Ingalls Creek — Monday, May. 28, 2012

Central Cascades > Blewett Pass

With the semi-gloomy forecast for Seattle on Memorial Day, I elected to get up early and go to the "sunny side" of the crest to Ingalls Creek, based almost entirely on WTA's "Hike of the Week" recommendation. There are several blowdowns, but all easily navigable. There are also some muddy spots as well, and the trail is annoyingly overgrown in numerous places - pants and long sleeves would have saved me a few scratches. Now for the good news - tons of campsites, though many are very close to/in sight of the trail... and the flowers, oh the flowers. (Hopefully I've identified them somewhat correctly - I'm quite a novice). Paintbrush and Lupine on the lower stretches, Balsamroot even at the trailhead. Further up, Trillium and some small yellow 4-petaled flower that I couldn't identify - looked maybe similar to primrose or violet (in petals at least) but didn't match any photos I could find. But they seemed to inhabit the same areas as Trillium. Even some Avalanche Lilies. And a bunch of others that I haven't yet tried to identify. Other than the flowers, there wasn't a whole lot to see - the trail is interesting enough, but I turned around just past the Falls Creek trail, so I don't know what lies beyond in terms of views. No snow at all to Falls Creek.