give you a much better idea of what all there is to see out there in that department. I am including a collage of some of my favorites. Highlights for me was seeing yellow columbine and a pussypaws plant, which I find cool now that I know they can thermoregulate by raising and lowering their flowers. Butterflies were literally everywhere. They were in the parking lot, on every pile of horse dung, at every water crossing, and would fly into me. And like the flowers, they were gorgeous and very distracting. Also saw a small brown snake near water and a Clark’s Nutcracker flying through a section of the trail.

Wasn’t sure about taking a dog on such a long hike, but it turned out to be a very dog friendly trail at this time with many small stream crossings for water and paw soaking. The trail path is also quite soft being mostly dirt or tree needles. So a very dusty trail but one that’s friendly to joints and a quick descent to the trailhead.

We, 4 hearty Mountaineers (thanks Sarah for leading!), went up Iron Peak, took the County Line trail to Navaho Pass, and descended Stafford Creek. There are about 10 areas of snow on the County Line, the only slightly problematic one was east of the Bean-Volcanic Neck saddle. It was a 7 foot drop, so we all went around the snow and did a sidehill traverse back to the trail. There are some blowdowns, overgrown areas, and a few spots where we lost the trail (GPS navigation is recommended). There would be loads of mosquitoes on a warmer day, the route goes through many wet areas. The flowers were superb, especially the alpine springbeauties (photo 1), Drummond’s anemones (photo 2), snow dwarf primrose, and Wenatchee paintbrush (photo 3) on Iron Peak. There were loads of shooting stars (photo 4) and Drummond’s anemones along most of our route, along with many, many others including Columbia lewisia, alpine laurel, scarlet gilia, and yellow columbine. 

Thank you PiperMarmalade for your Lake Ann/Esmeralda report! Your precise information told me that the flowers would be about 10 days ahead of average.

A great hike for wildflower diversity, at a great time, Paul and I saw 108 species of plants in bloom (see Paul's list below, thanks Paul)! The trail passes through so many habitats as it rises from forest to alpine with small streams and avalanche shoots crossing it to add to the mix. There are a few thick areas: the shooting stars, cotton grass, and fan-leaf cinquefoil in the meadow towards the top, the Drummond’s anemones at the top (photo 1), fields of yarrow, buckwheat, and scarlet gilia in the avalanche shoots, thick pockets of tiger lilies in the lower sections (photo 2), many spots of dwarf snow primrose on the moonscape (photo 4), shooting stars and asters in the streams, and many more. I've never seen more than a few orange agoseris (photo 3) on a trail, they are always pretty (to me).

About 10 blowdowns, 1 is a bit of a challenge for the unagile. Privy was clean, with some TP. The road is in very good shape.

FLOWERING PLANTS IN BLOOM (108 species)

white (40)

common yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

vanilla leaf (Achlys triphylla)

western serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)

pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea)

Drummond’s anemone (Anemone drummondii)

raceme pussytoes (Antennaria racemosa)

pinemat manzanita (Arctostaphylos nevadensis)

alpine / American bistort (Bistorta bistortoides)

snowbrush ceanothus (Ceanothus velutinus)

chickweed, species uncertain (Cerastium sp.)

lance-leaf spring-beauty (Claytonia lanceolata)

queen’s cup (Clintonia uniflora)

red-twig / red-osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera)

arrowleaf / heartleaf buckwheat (Eriogonum compositum)

alpine buckwheat (Eriogonum pyrolifolium)

woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca)

blue-leaf strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)

cow parnsip (Heracleum maximum)

round-leaf alumroot (Heuchera cylindrica)

white-flowered hawkweed (Hieracium albiflorum)

Gray’s lovage (Ligusticum grayi)

plumed / large false Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum racemosum)

starry false Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum stellatum)

large-leaf sandwort (Moehringia macrophylla)

silver-leaf phacelia (Phacelia hastata)

white rein orchid (Platanthera dilatata)

bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata)

alpine / Fendler’s pennycress (Noccaea fendleri)

Thompson’s cat-eye / oreocarya (Oreocarya thompsonii)

western Labrador tea (Rhododendron neoglandulosum)

sticky currant (Ribes viscosissimum)

thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)

trailing blackberry (Rubus ursinus)

Cascade mountain-ash (Sorbus scopulina)

Sitka mountain-ash (Sorbus sitchensis)

shiny-leaf spiraea (Spiraea lucida / betufolia) 

white lawn clover (Trifolium repens)

western / Pacific trillium (Trillium ovatum)

panicled death-camas (Toxicoscordion paniculatum)

Sitka valerian (Valeriana sitchensis)

yellow (28)

alyssum, desert or small (Alyssum desertorum or alyssoides)

heart-leaf arnica (Arnica cordifolia)

mountain arnica (Arnica latifolia)

arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata)

tall silvercrown (Cacaliopsis nardosmia)

hawksbeard, species uncertain (Crepis sp.)

