Elbow Peak is situated close to the center mass of a small grouping of mountains between the Cle Elum and Teanaway River Valleys. In winter the Middle Fork Teanaway River Road is plowed to about 2.5 miles from the spur road that leads to the start of Trail 1222 at the southern base of Yellow Hill.

I left the car and started out on the snowmobile-groomed road at 7 a.m. with Maverick the Mountaineering Mastiff. This was his first hike since he ripped off a toenail over a month ago, and he was clearly very excited to finally be back out in the wild. We crossed what looked like cougar tracks several times on the road, and twice more on the way up Yellow Hill.

The spur road that begins the first mile or so of the trail was also groomed but I strapped on snowshoes to cut the switchbacks. The wind was calm enough that even before 9 a.m. I could feel it's heat from behind a thin layer of overcast. Shortly after the road ended I began to notice the larch and lichen that give Yellow Hill its name. The summit has limited views of Mount Stuart and the Enchantments through surrounding trees. I quickly left for Elbow Peak, hoping to make it back to the road before the predicted rain which I could see forming in dark clouds over Snoqualmie Pass.

The ridge between these two peaks is mostly exposed. I stayed to the top of the ridge, gaining and losing a few hundred feet along the way rather than sliding with each step in the softening snow while traversing. There were a few heavily corniced sections with some exposed rock surrounded by moats and softened snow due to the thermal mass within. This section could be hazardous for dogs, so I was sure to keep Maverick close in my trail.

When we reached the Southern point of Elbow Peak, marked as 5673' on the Green Trails Map for Easton (No. 240), the Northern point looked higher so we ventured over just in case. Upon reviewing my GPS track, it looks too close to call, with both high points registering at 5722'. We took a nice long break at the summit and watched the storm clouds slowly approaching from the West. Views were clear from Sasse Mountain all the way around to the Hills near Yakima. Above Yellow Hill I could see a windmill farm near Thorp.

While we rested on the summit the sun burned through the overcast layer and I stripped to just a t-shirt and stayed plenty warm for the rest of the descent. I followed my tracks most of the way back to avoid sinking in the softening snow. Back on the Middle Fork Road we were passed by a friendly group of a dozen snowmobiles. I strapped my snowshoes and poles to my pack at the bridge, but the poles proved to be very useful for the 2 miles of slushy road ahead. I almost stopped to put the snowshoes back on in a few seriously soft sections exposed to the sun.

There is an excellent vantage point to The Enchantments and The Wenatchee Mountains few hundred feet down the West Fork Teanaway River Road. On the way in I took a panoramic and when I returned in the evening clouds had filled the Ingalls Creek Valley and shrouded The Enchantments, leaving only The Wenatchee Mountains visible in front. On my blog is a time lapse of the two scenes.

more pictures and route map @ http://jebtastic.blogspot.c[…]tuated-close-to-center.html

I last hiked to Elbow Peak in 1990. since then I have done several snow scrambles of Yellow Hill. Gwen mentioned Elbow and I joined in along with Janet. The east side looked better with only a 20% chance of rain. It was raining at my house, at our meeting in Bellevue and most of the way up to Snoqualmie Pass. At Easton, as often happens, some blue sky began to show itself. Janet and I did Yellow Hill a year ago in April and it was mostly on snow. This time there was only a few patches all the way to Elbow Peak. We Drove up the Teanaway Valley turning off for the West then Middle Fork Roads. The dirt part of the road was potholed but fine. One worse spot where the road slumped last year but fine in the Subaru and most cars would be okay.

We were packed and on our way at 9:35 am. The trailhead elevation is about 2850'. The trail goes around the tank traps blocking the road/trail. The first 1.6 miles in on road. There are a few shortcuts where a steep trail joins switchbacks. We stuck to the road up and down. We found a big patch of tiger lilies right at the start. The flower show never let up. It was a very good wildflower show. I sure was not expecting it. Having only hiked this trail in September and on snow I had no idea. The trail is one of the few in the Teanaway Valleys that allows motorcycles. This keeps some people away. It should not. On my first trip I saw one motorcycle. This time we saw none.

The tiger lilies gave way to Indian paintbrush and salsify and lupine. Lots and lots of lupine. In places the entire hillside above and below the road and later the trail was covered in blooming lupine. More than I have ever seen outside of the high mountain meadows. Far more than I have seen anywhere else this year. The spot forecast for 4000' was for a high near 60 degrees. It was much warmer than that. We were feeling the sun and heat at 10:00 am. Fortunately after the road section much of the way is in forest. Higher up there was a cooling wind. At the road end we headed steeply up the trail. This old trail is not gentle. There are a few switchbacks but for the most part it is straight up the hill.

