Old Ellensburg, Howard Creek & Mount Lillian — Thursday, Jul. 12, 2012

Central Cascades > Blewett Pass

We did a loop from Haney Meadow, parking at the old cabin. Going down the Old Ellensburg trail, the bugs were out. At Howard Creek we turned north and headed up to road 9712. Turning left we headed up the road to make the connection to the Mt. Lillian trail. The bugs diminished when we got out in the open. Before getting to that trail, we spotted a rock outcropping up an old road to the right. We enjoyed the fabulous view from there, along with our lunch. Then it was on to the Mt. Lillian trail. Going up the south side of Mt. Lillian are some very interesting sandstone rocks. Down the south side of the mountain the trail breaks out into the open. A side route takes you to a viewpoint and a look down onto a massive rock making its way into the valley below. When the Mt. Lillian trail hits the jeep road, we turned off it and made a loop to the north, past the Tronson Ridge trailheadand visited another area with more rocks and views. We returned to Haney Meadow on the jeep roads, for a total of 8 miles and 1800' gain. Road 9712 past the junction with Road 35 is rough and rocky, with only a couple of muddy spots.