Road Conditions: There's one deep rut that a low clearance vehicle would have a difficulty going up after you take a right from the forest road 9737 to Bean Creek trailhead. I was glad I drove my truck. Parking lot was almost full when we got there.
Trail Conditions: We started from Beverly Turnpike Trail #1391. Took a left at the trail junction, and crossed the creek. Brought water shoes, poles, but did not use any of them to cross the creek. Bean Creek was pretty mellow and rock hopping was pretty easy for me today.
Trail was dry and there were quite a few blow downs to go over and around. I recently went to a trail that has more blowdowns than this so this was not too bad.
We then took a right to Fourth Creek Trail and had a short break at the trail marker before we started climbing up the slope with loose rocks to Bills Peak.
There were 7 of us so going up the slope with loose rocks/scree was a slow going. It was a scorching hot day and we had a late start at around 9:40 AM. I recommend an early start at least at 7 AM.
Although there's no trail, there's some bootpath that we were able to follow. There's still some snow patches at the top and I'd say some class 3 scrambles that were fun. Just below the summit, there's a grass gully that can be climbed but we opted for the path on the left side of the gully. Not sure if this was the best route as there were rockfalls that we triggered as we descended using the same route.
Views was out of this world with Mount Stuart and the Enchantments range right in your face.
Since we had a late start we decided to go back to the trailhead after we summitted. But if you're already in the area, it's a great opportunity to bag at least 2 other peaks, Mary's and Judi's. I know some that would bag Volcanic Neck and Bean but that would be a looong day.
Wildflowers: Lots of Phlox, Lupines, scarlet trumpet, butterweed, and many others that I could not identify.
Comments
Anna Roth on Bill's Peak
Sounds like a great day. I've seen that bootpath on Bill's from partway up Mary's - it's definitely no joke. Congrats on summitting!
Posted by:
Anna Roth on Jul 12, 2022 12:40 PM
rbs13 on Bill's Peak
Thank you. It was a good day to summit. Next time we'll do Mary's and Judi's! :)
Posted by:
rbs13 on Jul 14, 2022 12:42 AM