Another stellar day to be out. Read the details here:

http://alpinelakesaficionad[…]660-and-bean-peak-6743.html

Rain most everywhere. Seven trips to the Teanaway already this year. How about another trip east to the Teanaway? Kim wanted to go to Bean Creek Basin and I joined her and Sarah. The flower show is usually in June and July but this year is way behind normal. We were not even sure that snow was gone from the basin. No early start this day as it was 10:40 when we left the Beverly Creek trailhead. Flowers began early. We saw penstemon, a few Indian paintbrush, and even yellow monkey flower before Bean Creek. Thimbleberries are still at the flowering stage. At Bean Creek there were many roses in bloom. Some were very large flowers. It was overcast and I even broke out the umbrella on and off as some drizzle fell. Not even the Teanaway was immune this day. Most Julys I would not be there as the mid summer heat makes it less than enjoyable.

The trail along the creek was a little damp from web brush but not as overgrown as in some years. I put on rain pants and solved that problem. The crossing of Bean Creek was interesting. Not yet a rock hop as the creek was too deep and wide. A narrow log worked okay to get across with dry feet. I could not have walked it without poles for balance. Once across the creek the flower show really took off. Lots of scarlet gilia and a variety of other desert flowers. Red, white, and yellow were the predominant colors. Progress dropped to a crawl and we enjoyed the color show.

It was warm and dry enough to drop the rain pants as the brush ended. The rest of the way to the lower basin was a mix of open meadows and forest. Flowers were in the meadows but not much in the forest. I went ahead reaching the first of two creek crossing choices ahead of the others. A party of three was passed here. The usual gilia and paintbrush show was non existent. It will be another week or two before the flowers begin to bloom here. Along the creek I did see a lot of shooting stars. At he second crossing place there were many shooting stars. Much photography ensued. Kim and Sara caught up and we crossed over. The creek is still higher than normal for this time of year but it is in two channels here making the crossing easier.

The clouds were low enough to block out Earl Peak above then a minute later it would be back in the open. I had thought about going out ahead and climbing Bean Peak but the clouds had me unsure. I've been up it many times on clear days and didn't know if I wanted to go up and be in damp clouds with no views. Still it might be clear by the time I made it up there. I chose to give it a try. I headed up into the upper basin at a good pace. In the upper basin was the biggest field of shooting stars I have ever seen. Virtually the whole basin was purple with them. Acres of shooting stars. Quite a site. Enough to keep Kim and Sara busy while I went for a scramble.

Instead of my usual route directly up to Bean and then up the face I chose to head for the ridge to the right and follow the ridge to the top. It had been at least a half dozen years since I had been up that route. The hillside is pretty easy to climb until near the ridge top. The last 100' feet was on loose scree than slid down with every step. Not pleasant but not long enough to be too awful. At the ridge top there was a little wind but I kept going in shorts and a short sleeve shirt. It felt like typical April conditions in mid July. Well, April days are probably sunnier.

The ridge scramble is a lot of fun. Easy walking until near the summit block. As I approached the steeper section I saw a group in climbing helmets a little below me and heading down. I also heard some loud yelling from over in the direction of Volcanic Neck. I never did see those folks. Back alone again I tackled the final climb. A little steeper than I remembered it but just as much fun as ever. I topped out on the summit at 2:20. I took just under an hour from the basin. It was chilly on top but the clouds had raised a little. I could see all of Earl Peak but just the bottoms of most other peaks. Not the best view from this summit but not lost in a cloud either.

I had some lunch and enjoyed the views such as they were for 10 minutes before heading back down. I did take a look at the County Line Trail route from Volcanic Neck to Fourth Creek Pass and much of the way is still snow covered. That was a little surprising. All the way through Bean Creek Basin and up to the summit was snow free. There was some snow below Bean Peak but my ridge route avoided it all. I started down the ridge but chose to drop off and attempt a more direct route down to the basin. It worked pretty well although the wide gully I spotted led to much more standing scree glissading than I wanted.

