kidzwonthike and I hit up the last 2 remaining peaks in the [Mountaineers] Teanaway 20 today, doing the loop described in the trails hiked section of the trip report (so, counterclockwise starting with Bean Creek Basin).
We started around 07:30 and it was in the low 50s. Heading up Bean Creek Basin wasn't difficult, but as expected, the last section before Bean Peak is steep.
We saw a couple marmots hamming it up in the basin in the morning, eating breakfast. Many of the water sources in this section are running lower since they are snow fed and the snow in the basin has almost run its course.
Getting up to the ridge, we knew we'd have to get around or over Bean Peak, so we tried off to the right, but no dice--it was too exposed. I proposed we just scramble up to the summit, so we did--tagging Bean Peak again (me twice in the past year; kidzwonthike three times). It wasn't too bad and was an excellent warmup for Volcanic Neck as it was a nice class 3 scramble.
We walked down the ridge, north, towards Volcanic Neck, following the bootpath right around it. Once we got to the NE end, we did a near 180, then started scrambling up the NE ridge.
This section has a fair amount of loose scree and some larger rock. Helmets are highly advised, as well as mitigating rockfall hazards through clear communication, clearing fall zones, and sticking to larger static boulders.
We did several protected class 2/class 3 moves. It was relatively easy to pick out the path with the discoloration on the rocks. The final move requires crossing a ridge which has a great deal of exposure on both sides (I would say it's a class 4 move because a fall could be fatal), but wasn't particularly technical. One thing to do to minimize falling is to carefully downscramble, leveraging the crack on the east side of the summit block, and testing foot placement before committing 100%.
Downscrambling wasn't bad compared to scrambling. We took our time and made it down carefully.
One thing to note is that the stability of the trees in this section should not be trusted. Many of the trees are extremely dry/alive or dead, and thus wouldn't provide much security if used as veggie belays.
Once down on terra firma, we walked the remainder of the ridge to Devil's Head. It was a nice walkup and the finishing summit for the Teanaway 20 for the both of us (woohoo!!).
Backtracking, we decided to go down Hardscrabble Creek/Fourth Creek/Beverly Turnpike back to the trailhead. This was a fun change of scenery (I'm super bored of Bean Creek Basin) and going down here provided excellent views of some of the Enchantments Peaks, as well as some protection from the hot sun with the forest. An added bonus is that this section has a large number of running water sources and an excellent variety of vegetation. Downside? There are quite a few blowdowns in this section (about 10~15). They were all easy to circumvent/get over, but it may prove an annoyance for some. There was also some mud in this section as well.
The rest of the conditions were basically the same as what I reported in my Bill's Peak TR, but some volunteers have cleared blowdowns blocking the Beverly Turnpike Trail, the Beverly Creek crossing was easier, the wildflowers in bloom are different, and there is absolutely no snow.
It was a fun hike and an accomplishment well-achieved: ~20 summits in the past year and a half for both of us, closing out the Mountaineers Teanaway 20 list.
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