It's May, and therefore it was time for the annual trek of roaring waters and native plant I.D. paradise. So off Matt and I headed to the Ingalls Creek trail. As usual, we drove out of the western foothills in a heavy drizzle and rain, only to be greeted with sunshine in Cle Elum. By the time we hit the trail north of Blewett Pass, it was broken clouds with some sun. A new sign warning of rattlesnake sightings was up, so I guess there have been some here. We didn't see any, but it was cool and not a ton of sunshine for 3/4th of the trip, so they might have just been lazy this day! The wildflower show that I had promised Matt started from the roadside on the way to the trailhead and never stopped! It's a grand year for Vanilla-leaf, False Solomon Seal, Trillium, Lupine, Paintbrush of 3-4 colors, Fawn Lilly, Balsamroot, Arnica, and about 20 other species that dominated the trailside! Oh, and the Deerbrush were just popping their flower buds, creating an overwhelming, intoxicating pleasent smell for many areas of the trail! Man, I love that smell! The trail is in fine condition the first 4-5 miles, with the usual sluffing trail areas that are getting worse - one spot the original trail is >50% slide away. About two hours in, we did get downpoured on for 30-45 minutes, but that was it and we hiked out that afternoon in glorious warm sunshine! The ""creek"" is just more awesome each year I enjoy it --- lots of snowmelt blasting out of the area in a hurry this year. The return to the rig at the trailhead resulted in two happy hikers high on the sound of the water, the smell of the flowers, and the anticipation of the bacon-cheese cardiac burger/fries/vanilla malt that would be waiting for us at McKean's in Cle Elum!! No rattlesnakes, and no ticks, but lots of sun and wildflowers made this yet another grand trip to the area!

The weather report for the weekend looked awful, but I knew of a few rain shadows in Eastern Washington that might provide the unlimited sunshine and warm temperatures my wife and I were looking for. We decided to hike Ingalls creek. Leaving Kirkland at 8:30AM, it started to rain hard from North Bend to just before Snoqualmie Pass when the rain turned to light snow. We passed through several other storm systems but were greeted by blue skies over the Teanaway and Blewett Pass. As we decended from the pass we ran into a fierce sleet storm and I was getting concerned our sunny day was history. As we turned left aproximately 13 miles from the pass onto Ingalls Creek Road, the rain diminished. One mile later, at the Ingalls Creek trailhead, the skies were blue heading up the valley and the temperature was warm. The trail is approximately 50% covered by snow for the first two miles with snow coverage increasing to 90% by three miles. Snow depth is one to two feet and melting fast because of the warm weather. We traveled approximately 3.5 miles but could have easily gone further. A lot of sunshine and beautiful views of Ingalls Creek and surrounding mountains. Don't forget your sunglasses and sun screen.