08-04-02
Day 2 of my weekend in the Teanaway
was a Mountaineer scramble of Bean Peak. The sunny weather of Saturday was
replaced by clouds which were moving in by 9:00 in the morning. We met at
the Beverly Creek trailhead at 9:00. My previous time here this year was
in April for a scramble up Iron Peak. At that time the parking lot was buried
under 5 feet of snow. This day the only snow we saw was on Mt. Stuart and
Ingalls Peak. The snow may all be gone but it delayed the flowers this year.
The trip up to Bean Creek Basin was nearly a continuous flower fest. The
Paintbrush, Scarlet Gilia, and Columbine I recognized. The other few dozen
varieties I did not. The flowers began just after reaching Bean Creek and
never stopped. Most years they would be nearly done by August. The trail on
the right side of the creek is fairly overgrown. Once we crossed the creek
it was in great shape. The creek crossing is no problem. As we ascended into
the basin Earl Peak came into view. Higher up Bean Peak was visible. Bean
is the reddish peak at the head of the basin. The rock is very good and it
is one of my favorite rock scramble peaks. There are any number of ways up
it and I seldom go up the same way. As we moved into the basin the wind picked
up and a little light mist fell. It felt about 25 degrees cooler than the
day before.
At the end of the basin we left the flower fields and began the climb to the ridge top just to the right of the summit of Bean Peak. The hill side begins at a moderate grade and gets much steeper near the top. I went out ahead here and reached the ridge top first. This ridge connects Earl Peak and Bean Peak. At the top we were only about 300' below the summit. Our leader Laurie led the way along the ridge. I have done Bean annually for many years but it had been a long time since I did it from this ridge. The fear of bad weather had reduced our group from 12 on Thursday to only 6 who didn't bail out. It was much easier doing the rock scramble with a smaller group. It also gave us much more room to spread out on the summit. Our group varied greatly in scrambling experience and this route proved to be a good challenge for some. There were several more difficult places and everyone managed to make it up. I hope the beginners gained some confidence in the skills they are developing. They all did very well. Considering the weather, the views on top were pretty good. The summit of Mt. Stuart was in the clouds and never came out. The Cascade crest was also in the clouds. The Teanaway peaks were mostly clear. I suspect hikers near the crest did not stay as dry as we did. We had a nice leisurely lunch as the wind died down. We had some brief light precipitation that sure seemed like snow. It's not supposed to snow at 6743' in August in the Teanaway.
In an effort to spare our knees and add some variety we took a different route down. The drop down to Volcanic Neck was pleasant. The back side of Bean Peak was also rich in wildflowers. This area is usually dry but this year it is wet and filled with flowers. The last section was the Beverly Creek trail. I last hiked this trail in September of 2001. At that time the trail was in great shape. On this descent we crossed over at least 8-10 big avalanche fields. They brought big piles of rock down and across the trail. Some were as much as 30' wide and went all the way down to the creek. I have hiked this trail for at least 15 years and have never seen close to this much avalanche damage. It will take much work to dig out new trail here. The good news is that it is not difficult to across the debris and reconnect with the trail. Half a mile from the car we crossed Bean Creek and closed the loop. The rain finally began here and continued lightly until we reached the trailhead. All in all, we were very lucky with the weather. Those who chose to cancel missed a great trip. The loop was about 9 miles with 3200' gained. We had lots of flowers, a fun scramble peak, good views, and good company. A very successful day in the mountains.
Click on thumbnails to get larger pictures.
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At the end of the basin we left the flower fields and began the climb to the ridge top just to the right of the summit of Bean Peak. The hill side begins at a moderate grade and gets much steeper near the top. I went out ahead here and reached the ridge top first. This ridge connects Earl Peak and Bean Peak. At the top we were only about 300' below the summit. Our leader Laurie led the way along the ridge. I have done Bean annually for many years but it had been a long time since I did it from this ridge. The fear of bad weather had reduced our group from 12 on Thursday to only 6 who didn't bail out. It was much easier doing the rock scramble with a smaller group. It also gave us much more room to spread out on the summit. Our group varied greatly in scrambling experience and this route proved to be a good challenge for some. There were several more difficult places and everyone managed to make it up. I hope the beginners gained some confidence in the skills they are developing. They all did very well. Considering the weather, the views on top were pretty good. The summit of Mt. Stuart was in the clouds and never came out. The Cascade crest was also in the clouds. The Teanaway peaks were mostly clear. I suspect hikers near the crest did not stay as dry as we did. We had a nice leisurely lunch as the wind died down. We had some brief light precipitation that sure seemed like snow. It's not supposed to snow at 6743' in August in the Teanaway.
In an effort to spare our knees and add some variety we took a different route down. The drop down to Volcanic Neck was pleasant. The back side of Bean Peak was also rich in wildflowers. This area is usually dry but this year it is wet and filled with flowers. The last section was the Beverly Creek trail. I last hiked this trail in September of 2001. At that time the trail was in great shape. On this descent we crossed over at least 8-10 big avalanche fields. They brought big piles of rock down and across the trail. Some were as much as 30' wide and went all the way down to the creek. I have hiked this trail for at least 15 years and have never seen close to this much avalanche damage. It will take much work to dig out new trail here. The good news is that it is not difficult to across the debris and reconnect with the trail. Half a mile from the car we crossed Bean Creek and closed the loop. The rain finally began here and continued lightly until we reached the trailhead. All in all, we were very lucky with the weather. Those who chose to cancel missed a great trip. The loop was about 9 miles with 3200' gained. We had lots of flowers, a fun scramble peak, good views, and good company. A very successful day in the mountains.
Overgrown Trail |
Flowers |
Indian Paintbrush |
Bean Creek Basin |
Ascending Slopes |
More Paintbrush |
Bean From Ridge |
Earl Peak |
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