WRRD Trail Crew cleared 250 trees between Hardscrabble Creek and Beverly Turnpike Trail - WRRD Wilderness rangers cleared up to Stuart Pass.  Public logged out and WTA paid crews worked on tread and brushing from Hwy 97 Trailhead up to Hardscrabble Jct.   Trail Crew and public worked on the Fourth Creek Trail, which is clear as well.  Ingalls from 97 to Stuart Pass is passable to stock travel, as well as Fourth Creek - though this a much steeper access option.   Ingalls is a decently graded (if brushy) trail - something hard to find in this area, there are opportunities to hike it as an out and back or as part of a loop from Beverly Trailhead on Cle-Elem RD.  Many good campsites within a few miles of the 97 Trailhead - please stick to established user trails and avoid further eroding the main trail when scrambling down to the creek.  Other good campsites are at the Falls, Cascade, and about 1/4 mile before the Hardscrabble Junction.  There is a good camp where the 4th Creek Trail crosses Ingalls Creek.  Note:  Falls, Cascade and Hardscrabble Creek Trails are not maintained.

Bugs aren't too bad and water is plentiful if you're just hiking along, it'll be there when you need it.  

Lotta trails covered in this obvious-choice 15 mile loop.

Beverly Turnpike - TH accessible in my Honda Fit. I only scraped once in and out, and in the same place both times.

I had this idea to do this loop to get full continuous Stuart Range views without having to summit or scramble anything. Checked the cloud base forecast... 17000! supposdly. lol

Arrive to the inside of a ping pong ball. Extremely poor visibility all Saturday. I think this loop would have given me generous servings of what I was looking for, but not this time. So it became about the rocks (many wonderful bright colors, polished in the rain) and the flowers, which are many in bloom but somewhat bowed with the weight of the water on them.

The paths listed were all in decent shape, a couple blowdowns here and there, no major diversions. Except:

Entering and exiting the bowl north of Earl Peak (I am calling it Earl Basin), by way of Volcanic Neck and Wrong Turn respectively, is to switchback up unstable gravel dunes. I felt the descent eastward was shorter than the ascent at Wrong Turn so I would do this loop in the same direction if I did it again. Earl Basin is also the most difficult to navigate of this entire loop. There isn't any scrambling and rare small blowdowns, and it's not exactly brush you're fighting, it's that the trail tread is often heavily obscured by-of all things-persistent sprouts growing up just the same in the path as they would anywhere else, making it slow-going at times to choose which way seems most likely right, based mostly on vibes and somewhat on the slope. There were some pretty steep drops above and below the trail at times in this section, so sticking to the path is important. There was a cairn for the junction to head north on Hardscrabble but I did not actually see the path to do so.

The entry to Earl Basin from Volcanic Neck has a lingering snow drift in it that is carefully passible on the sides but a rather sheer drop down its face.

I abandoned the plan to summit Navaho and camp at Navaho pass due to weather and head downhill for better shelter.

In the rain, look out for what i think is Serpentinite all over the place. Deep olive green.

My favorite view in the Teanaway so far! This was a graduation climb for the compressed scrambling course through the Mountaineers. We were a group of 9 students and 3 instructors. Road is very rough, couldn't imagine getting up there without high clearance. No toilet at the TH. Creek crossing wasn't too bad. Thank you to whoever laid the sturdy logs across it!

We followed the Fourth Creek trail to a beautiful meadow with lots of flowers blooming and a great view of the Enchantments. We left the trail at this point and scrambled up a scree field, eventually getting to larger boulders. There's still a good amount of snow just below the summit, which is nice and clear. There was plenty of room for all of us at the top, along with 2 ticks and lots of ladybugs. Outstanding 360 views of the surrounding peaks!

On the way down, we opted to follow the summit ridge for a while in search of snow to practice self arrest and get some glissades in. We were successful, and what a great way to cool off that was. Lots of post-holing ensued on the descent until we got closer to the meadow. 1 tick hitched a ride on an instructor's clothing but thankfully no one found any embedded. Uneventful hike out. Overall, fantastic day with even better people!

