Beverly Turnpike, Fourth Creek & County Line — Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011

Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway

I went on a Cascadian backpack Fri - Sun to the 6100' bench just west of Tooth Saddle. We hiked up the Beverly Turnpike trail to the Fourth Creek trail & climbed the hill to the County Line/Hardscrabble Creek trail which took us to our bench. There were a few blow-downs on the Hardscrabble Creek trail, but nothing we couldn't step over or walk around. After setting up camp we went in search of water. Crossing the Fourth Creek basin there were a number of small streams, but up here the streams we usually used were dry. We finally found a rivulet about 1/4 mile away with a little current & a few pools big enough to dip a pan into to fill the water bag. Thankfully it had clouded up some in the afternoon so we could wear a few more clothes to help keep the hoards of mosquitoes at bay. On Sat Eric, Jay, & Karen headed off for Navaho Peak, but this old man knew that this was more than he wanted to do, so me & Ethan (who stayed behind to keep an eye on the old man) headed up Bean Peak from Tooth Saddle. It was a clear sunny day & the views were magnificent. After spending an hour or so on top, we decided to try running the ridge out towards Earl Pk, but the down climbing turned out to be a little more strenuous that we expected & after making our way a little ways across the south side of the peak we decided to bag this idea. We climbed back over the peak & found a nice shady spot on the ridge & took a short nap, then headed down to the saddle & back to camp. The others arrived in camp about 5, after having had a very good day. The evening's entertainment arrived about 8:00 in the form of a military (MAST?) helipcopter and we watched fascinated for the next hour as it performed what we assume was a rescue high on the slopes of Mt Stuart. It actually lowed itself out of sight behind one of the spur ridges near the west ridge 3 or 4 times before finally flying off towards Wenatchee. Sunday dawned sunny & warm and rather than hang out with the mosquitoes, we had breakfast, packed up, & headed out about 9;45 and were back to the cars about noon. There were nice flowers, but the peak is definately past over here. The mosquitoes were thick, but the views were spectacular.