Another Hike-a-Thon hike down, also, my longest solo-hike to date! This was my first major venture into the trails beneath the Stuart range, and I was really pleased with the entire area, especially after realizing how quick the drive is from Seattle.
One of the highlights for this area is really the abundance of loop hikes you can make out of all the intersecting trails. The Ingalls Creek trail acts as a convenient backbone for endless trail combos. Since my original plan of hiking up and over Long's Pass was thwarted by wild fires, I was still able to hike into Ingalls Creek by way of the Beverly Turnpike/Fourth Creek trails.
Starting from the Beverly Turnpike trailhead (located down a slightly questionable road, but my Jetta handled it like a champ!), you can either go for a short-and-sweet day hike up to the ridgeline (with stellar views and huckleberries for dayz), or continue on down the Fourth Creek Trail. From the Fourth Creek trail, you'll head down another 2-3 miles, and swing a left to join up with the Ingalls Creek Trail.
I ended up spending the night a few miles west of the Fourth Creek/Ingalls junction at a super lovely (and huge) horse camp along the river. Unfortunately, I was on a mission to meet up with a WTA youth group (and some llamas), so I ran out of time to make it up to Ingalls Lake, but I would highly recommend you trek the extra mile and a half to see it!
Total mileage: 18 roundtrip
Total elevation gain: 3,500 ft
Comments