With the temperature forecast to soar into the 90s later in the week, I decided to take a cool but dry Tuesday visiting the Stuart Range from the north. The unpaved road portion was bumpy but not too long. The parking lot at the Lake Stuart TH was just over half full at 9:30am.

The trail is in good shape going to Colchuck Lake with the last 1.5 miles rocky, rooty, steeper, but w/ firm footings - nothing that cannot be handled w/ slower pace. There were no significant bugs on a cool morning. Once the Lake was reached, the lingering sweeping clouds tried to hide the toothy peaks of Dragontail and Colchuck from time to time. But they could not diminish the sapphire shining of the clear alpine lake. There were quite a few people on the trail. Most of them are backpackers and climbers (w/ ice ax). Aasgard Pass was truly waiting patiently for the lucky few!

On my way back, I decided to take a side trip to Lake Stuart w/ its easy grade (600 vertical feet in 2.5 miles). There were a lot more wildflowers blooming there in the valley. Naturally the bugs were also buzzing constantly in the warmer and breeze-less afternoon. With the trail less traveled, the vegetation was a little overgrown but in no way prevented me from following the trail. From a different perspective, the peaks of Argonaut, Sherpa, and Stuart were clearly in view in front of the lush meadow and the pyramid-like namesake ridges of the nearby Mountaineer Creek.

Even after dipping my toes in the cool and sandy Lake Stuart, my feet were getting sore towards the end of the 14-mile hike pushing the limit of my day-hike boots. But the soothing sound of the rapids and cascades fading in and out from the accompanying Mountaineer Creek seemed to be urging me on. Slowly, surely, and safely the TH came into view and a wonderful hike was finished.

Perfect backpacking weather on the hike in to Stuart Lake with high 70s. Slightly buggy in the expect areas (near boggy, marshy areas and streambeds) - quite a bit better than in '09. Perhaps the mosquitos had already had their fill of weekend hikers!

Enjoyed scenic view break near the far end of Stuart Lake. Campsite (near the 'big rock') seemed less buggy to us, but hikers heading out from their weekend appeared bugged-out.

Continued through the lake-end marsh and anticipated blowdowns (should've counted these, as they're plentiful and at times difficult to pick the trail back up after clamoring over multiple trees at the same time). Great note for those seeking the Horseshoe Lake trail is to keep to the LEFT after the stream on the far side of Stuart Lake (thru the woods) towards the marsh. We noticed many dead-end trails off to the right from hikers seeking the trail last year and didn't make the same mistake this time. You'll be rewarded when finding the rusted horseshoe (I'd suspect this is just after most hikers give up).

Trail heads up severely - indeed a scramble at least a quarter of a time. Quite challenging if you've heavy packs (ours were 25-50 lbs). Elevation profile shows it's about 3/4 of a mile up to the lake with steep, often difficult-to-track trail.

The reward is in the lake. Yes, some bugs (this is August, after all!), but worthy of a few nights' stay and more day-hiking up the scramble to the ridge overlooking Ingall's Lake on the western slope.

An abundance of frisky mountain goats are sure to keep you entertained. Be prepared for thundering hooves and little ones calling out for mom's in the wee hours of the morning. (Some might find this annoying - we found it delightful!).

Plethora of huckleberries found between the trailhead and halfway hill. Keep an eye out for a little brown bear tucked within the bushes!

Got to Stuart Lake at around 2:30pm, boy were the bugs in FULL FORCE that day! We got eaten alive even with the bug spray. Perhaps it was because it was pushing the upper 90's that day?? Lake was beautiful, lots of solitude, not even a lot of cars at the trailhead. Trail was in excellent condition. Will wait to hike again (anywhere) until the flies and mosquitos have died down a bit. It was a great hike, but the bugs made it awful at times.

     Mt. Stuart is the tallest peak in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area. The Mt. Stuart batholith is a hotly debated topic in geologic circles. A microplate tectonic model proposes in what is called the Baja-BC hypothesis that the granite of Stuart had its origins at latitude ~31 degrees in the Baja region. The rock was driven on a subterranean plate and surfaced as an accreted terrane at it present location. The only movement of rock we experienced was the occasional rockfall in our Cascadian Couloir route. Randy Busch and Craig Beaver were my partners for this ambitious day-trip.
     We drove I-90 east and turned north toward Wenatchee at Route 970. We were on this for 5 miles and turned left at the sign for Teanaway River road. At 13 1/2 miles is a road junction at 29 Pines Campground. At this "Y" take the right fork (Forest Road 9737) and drive the dirt road until it ends at the trailhead, elevation 4243 feet.
     This trail also accesses Ingall's Lake but the signage is good for the turnoffs to reach Long's Pass at 6250 ft. Once at Long's Pass the descending trail toward Ingall's Creek is 50 ft to the left. It starts out with tricky footing but gets better as you descend. There is a log crossing at Ingall's Creek but it is not for the faint-hearted. You may want to bring wading shoes for the ford. We then took the Ingall's Creek trail downhill east for ~1/4 mile. The start of the trail toward the Cascadian Couloir is just past a large stream with a broken bridge at ~4900 ft. The trail is on the left and is well-used. When you get out of the trees and see the mountain the route continues up broken rock to the left of a black-rock buttress seen on your right. The route continues up and dropped us at a snowfield where we finally changed into our boots and removed our ice-axes from the packs. The snow was easy to kick steps into and our crampons remained stowed away. We crossed the ridge at ~9,000. It is important to remember the landmarks for where you crossed this ridge as it will be a challenge to locate on the downclimb. Once across the ridge we lost ~30 feet of elevation before following the cairned route to the top. There is a fair amount of traversing left and don't be tempted to gain elevation quickly or you will be on unfriendly rock. If you are on Class 4 rock then you are off-route. The true summit only grants use of one person at a time. The summit register is in an attache size box placed by the Cascadians of Yakima.
     Our descent varied from the ascent route. We wanted to avoid the slabby rock and with climbers above us the risk of rockfall in the Cascadian Couloir. We took the next gully drainage to the east. Where the gully steepened through a rock course we angled right and teased our way through trees and talus to reconnect with the Cascadian Couloir trail. The sun had thankfully dropped below the ridgelines and gave us a shadowed route for the grind back up to Long's Pass. Distance travelled; 13 miles Elevation gain; 8,200 ft Car-to-car; 13 hrs