In 30 minutes I was back in the basin and found Kim and Sara still enjoying the bounty of the shooting stars. Kim mentioned seeing two all white shooting stars. She couldn't find the first but then did find a nice white one. I don't think I have ever seen a white variety. Very nice. We spent another half hour in the upper basin before we started down. A little sunshine opened up and I saw a gleam off to the side. Inspections showed it to be a whole patch of the white shooting stars. Much more photography ensued. After that we really did head down to the lower basin.

We saw one group far to the side that was camping and had a smoky fire going. The way down was easy enough. We also had some sunshine to change the lighting. The creek crossings were accomplished with no problem. Kim and I walked the log and Sarah forded it. As often happens we saw a few groups closer to the bottom. It was 5:30 when we reached the car. It was a pretty good day. We headed far east but did not escape all the rain though it was light and only for a short time. The Bean Creek flower crowds were conspicuously missing. Only half a dozen groups of hikers, backpackers, and climbers. The lower flowers were pretty good, the middle flowers were not yet in bloom, and the upper basin was the biggest display of shooting stars I have ever seen. All that made for a great day on an old favorite trail and summit.

I have posted 42 fully annotated photos on my website at: http://www.hikingnorthwest.com. Go to "Trips - 2011" on the left margin. Hiking Northwest can also be found on Facebook for those who prefer, with a link from there.

Flickr: http://bit.ly/bean-peak

With the weather being more than nice this weekend, there were lots of options for peak hiking despite the fact that snow is still around on most peaks. I needed some place closer and something short as I needed to be back to the city and get ready for a birthday party at 5. My options around Mountain Loop Highway were pretty slim given that the gate was closed at Deer Creek. I decided to go to Teanaway despite the 2 1/2-hour drive each way. Devils Head was a possibility, although it would have taken longer to do. In keeping with the Mountaineers Teanaway Twenty Peaks list, Bean Peak would take me the least amount of time to finish. So Bean Peak it was.

We were on Iron Peak two weeks prior, so no directions were needed to get to the area. This time driving on service road 9737 was incredibly smooth and it felt like something was missing—the road had been resurfaced and the potholes weren’t gone! Two miles on 9737 from the 9737/9703 junction, we took a right onto service road 112. The road ran north-southward along side Beverly Creek, before coming to an end at trail #1391. When we got to there at 9 AM I was shocked to see the sea of cars parked in the lot, with more cars overflowing out onto the service road. In speaking with the couple Tom and Danielle who arrived right after me, the cars probably belonged to The Mountaineers groups out on their scrambling courses that day.

We said goodbye to the couple and their dog Jasper and left the trailhead at quarter after. There was a creek crossing about half a mile in, and getting Mr. Cooper to cross the creek was interesting. The water was pretty shallow, though he was nervous to cross because of the current. Mr. Cody, on the hand, couldn’t wait to jump right in to swim around. The only way to get Cooper to cross was for us to start walking away once we got to the other side. Somehow that jump-started his problem-solving skills and got himself over the creek. Snow level was around 4,400’. Traction was definitely not needed, although I put on microspikes for stability.

We saw the first The Mountaineers group at the bottom of the basin. I talked to one of the instructors for a bit while the other instructor talked to the students. We left the group and continued walking up the basin. The second group wasn’t far ahead, in fact, the dogs had caught up to them before I realized where they were. I caught up to the group and chatted with the leader about the organization for a few before we continued hiking. Before long we found ourselves at the head of the basin and it was time to head straight up the slope toward the ridge.

The compass on my GPS was a little off and I mistook Mary Peak for Bean. As I climbed up the slope things didn’t quite add up while comparing the terrain with my GPS version. We were going up the ridge between Bean and Mary to the west instead of through Earl ridge to the east. Oh well, all roads eventually lead to Rome. Everything in the basin was in plain sight, so it would have taken a real miracle to get lost and/or end up on the wrong peak. One of the leaders for The Mountaineers group outings was at the peak when we arrived. The man, Johnny Jeans, apparently had climbed every single peak in the Cascades and was responsible for naming the Devil’s Head directly north of Bean. Impressive!

