Being rained out on our original plan to hike near Baker Lake, we once again headed East to the land of sunshine. We were not disappointed. It was a gorgeous sunny, windy day with interesting clouds east of Snoqualmie Pass. We easily found the Forest Service road up to Red Top lookout. It's a long 7+ miles, up, up, up, to the trailhead. The road is very rough in places, especially for the average sedan like mine, so it was slow going. It's actually worse at the bottom of the hill than at the top so don't give up. There is good parking at the top and a new-looking pit toilet as well.

The short hike up to the lookout, approximately 1/2 mile, is rather steep but the scenery is breathtaking. We had a nice chat with the volunteer lookout keeper, who showed us around and told us how to get over to the agate fields and where to complete the loop trail back to the parking lot. We climbed to a magnificent perch near the lookout to eat our lunch. We then trekked to the agate fields but failed to see the attraction there. The area indeed looks like an artillery range; one book described it as ""carnage,"" which fits. And don't expect to use the ""comfort station"" in that area as it has been completely trashed by vandals.

The best part for us was the great view of the lookout from that vantage point. The clouds behind the lookout and the amazing rock formations below it were fantastic. From there it's an easy hike back to the parking lot. We figured the whole loop was only about 2 to 2.5 miles. We got into Cle Elum around 3:00, realizing we would hit rush hour traffic in Seattle if we kept going, so decided to ""hang out"" in that town before heading back. We were pleased to find a number of fun shops to browse and had some wonderful pizza at a rather new-looking pizza and pasta restaurant (its name escapes me). It was still sunny and 72 degrees when we headed out of Cle Elum at about 5:45 but only 10 minutes into our westward drive it started raining and continued to pour as we went over the pass into the soggy side of the state. How fortunate we are in Washington to have the option of a wet or dry hike! It was a really great day and we highly recommend this short trail with big rewards.

The weather was in the high 80's at 5000 feet, so we picked an easy trail to get some views, flowers and explore. Red Top is a bald spot on Teanaway Ridge with great views of Rainier, the Stuarts, the Cle Elum and Kittitas Valley areas, and ridges too numerous to name here. There are a few different ways to access Red Top; today we just drove up to the tiny camping/picnic area at the end of the road (FS 9702) a mostly well-graded gravel road.

From road end, walk north to a trail junction where you have a choice, to follow the trail that contours the butte towards the agate fields or to climb to the old firetower. We picked the low route, strolling through intermittent sun and shade enjoying the ancient Douglas and Grand Firs that cling to life on this craggy summit, as well as surprising lush flowers and shrubs. We passed by some very tired agate hunters who hadn't had much luck in finding the jasper geodes for which this area is so well-known among rockhounds.

We wandered past a blow-down which blocked the trail at a junction with Trail 1364, a faint, but pretty route through forest and glen from FS Road 9702. Topping a slight rise, we found sunny, rocky meadows of lomatium, lupine, currant, waterleaf, bitter cherry, balsamroot, spring beauty (in the shade) and assorted other beauties soon to bloom. Views extended in both directions, east and west, as the trail follows the ridgetop.

My friend noticed some craters and rock piles; we were in the agate beds. The area didn't look quite as raw as it did six years ago when I first visited. Hikers wanting a longer walk can continue north to the Blue Creek/Jack Creek Road (9738) via trail and a grassy, flower-filled dozer road to near the trailhead of the Teanaway Ridge trail. A car shuttle would be needed.

We returned by climbing the rather exposed, rocky and airy trail to the fire tower, pass colorful clumps of hardy penstemon, goose-foot violet, yellow-flowered draba, yellow daisies, alumroot, yarrow and assorted lupines. The path climbs in switchbacks over the crest and descends again, opening to views of the tower, Mt. Rainier, Stuart, etc. and then back to the lovely cooler forest. I attempted to identify the various drainages and peaks of the Teanaway that laid out in front of us to my friend who was new to most of the area, Earl, Navaho, Miller, the Brothers, Ingalls and Iron, to name a few.

We completed our explorations of the weekend by driving over the crest of Teanaway Ridge and dropping down into the Jack Creek drainage, emerging just south of 29 Pines Campground on the North Fork Teanaway Road. I noted a couple of interesting flowers on the drive, some malva (pink hollyhock-like) and a rayless rudbeckia.

On advice from Joan Burton's great new book Hiking with Kids: Western Washington & Cascades, we decided to try the short trip to the Red Top Mountain Lookout. We weren't disappointed.

The route, which is perhaps a little over a mile round trip, is a great hike for young kids. The trail is a little steep, and you should have a good hold of their hands on the final little stretch to the top, but all in all a great little trail that gets you to great little lookout. Couldn't see out to the Stuart Range, but had glimpses down to the Teanaway and other surrounding valleys. Route is completely snowfree and roads are clear to the trailhead (it's a bit of a drive, so best do it basing from car camping or an overnight somewhere in the area).

Trail completely snowfree, saw trilliums in bloom in the old growth forest, and what I think were purple waterleaf (Hydrophyllum capitatum) near the summit. Oh and found great little agate for a souvenir (you can hike a 2-mile round trip from a junction below the summit to what some big collections of agates, apparently). Nice little hike.