I went on a Cascadian backpack outing Fri – Sun to the arm just west of Volcanic Neck & Tooth Saddle. Once the Beverly Creek Trail broke out of the trees the hillsides were covered with Northern Desert Buckwheat & Scarlet Gilia. The trail was in fine shape. We then took the Fourth Creek Trail up to the junction with the County Line Trail and then along this trail to our campsite. The County Line Trail to this point was generally easy to follow, though a little boggy in places. Our campsite was next to a long outcropping of beautiful orange serpentine with spectacular views to the north across the Ingalls Creek valley to the Stuart Range; to the west to Ingalls, Bill’s, & Iron Peaks; and, right above us, Bean Peak & Volcanic Neck. Once in the higher country there was lots of Wild Alyssum, Spreading Phlox, Martindale’s & Wenatchee Mtn Lomatium, Ivsia, and, in the wetter spots, Jeffrey’s Shooting Star. Most spectacular, however, was one of my favorite wildflowers, the beautiful serpentine endemic, the Wenatchee Mtn Spring Beauty (Claytonia megarhiza, var. nivalis), growing in almost every little nook & cranny in the serpentine. It took considerable self-control not to photograph every composition I found. We hadn’t been there too long, however, before we were discovered by the mosquitoes. It took liberal amounts of bug juice & mosquito net hats to keep them at bay.
    On Saturday we day-hiked the County Line Trail east toward Navaho Pass. Once past the two forks of Hardscrabble Creek the trail was faint at times, though cairns generally marked the way. There were also lots of blow-downs, both old & new. Once we reached the saddle just before Navaho Pass, Ethan & I decided that we had gone far enough. I took a group shot with the Stuarts in the background and then the others headed off to Navaho Peak, which they reached in about an hour. The skies were clear & the views magnificent, though it was quite warm. When we arrived back in camp later that afternoon clouds were building & there was a party of two in one of the other campsites a little farther out on the arm. These two and a day-hiker were the only others we saw the entire time.
    We woke on Sunday to overcast and a cool breeze, a welcome relief from Saturday’s heat. After breakfast some of the party headed up towards Bean Peak, but it was so cold & miserable at Tooth Saddle that they turned around and came back to camp. The breeze was only intermittent by the time they returned, and the bugs were as thick as ever, so we packed up and headed out. We stopped for lunch on the open slopes above Beverly Creek and arrived back at the cars about 2:30, the end of a very nice outing.
    A final note: when we arrived at the trailhead on Fri there were some Forest Service folks there checking out the drainage ditches that were mentioned in earlier reports (we scraped bottom of one of them). We were told that the plan is to modify them enough so that the road is passable to passenger cars while still providing the necessary drainage.

We decided to try a new way of getting to Iron Bear. This is the fourth way that we know to reach that viewpoint. The others are Iron Creek, Bear Creek and Teanaway Ridge trail. This time we took the County Line trail from Old Blewett summit to the junction with the Teanaway Ridge trail and on to the Iron Bear viewpoint. We had a hard time finding the trailhead. To get there take the Old Blewett highway to the summit. At the summit, go west on a dirt road. Stay left at the first junction. The road goes around the side of the hill and comes to another junction. Again stay left. After a bit there is another junction, go left again. That road is signed #270. A short distance down that road is a road to the right with a sign that says Tr. 1226. That is the start of the County Line trail. We chose to walk the road (.7 mile) as we did not know what it would be like. It is drivable to the actual trailhead if you don't mind a rough road and some narrow brushy spots. The trail crosses an old road farther along. We took the road as we didn't spot the trail on the other side until we returned. It didn't matter as they both went to the same place. This trail is used by motorcycles and there are a couple of quite steep sections. After the steep climbs the trail goes up and down along the ridge top. We gained 2250' in elevation and did about 7 miles.
Last fall we were heading up Shaser Creek road toward the Old Blewett summit and we came across a trail sign. We decided to check it out, but as it was late in the day we didn't go very far. We assumed it was the County Line trail. However, it turns out that we were wrong. We tried to find that trail today and could not locate it, which was a good thing because it was not the right trail anyway. There was no place on the County Line trail that even remotely resembled the trail that we were on last fall. So the location and name of that trail remain a total mystery.

Previous reports have described problems with the potholes on the road to Esmerelda basin. Unfortunately, there are yahoos out there who insist on passing very fast.
The flowers are at their absolute peak. Lower down in the basin there are more shooting stars than I have ever seen. Higher up, the glacier lilies (Erythronium grandiflorum), Douglasia nivalis, and Anemone drumondii are at their peak. There are lomatiums, orchids (white rein and northern green bog) and other beauties too numerous to mention. In the boggy places north of the trail look for the violet-like insectivorous plant Pinguincula vulgaris. It has tiny leaves, digests insects that become trapped in its throat. Despite the large numbers of hikers (most evident at the start of the trail), this is a fabulous hike for the views from Mt. Adams to Glacier Peak and the flowers.

I led a Cascadian backpack this weekend up the Esmeralda Basin trail and then a short ways up the County Line trail towards Lake Ann to a nice campsite I know of with a great view across Esmeralda Basin to Teanaway Mtn, the Esmeralda Peaks, & Hawkins Mtn. We hiked in under mostly sunny skies and cool temperatures: perfect hiking weather. After camp was set up the rest of the party made their way to the saddle overlooking Lake Ann while I just lolled around on the rocks by camp soaking up the sun and the views. By early evening the wind picked up and low clouds started obscuring Hawkins, the western Esmeralda Pks, & the top of Fortune Mtn. It was windy all night and in the morning there was ice in the water bag. The clouds had retreated some overnight, but as the morning progressed, they started moving in again so we packed up while everything was still dry and headed for the cars about 10:30. The trail is in great shape. The only snow is in the basin below the saddle to Lake Ann. Lower down there was lots of nice shooting star & yellow stream violet. Up in the rocks there was nice phlox, drummond's anemone, cut-leaf violet, columbia lewisia, & ivesia. This is always a good early-season hike.