Johnny and I talked and waited for the first group to arrive. It was totally unexpected to see thousands of ladybugs nesting between the rocks. The lookout area wasn’t very big to begin with, and it got even smaller once the group arrived. The boys and I stayed just long enough to take pictures before heading back down. On the way down, we saw the second group heading up the slope though the exposed rocks. Nothing eventful the rest of the way back except for trying to get Cooper to cross the creek again.

We only ran into two people near the trailhead asking about the trail conditions. Another beautiful day in the Teanaway!

A scramble to any peak surrounding the Bean Creek Basin is worth the 2.5-hour drive from Lynnwood to the Beverly Creek trailhead. The mild ascent to the ridge, the miles of crest trails and the views of Mount Stuart up close and Rainier and Adams far off will keep you here until sunset.
Even at 7:00am, there was a surprising amount of activity along the North Fork Teanaway River Road, around the Twentynine Pines campground, up the 3-miles of washboard gravel on road 9737 and along the 1/2 mile of rugged washouts on road 112 to the Beverly Creek Turnpike trail No. 1391. A Corolla among the 4-wheel drives in every turnout is slightly exotic and unsuited to the condition of those roads. The hunters were out en masse this Sunday, many of them already deep in the woods before I even set foot on the trail.
The path starts at 3400 feet and after a gentle 1/2 mile splits into Beverly Turnpike on the left and Bean Creek Trail 1391A (or 1391.1 as indicated on the sign) on the right. After 2 1/2 miles of creek following and crossing, the trail fades into a basin surrounded on three sides by rocky summits: Earl to the east, Bean to the north, Mary to the north-west and Judy to the West.
The frosted scramble from the basin to the ridge between Bean and Earl is exhilarating, and the only difficulty in running the ridge at that hour is the relentlessly blinding sun. I would recommend approaching Earl's summit (7036 ft.) from the southwest in the morning rather than from the basin ridge so the sun is at your back, or heading to Earl in the afternoon.
The Bean Peak (6743 ft.) scramble and summit are the highlight of the loop. The climb was not so difficult to make me catatonic halfway up but felt like enough of a challenge and an accomplishment that a solid lunch was well-earned.
North of Bean is the Volcanic Neck saddle, where a clear trail crosses East to Teanaway and Iron Peaks. I made it as far as the base of Volcanic Neck but did not see a clear route to the top or around back to Devil's Head so returned to Bean. Based on the relative ease of the previous ridge, I attempted the same strategy in crossing from Bean to Mary. Unfortunately, this crest is more jagged with larger gaps and steeper slopes with few good holds. I spent the majority of my day and my patience attempting this crossing, tossed my pack twice to get out of precarious situations, made numerous descents, ascents and backtracks, and spent far too much time facing directly into the afternoon sun, when it would have been simpler to descend the south side of the ridge into the basin and to approach from the saddle between Mary and Judy.
Once at Mary, the runs to Judy and to the cairn at the small point on the southern tip of the ridge were a welcome stroll, and the descent directly towards the sounds of Bean Creek and eventually to the trail was a relief. As much as I wanted to cross the Beverly Basin, I decided that climbing Bill, Teanaway and Iron Peaks would be a great excuse to come back.
Despite all the trucks and orange vests on the road in the early morning, I did not encounter another sign of life with or without antlers all day, except for the far-off howl of a coyote, which may account for the stillness and strangely silent tension of the forest, as if everything were in a stalemate, an equilibrium. By the time I headed back towards Cle Elum and over the pass, the hunters were packing up and settling around campfires with their dinners, the sun was setting behind the Cascades, and I was planning my next trip back to the Teanaway.