shrubby cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa)

tall cinquefoil (Drymocallis / Potentilla arguta)

cliff / sticky cinquefoil (Drymocallis glandulosa)

sulphur-flower buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum)

wallflower, sand-dwelling or western (Erysimum arenicola or capitatum)

glacier lily (Erythronium grandiflorum)

large-leaf avens (Geum macrophyllum)

desert-parsley / biscuit-root, probably nine-leaf (Lomatium, probably triternatum)

desert-parsley / biscuit-root, probably short-leaf (Lomatium, probably brevifolium)

barestem desert-parsley / biscuit-root (Lomatium nudicaule)

Cascades Oregon-grape (Mahonia nervosa)

false agoseris / desert dandelion (Nothocalais troximoides)

western sweet-cicely (Osmorhiza occidentalis)

bracted lousewort (Pedicularis bracteosa)

yellow mountain-heath (Phyllodoce glanduliflora)

fan-leaf cinquefoil (Potentilla flabellifolia)

buttercup, maybe straight-beak (Ranunculus, maybe orthorhynchus)

stonecrop, probably lance-leaf (Sedum, probably lanceolatum)

tall western groundsel (Senecio integerrimus)

yellow salsify (Tragopogon dubius)

pioneer / streamside violet (Viola glabella)

goosefoot violet (Viola purpurea)

reddish: pink to red to red-purple (23)

snow douglasia (Androsace / Douglasia nivalis)

rosy pussytoes (Antennaria microphylla / rosea)

spreading dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium)

red columbine (Aquilegia formosa)

harsh paintbrush (Castilleja hispida)

scarlet paintbrush (Castilleja miniata)

pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata) 

spotted coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata)

scarlet gilia / skyrocket (Ipomopsis / Gilia aggregata)

pea, probably few-flowered (Lathyrus, probably pauciflorus)

Columbia lewisia (Lewisia columbiana)

Pacific / western starflower (Lysimachia latifolia)

little-leaf montia (Montia parvifolia)

spreading phlox (Phlox diffusa)

shooting-star, probably Jeffrey’s (Primula, probably jeffreyi)

swamp gooseberry (Ribes lacustre)

Lobb’s gooseberry (Ribes lobbii)

rose, species uncertain (Rosa sp.)

red sorrel / common sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella)

common snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus)

western meadow-rue (Thalictrum occidentale)

red clover (Trifolium pratense)

tall / black huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum)

bluish: blue to violet to blue-purple (11)

edible thistle (Cirsium edule)

rockslide larkspur (Delphinium glareosum)

larkspur, probably common / upland (Delphinium, probably nuttallianum)

subalpine daisy / fleabane (Erigeron glacialis)

Jessica’s stickseed (Hackelia micrantha)

lupine, broad-leaf and/or big-leaf (Lupinus latifolius and/or polyphyllus)

lupine, probably silky (Lupinus, probably sericeus)

bluebells, species uncertain (Mertensia sp.)

shrubby penstemon (Penstemon fruticosus)

small-flower penstemon (Penstemon procerus)

American vetch (Vicia americana)

orange (3)

orange agoseris (Agoseris aurantiaca)

Columbia / tiger lily (Lilium columbianum)

orange honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa)

brown (2)

Oregon boxwood (Paxistima myrsinites)

chocolate-tips or fern-leaf desert-parsley / biscuit-root 

(Lomatium dissectum or multifidum)

green (1)

slender bog orchid (Platanthera stricta)

BIRDS

American Goldfinch

Western Tanager

Steller’s Jay

Swainson’s Thrush

American Robin

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Clark’s Nutcracker

Red-Breasted Nuthatch 

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Townsend’s Warbler

Common Raven

Chipping Sparrow

Cassin’s Finch

Lazuli Bunting

BUTTERFLIES

Parnassian, species uncertain (Parnassius sp.)

Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon)

Pale Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon)

Julia’s / Pacific Orange-Tip (Anthocharis julia)

Western Pine Elfin (Callophrys eryphon)

Echo / Spring Azure (Celastrina echo)

Boisduval's Blue (Icaricia icarioides)

Acmon Blue (Icaricia acmon)

greater fritillary, species uncertain (Speyeria sp.)

Lorquin's Admiral (Limenitis lorquini)

California Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica)

Snowberry Checkerspot (Euphydryas colon)

Crescent, probably Northern (Phyciodes, probably cocyta)

Ochre / Common Ringlet (Coenonympha tullia)

REPTILE

garter snake (Thamnophis sp.)

Loved this hike! While it is long, it is not difficult…not rocky or steep until after you reach the pass. It is a scenic hike all along the way with changes in topography. Various types of wildflowers were sprinkled along the trail on the way up. And you are rewarded by grand views at the pass (and even more beyond).

Gentle gradual grade up to the pass with no significant steep sections until after you reach the pass. We did not go all the way to the peak but did go up about .4 miles beyond the pass where we had AMAZING 360 degree views for a lunch break. That .4 section was much steeper than the rest of the trail before the pass (and a little slick on the way down so I was glad to have poles).

The trail is close to the stream for the first section and you also have access to water further up closer to the pass if needing to filter water. Glad it was a cooler day on Friday because a good portion of the hike is without shade.

There are some trees down on the trail but it is easy to navigate around them.