At the ridge top, about 2.2 miles in, we stopped for a break. Gwen pointed out a find from an earlier trip, a few Tweedy's lewisia in bloom. Some very colorful penstemon too. The balsamroot was finishing down low but higher up it was still blooming. Add in some big patches of arnica for the yellows. Some phlox in various places too. The route has several ups and downs as it follows the ridge. Uphills late in the day coming out are always appreciated. In some deeper forest we had fading trillium, false Solomon's seal, and vanilla leaf. From desert to forest flowers in just a few minutes. After 22 years I had little recollection of the trail. On snow you just go straight up.

There was one spring high on the ridge as a pretty good small creek was running down the trail for a short distance. That was the only water of the day. It is a dry hike. As the trail began to contour around the east and north sides of Yellow Hill it became steeper. On open slopes we saw more paintbrush and blooming glacier lilies. The snow has not been gone long. The trail contours close to the top of Yellow Hill before dropping on the way to Elbow Peak. We hit snow about 60' below the top and chose to just go cross country to the top. There is a marker on the summit. the top is nearly flat and it's not much higher than the the area around it. Much different without 5 feet of snow. The summit is mostly forested. We did have a view north to Mt. Stuart and the Teanaway peaks. The top of Stuart was in the clouds. A fine place for a late lunch.

We soon were following the ridge down towards Elbow Peak. Where we met the trail it was snow free. The 300' drop is short and steep. The ridge below has some ups and downs but is the gentlest part of the trip. Forest, open ridge, some flowers, and some views out along the ridge. Sasse Ridge and Lake Cle Elum are in view now too. The clouds had departed from Stuart. It's a ways over to Elbow Peak. My GPS recorded nearly two miles. Just before the final climb is the open ridge. I recall crossing it back in 1990. The route across dropped steeply then contoured well below the ridge top. I recalled it being higher. It is. Coming back across I followed the more faint track just below the ridge. It's a steep slope but we did fine. This part is not really a trail not a difficult scramble. Some folks will not be comfortable. We had no problems.

Janet was not comfortable with the scree and steep drop. After double knee replacement she did very well getting up and down the steep trail. She enjoyed the views while Gwen and I headed across. Some unusual flowers on the ridge. I don't know what they were. The last climb is steep but not nearly as much as it looks from a distance. In short order we were on the ridge top. Elbow is not well marked on maps. There is a first point then a higher on a little farther. There is another one on the same contour even farther. We stopped at the open point with the best views. To Rainier, Stuart and points east we now added all the peaks of the Cascade crest. From Lemah, Overcoat, the Chiefs, Bears Breast, Hinman and Daniel. Clouds up to the crest on the west side but clear looking from the east. Snow on parts of the ridge and lots of glacier lilies in bloom.

We had a short stay and headed down. Soon we met Janet. It was very warm for the 300' climb back to just under Yellow Hill. We saw two folks just above the trail on Yellow. They passed us coming down. They were the only people we saw all day. This is a very under appreciated trail, especially when the wildflowers are in bloom. We reached the car at 6:00 pm. Just about 8 1/2 hours on the trail. My GPS recorded 12.07 miles and while that is more than the books and the few other trip reports I think it is pretty accurate. It is most definitely more than the 10 miles mentioned in books. The short cuts on the road could reduce a little distance but not a mile or two. I recorded 4,083' of gain and that is just about right.

This was a good workout hike with some great views from Elbow Peak and wildflowers at the start, middle, and end. They never really let up. Add in great company and good weather along with almost no other people and this was a great day for a hike in the Teanaway.

I have posted 60 annotated photos on my website at: http://www.hikingnorthwest.com. Go to "Trips - 2012" on the left margin.

Gorgeous hike with lots of wildflowers. On a beautiful summer weekday (gray in Seattle but blue skies in the Teanaway) we didn't see a single person on the trail or any cars at the trailhead.

From the trailhead (with ditches built to bar vehicles from proceeding further) we hiked along the road until it turned into a trail, ignoring a couple of well-trod shortcuts up to the right, though the first one might have been more interesting than the road (the second one looked unpleasantly steep). The trail is in decent shape but there are a fair number of branches that could use clearing. There's also one short stretch that's overgrown and wet/muddy, but it's easy to find your way through it.

As the trail skirts to the right around Yellow Hill, the summit isn't obvious, but we found a good place for a break: Just before the trail starts clearly descending away from Yellow Hill, take a left uphill a short distance to a ledge with a view. Beyond that, you might gain a few feet but you seem to lose the view.

After you descend 300 feet and then start climbing to Elbow Peak, there are a few blowdowns, but it's easy to walk around them. The ridge up to Elbow Peak does not involve scrambling as some people describe it, but there are a couple of choices on how to navigate along or just below the ridge. There are fairly steep slopes on both sides of the ridge, but it's pretty easy to see and choose your preferred route, and it didn't *feel* like a fall would result in an uncontrolled slide.

The views along the ridge were superb. There was a light breeze at the top while we enjoyed our lunch and the views. At a steady walking pace, it took us 2 hours up to Yellow Hill (1.5 hours down) and almost 1 hour each way between Yellow Hill and Elbow Peak.

The last part of the road to the trailhead has some big potholes and a couple of fairly steep hills, but my 4WD was probably unnecessary.

