Ingalls Creek — Thursday, Apr. 12, 2001

Central Cascades > Blewett Pass

A long overdue trek into our wilds with the company of the kind gentleman, Mr. rubberlegs, finally materialized, and we headed east after meeting in Preston. We had inspiring ideas of a grand day without moisture, and we indeed left all showery weather 98% behind us. A stunning hike and snowshoe trek up to Teanaway Ridge was in order…however, the Iron Creek FS #9714 was still signed as closed. Road looked pretty soft still, and there was no way we’d get close to the trailhead anyhow as some large areas of snow still linger down at 3200’ here. Give it a couple more weeks. But I had a backup already planned in case we couldn’t make our first choice, so we happily blasted a little more up over Blewett Pass and strolled into the Ingalls Creek trailhead as the only visitors. The first ½ mile of the trail shows what is in store for flowers later further in: massive areas of glacier lilies everywhere! I’ve never hiked this trail this early, so it was fun to explore 4+ miles up the valley in snow much of the way past the first mile. We took the snowshoes along so they wouldn’t be left in the rig, but ditched them behind a towering tree ½ mile in and just wore gaiters. The bare stretches of trail showed the heavy use this area is getting from elk, as elk marbles littered the trail heavily in stretches! I became Professor of Scatology in Mr. Rubberleg’s mind, as I gave him convincing stories of the mammals we were following throughout the valley. He was particularly interested in the coyote scat and tracks I lured him into inspecting more closely. Alas, no rare albino white snow rattlesnakes could be discovered this day, so we’ll leave that discovery to someone else. But the normal and pleasant Western Rattlesnake does inhabit the first miles of this trail in summer, so keep your eyes open. Being neither of us could lure the other to walk out to the end of tree snags dangling over stunning Ingalls Creek for a photo opportunity of a lifetime, we slopped on up until the roar of, “LUNCH!!” halted our inward adventure. Suddenly we were freezing eating in the snowbank by the creek after hours of burning up sweating. A very fast lunch and we stomped out in two hours, with a wonderful 15-minute segment being in a heavy snow shower…real pretty. Yet another successful day sharing grand stories with a new friend, and in total solitude as no other people were in this vast valley on a fine Friday in April. Guess everyone stays home on Friday the 13th!!