Ingalls Creek — Wednesday, May. 25, 2022

Great hiking up Blewett right now with arrowleaf balsamroot, and lupine blooming abundantly. Along the trail we saw Oregon Anemone, ball head waterleaf, fernleaf biscuitroot, harsh Indian paintbrush, lanceleaf spring beauty, small bluebells, and arnica in addition to the lupine and balsamroot. We saw a few other hikers and backpackers out there but the trail wasn’t overly crowded at least on a Wednesday. There are a lot of dispersed campsites but a lot of them appear to be unofficial and are wearing down the soil and native vegetation along the stream banks. This was a great hike with the kids although there are a couple minor cliffy stretches that made keeping the kids close important. Playing around on granite boulders and erratics, looking up flowers in the field guide, and dipping hats and toes in the water were favorite activities. The Rock coffee shop across the street from the trailhead is a great pre or post hike stop for snacks we enjoyed sitting on the porch swing with a well earned milkshake. My 4 year old did maybe 5 miles without major complaints. The sunny weather was a welcome change from most of the spring.