Time for another snow scramble. Sun and moderately high avalanche danger. Time to head east again to a fairly safe climb. I first hiked up Yellow Hill in September 1990. I continued on to Elbow Peak too. In January 2003 I did a winter scramble with the Mountaineers. Cloudy with few views that day. We returned at dark. I was ready for a third visit in 21 years to see the snowy views I missed on the last trip. The Middle Fork Teanaway Road is plowed to within 2 1/4 miles of the start of the Yellow Hill Trail. That adds 4 1/2 miles of flat road walking in winter. I hoped we would be able to drive farther this day.

I met Janet in Bellevue and we headed east. This was my third trip in as many weeks to the Teanaway area. We headed up the NF Teanaway Road and turned onto the West Fork Road then almost immediately right onto the Middle Fork Teanaway Road. At the end of pavement there was no snow so we kept on going. In a little less than half a mile snow began. A big patch followed by dirt and then more snow. Two high clearance trucks drove through. We got out to take a look. The first patch looked okay with the Subaru so we plowed ahead. The third patch was the worst. Hard and icy with tracks that might have been deep enough to high center my car. I straddled the tracks and made it across. Now the road was bard and we made it to the Middle Fork bridge and trailhead.

The road narrowed and turned uphill and I did not want to risk deeper snow and no way to turn around. We parked, packed our gear, and headed out. A short way ahead the road has slumped. A short drop then a very steep climb back to road level. Zero chance a regular car could get by here. In only a third of a mile we reached the turn for the Yellow Hill route. The trailhead was way up this road back in 1990. Now there is a trailhead sign at the junction.

We walked the road a short way and came to a couple industrial strength berms and trenches. Must be 15 feet from top to bottom. Not too difficult to hike up and down and up and down to get past them. The real surprise is that we parked at 2700' and were now at 3300' with still no snow on the route. Patchy snow began and in shady spots there were long snow patches. Still, we had some dirt most of the way to the end of the road.

From the road end we climbed up to the ridge top. Most of the way was on snow with some dirt showing through. There were some old footprints that were indistinct. The snow was still not very deep here. The trail follows on or to the left of the ridge all the way up to the summit. We stopped for a break at the first high point. Some peaks were visible to the north but not the main Teanaway peaks. The route drops slightly to several saddles before climbing again. Total drops added up to about 250'. We followed the trail as it traversed a steep hillside. Here microspikes were helpful but not essential. The snow was much softer and easier on the way back.

That was the only even partly exposed spot on the trip. The snow became deeper above 4000' and softer as the day progressed. Now earlier footprints became much more obvious. On some steep sections they were 6-8 inches deep. We climbed to a flat spot on the ridge and the summit could finally be seen through the trees. One more short drop and the final 700' of climbing to the top. This part was steep in places but the softening snow made for deep footprints. Too deep near the top. The last 100' vertical feet was not much fun. I was sinking mid thigh on some steps and hardly at all on others. It seemed to take forever to get the last short bit.

Finally we topped out on a nice open viewpoint and walked the last short distance to a point that is maybe 5 feet higher. The real high point is not very distinct. After no views on my previous winter visit I was pleasantly surprised to be able to see most all the Teanaway peaks and the Stuart Range. It was already 1:00 pm when we arrived and the sun washed out the colors but a very nice view none the less. The summit is forested but there are enough openings to see most peaks to the north. It was only in the low forties and a jacket was in order. The bright sun made it feel much warmer.

After lunch we had the much easier job of getting back down. Sinking mid thigh deep was not so bad downhill. The first 100' of descent must have taken 10 minutes less than the ascent. If the snow was just a little firmer a good glissade could have been had. We chopped 1 1/2 hours off our time coming up on the way down. By the time we reached the road it was feeling very warm. On the drive in we saw many glacier lilies along the MF Teanaway Road. Once parked we had a few miles of bare ground hiking the road and saw not a one. Coming down I was looking all over for at least one glacier lily. That is exactly what I found. Down below the road I found a single patch of half a dozen glacier lilies. Hopefully Janet's photos turned out better than mine.

We did see a lot of spring beauty and some other small flowers along the road. Spring is late but it finally showing some signs of arriving. Once back at the car the only concern was getting back across the snow patches on the road. The first one had melted out somewhat and required a narrow straddle but we made it across. The others were no problem. Construction had part of I-90 down to one lane. I hoped the delay would not be too bad. Continuing our good luck on the day we sailed right on through at the reduced speed limit.

This was a fine spring scramble. The GPS recorded 8.17 miles round trip with 3300' of elevation gain. On the road/trail we saw exactly zero people. The last three weekends I have seen exactly one person on three hikes and he was a friend. Not a single unknown hiker in three weeks. Who says there is not much solitude to be found? Great weather, great company, and a fun summit scramble made for a great day to be in the mountains.

I have posted 20 annotated photos on my site at: http://www.hikingnorthwest.com. Go to "Trips - 2011" on the left margin.