Did an overnight backpack starting from Beverly Trailhead, going down to Ingalls Creek and meandering around Fourth Creek Trail with a friend. The trails were very beautiful and dry. A marathon was going on when we came in Saturday, so it was busy, and we ran into several hunters around the big camp by the Fourth Creek/Beverly Turnpike Trail (they had guns and bows). Glad I brought bright colors.

Trees down the trails in various spots and the crossing from Fourth Creek Trail over Ingalls Creek was tricky. I fell in when I was walking over on slippery rocks and got wet, but it was only a few inches deep.

Lots of pretty fall colors starting to come out, some flowers, and great views on the way down to Icicle Creek.

Trip Summary
Day 1: Ingalls Creek to Longs Pass (up & over) to Esmerelda TH
Day 2: Esmerelda TH to Iron Peak (via Iron Peak Trail) to Volcanic Neck via Beverly Turnpike Trail, Fourth Creek Trail, and Hardscrabble Trail to Wrong Turn Peak and Navaho Pass & Peak via Old County Line Trail, then down to Etienne Creek Trail
Day 3: Etienne Creek Trail to Ingalls Creek TH

TL;DR
If you do this loop, prepare for a wild ride and epic adventure. The blowdowns and overgrowth will seem like nothing after the miles of route finding, snow field navigation, and mild rock climbing! Pick a sunny day as the views are amazing, but on a rainy day you'll be very exposed to the elements. Choose your own adventure!

Trail Conditions
Ingalls Creek: blowdowns between miles 9-12, some washout, some overgrowth, but all manageable and lots of campsites along the trail

Longs Pass: North side is steep and rocky, then hits a large snow climb and rock climb to the pass (helmet recc., snow gear recc.), trail on south side in great condition

Iron Peak Trail: a few blow downs, but manageable, trail in good condition, amazing views at the top. Only small little snow patch at the top, but spikes not needed

Beverly Turnpike + Fourth Creek Trail: Only on for a small bit as connector trail to Hardscrabble. Trail in decent condition, a few blow downs and washouts

Hardscrabble Trail: A lot of washout which can lose the trail a little bit, aptly named trail, up to the pass is super steep and loose gravel

Old County Line Trail: good luck and god speed. Thankful for the rock cairns, but some snow fields, blowdowns, route finding, washouts... all the things, but where there is trail, it's fine to follow

Wrong Turn Peak: bit of a scramble but not too bad, trail okay to follow

Navaho Pass & Peak: accidentally took the trail that goes up to the peak as that seems more like a "main" trail. The climb up is steep, and tread is loose. It was fogged out when we arrived, but imagine the views are incredible. Going up was fine (but hard), going down was another story. Snowy navigation and route finding. Once you find the trail in okay condition

Etienne Creek Trail: You hit a large meadow opening and sort of lose trail, but then follows through the meadow alright. Then the fun begins. Tried to do a cut through on the FSR and lost trail about half way. Walked FSR until we hit trail again, blowdowns and overgrowth galore, then trail through grass alright, middle 2 miles there is NO TRAIL. Repeat, not a trail in the middle. Then finally found trail again but still fought blowdowns and overgrowth until the last few miles back on old FSR. Also, 1 unstable log bridge, but otherwise you will cross the creek 13x, that means wading up to hip deep, but usually shin/knee high. I would NOT recommend this trail to anyone until the middle section is taken care of. Lots of old cars and mining supplies found along the way.

Backpacking
Plenty of water sources, campsites are sparse after Ingalls Creek, dealt with ALL the elements, so pack accordingly. Rain gear, cold gear, warm gear, route finding tools, etc.

Trail Running
Depends on the trail, but would otherwise not recommend any of these trails for trail running. Up to Longs Pass from the South side, and up to Iron Peak is not so bad. First 9 miles of Ingalls Creek is alright. Otherwise I'd skip this section unless you're training for something like Barkley Marathons or adventure racing that requires route finding!

Animals
Heard a couple rattle snakes in the first couple miles in Ingalls Creek Trail. Sadly only saw small chipmunks the entire weekend, but saw goat and deer tracks along the way.

Pick a sunny day and go peak bagging, but skip the unnecessary connector trails for now, until cleaned up or trail is found again from under the snow and washouts. I'd personally avoid Etienne Creek Trail. My boyfriend best described it as "The spiteful memory of a trail", so let that be your fair warning.