What to do? Hawkins Mtn in marginal weather on Saturday or Sunday...head east and further north to a better weather forecast? A message from Jim...what are your plans...want to do Ingalls Creek.

So off we went. Bright and early. Jim up at the crack of dawn and meeting me at the Monroe Smokestack at 6am. We wanted and early start so we could hike at last in to the Falls Creek Trail junction.

We arrived at the TH at about 8am and counted the cars...24. Wow...going to be a busy day on the trail. Good thing for the early start to beat most of the crowds.

The trail is easy, gaining just under 1700' to our turnaround which was about 1.75mi from the Falls Creek junction.

The trail is easy gaining a bit of elevation steadily. Never really steep and never for all that long. Sometimes right next to the creek. Other times well above it. The roar of the creek is ever present. Ingalls Creek is in my top 5 most scenic creeks. I don't mean the trail along the creek...I mean the creek itself. It's gorgeous. It always seems to be cranked high with water. The boulders strewn about it's course adding terraces for the water to cascade over...well it just doesn't get much better than this (one of my other favorites is Boulder River).

Lots of people out and about but all in campsites in the first few miles. We encountered a small group of scouts(?) hiking out pretty early. Wow...such a nice day...I'd lounge around in camp and hike out late in the afternoon.

The flowers start out early...mariposa lilies, some balsamroot, paintbrush, lupine, woodland stars... Further in calypso orchids, shooting stars, ballheaded waterleaf, oregon anemones, arnica, trillium... No glacier lilies though...saw 3 but the rest were crispy. Peak flower season looks like it was 1 week ago.

The mid portion of the trail is pretty interesting. I told Jim I thought the north side was very enchantment-like (lots of big granite boulders, etc). The south side of the creek had the typical debris flows you see all over the Teanaway. Makes me want to pull out my geology book to find out if the creek is along a fault like separating two geologic areas.

We never really did see the crowds we were expecting. The whole day...maybe 8 other hikers. Most of the campers had packed up and left by the time we passed campsites on the way out.

Snow is gone along the trail. Not even one patch all the way up to our turnaround point. Couple of sucking mudholes though. Miss-stepped into one and almost lost a boot.

Bugs...couldn't believe it but got bit twice by biting black flies at our turnaround spot. I hope it's not going to be a bad bug season.

Lots of trees down along the trail. Most easy enough to step over. A few required either a butt scoot under or an awkward crawl over. The rest had new social trails beat in get around the trees. I'd venture maybe a dozen trees down that need to be cut out.

Stats: 15mi / ~1700' gain (round trip)

Headed to Ingalls Creek on Saturday, with our Venturing Crew (co-ed arm of the BSA, for older teens). We hit the trail at 10:00, with packs full of training weight, in preparation for summer adventures.

Trail: In lovely shape...only a little bit of mud here and there, and the streams are easy to hop across. No snow whatsoever.

Blowdowns: A few. The first large one is best negotiated by sliding your pack under, and then crawling under after it. The top of that blowdown has a lot of sap.

Campsites: If you're looking for a short backpack, there are many campsites along the way, from singles to larger sites at about 4 miles and at 5.5 miles.

Wildflowers: Lots, and in full bloom. Definitely spend a few moments indulging your inner nature photographer :-)

For a side diversion, spend a little while at the enormous boulder fall on the north side of the trail. Lots of good scrambling to be done.

Just a quick fix on wildflowers and riversongs. Trail in good shape for 4 miles. A couple of logs over the trail. Wild flowers included (from top to bottom) glacier lilies, trillium, red flowering currant, mock orange, lupine, and paintbrush. Lupine at it's peak near the trailhead. Heard two rattlesnakes and saw one more within two feet of trail. Kept the dog on the leash and got several compliments.

Hiked up to the Falls Creek junction. Nice spring hike with the river roaring, green foliage with a few flowers, and nice views of the still-snowy mountains on either side.

The trail is in pretty good shape, and is now entirely snow-free. The most significant issue was a couple of fallen logs to scramble around (the first one is actually the hardest), but not a big deal.

And as the last review states, it's brushy at times, but doable in shorts if it's hot and you're willing to take a few minor scratches. (I didn't see any ticks or anything, but your mileage may vary).

A few wildflowers blooming: Indian Paintbrush early on, quite a lot of trillium, and a few other ones I don't know the names of. I get the sense the big bloom is yet to happen, though.

Overall, a very pleasant early-season hike to stretch your legs out on.