So many wildflowers and so much variety! It felt like every few feet I was snapping a photo of something new. Very abundant in alpine lupine :) Turned around at the Falls Creek campground for a total of 9.3 miles round trip. Very few people on trail or in the parking lot, even though it was Memorial Day and absolutely gorgeous weather. 

Parking
Arrived to the lot at 9:45 on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and the lot was full with folks beginning to park on the side of the street, but someone pulled out right when we arrived so I got a spot.

Trail
The trail was in good shape and saw a lot of folks going both directions with trail runners passing us every 15 minutes or so. Lots of flowers blooming and the constant roar of the creek. We saw a big group with dogs that had turned around after the 1st mile or so because there was a rattlesnake in the trail, which was a common occurrence, seemed like half the folks we talked to had seen a snake (more on that later). We didn’t see that snake so kept going. I was a little worried about finding a site as it was my daughter’s first overnight backpacking trip and was asking folks coming the other way about spots and got mixed feedback if we would find anything open within the first 5.5 miles. So, when we got to the camp a little over 2 miles into the trip which was had a large group, I panicked and we decided to hike back to the camp around 1.7 miles from the TH we saw was open when we initially passed it. So, we went back, setup camp and then hiked down the trail with lighter packs for a couple miles.  I am guessing there must have been plenty of places to camp though as we were saw at least 10 - 12 other backpacking groups heading up the trail and we never saw them come back (camp was very close to the trail, so we could see most of the traffic). On our “day hike” we didn’t go too far because my daughter was toughing out a head cold and about 3.3 miles in we ran across our own rattlesnake (it rattled when it heard me coming, but stopped as soon as I did, then made its way across the trail largely ignoring us).

Camp
The campsite we stayed at was spacious, had a fire pit and easy access to the creek with many good sitting spots, but was very close to the trail. I was also disappointed to find that someone had done a #2 on the path between the creek and the campsite and left it there with their TP just covering it with a branch. The smell was bad enough that I moved it onto some bark, walked it well away from the creek and buried it. Also found a tent stake still in the ground and a beer can while tossing my line for a bear hang. Waking up the next morning I couldn’t find one of my gaiters that I had shoved in my shoe and left in my vestibule, I looked everywhere for it and eventually gave up after 15 minutes of searching. When I got home, the mystery was revealed when I saw tiny chew marks on the tongue of my shoe (pic below), I am guessing either I spilled some dinner on my foot without realizing it or my sweat was just that enticing for some rodent who made off with my gaiter. Lesson learned for next time, keep shoes inside of the tent!

We enjoyed 3 days on this trail camping at 8 miles from the trail head. Previous reports are accurate. The scents from SO many lupine and cherry blossoms was heady!
We day hiked further up the valley on our middle day. 1.3 miles between Cascade and Hardscrabble creeks had fabulous views of the mountains on either side of the valley but the snow brush and willows are 7 feet tall and grown together across the trail, completely obscuring it in places.
As the trail climbs out of the old burn into beetle blight forest the brush is no longer a problem but blow downs are rampant. On the way up we spent a lot of time clearing branches from the tread and breaking branches from the logs to clear passage a bit. On our return we counted 245 logs to climb over, under and/or around in the 3 miles between Hardscrabble and Turnpike creeks. There is also a significant creek washout in this section that made it very difficult to follow the trail through the debris,tumbled boulders and happy willows but persistence paid off and we continued through the forest.
The meadow at the foot of Mount Stewart was spectacular! A small climbers’ camp on the western edge was the only established camp we saw during this day’s hike. We arrived at the junction to Long’s Pass just as snow patches started to get frequent and deep, around 5000’. We knew we had to navigate back through the blowdown par course so turned back.
We saw 4 other groups this day. 2 reported that they made it up to snow covered Lake Ingalls when we crossed paths again on our final day out.

Trail running with Clear trail up to falls creek trail crossing Ingalls creek via log jam. Up Falls creek trail mostly clear of trees, snow patches 4,500 feet then solid up the gap at 6,000 ft. Then meet up with Etienne Creek trail, in maintained but doable a little bushwhacking and the trail crosses the creek many times clear to old blewett pass road, high fast flowing current made for some detours and scrambling, carrying small dog on a few crossings. Ended back at Ingalls TH circumventing the Three Brothers peaks. 20 miles rd trip.

Our Mountaineers group of 10 hiked 8 miles up the creek (thanks Karen for organizing and leading!). There are no blowdowns. There are spots that could use a little trimming, especially on the 8th mile. The 6 week or so "peak" wildflower continuum is in the harsh paintbrush phase, there are loads of these in brilliant yellows, oranges, and reds (photo 3) in the first 2 miles. There are also lots of very pretty lupine (photo 4) and Lyall's mariposa lilies in this section. The snowbrush is just starting to bloom. As you continue, the forested sections have fairyslipper orchids and a huge number of trillium with a beautiful variety of colors and patterns as they fade. If you go 6 miles you'll see Oregon anemones (photo 1) and the clearing at 6.5 miles has Columbia Lewisia (photo 2). There aren't many thick fields of flowers on this hike, but the diversity of plant life on this hike is wonderful. The attached Washington Native Plant Society list has 188 species. The crashing creek and peek-a-boo views of the Enchantments and Teanaways add to my enjoyment of this hike.