I traversed Icicle Ridge from the Fourth of July trailhead to the Icicle Ridge trailhead near Leavenworth. The Fourth of July Creek trail is essentially snow-free up to where it meets Icicle Ridge. From there, the ridge is snow-covered to the old lookout site, but there is a fairly obvious bootpath leading the way to the lookout. After taking a break at the lookout, I headed southeast on Icicle Ridge towards town. The trail is still pretty much buried under snow. There were some tracks to follow for a mile or two, and then I was on my own until the trail re-appeared approx 4 miles (that's a very rough estimate) from the Icicle Ridge trailhead. It was a fun day and a great early-season hike! I especially enjoyed using my bike as a shuttle - a great way to start the day. More pics and details here: https://evergreenendurance.com/2016/05/18/icicle-ridge-traverse/

Great hike, went with a group and all had a blast. Hiking up was good and fast, faster back down than going up (haha). At the top are some of beautiful wildflowers which leads to the view. Overall this is the perfect hike to do on a short day and go to Leavenworth afterwards. All photos taken by me (Alex Kharchuk). 10/10 would recommend.

Beautiful hike. The views are stunning, even before you reach the top. Very crowded trail, but well worth the steep hike to the top. Beautiful flowers up there too. Our legs were sore for a few days after this one though.

Arrived at the trailhead about 12:15 and found parking. The trail is in good condition but trail etiquette should be revisited by everyone - please remember, yield to uphill hikers. Yes, it is also difficult to come down this trail as the tread is a bit loose in spots but those that are heading uphill are climbing a steady 11% grade. We met about 10 groups as we were heading up and only 2 of them stopped and allowed us to pass. Everyone was pleasant and there were several off and on leash dogs - all were no problem. No dog poop bags as on other hikes. Met a couple of mountain bikers going up this trail - amazing! The lupine are in full bloom now - balsamroot is still gorgeous at the top, along with ?Ocean Spray, and several other wildflowers. Gorgeous hike, well worth the effort. Barely rained on us and the drops felt good as we were heading up. The no-see-ums were a nuisance, didn't spend much time eating at the top as we were getting swarmed with them.

I decided to get in a little wildflower hike before the season passed so I drove to Icicle Ridge for a short little day jaunt. The balsam root were blooming in the higher elevations with lupine blooming throughout the hike. While the temperatures rose, it was still a very pleasant hike with some beautiful wildflowers.