05-24-25
This
trip has become a test of my fitness while aging. It is long at 17
miles. It has a lot of elevation gain at 3700'. There is a lot of gain
on the descent as the ridge goes over many bumps. It has a lot of sun
exposure. The route is used mostly by motorcycles and mountain bikes.
There is a narrow rut in places. There are steep drops in loose rocky
soil. There are three crossings of Mission Creek. There are many
reasons not to do it. It also has an amazing variety of wildflowers in
bloom in late spring. It is never crowded. It is a bit of a challenge
to complete as the last few miles drag on. I first hike the entire loop
in 2005. I had done the ridge and the gulch on separate occasions. I
came back for the loop in 2011, 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2024. This would
be my 7th trip. In 2005 I took 127 photos. In 2024 I took 427. There is
a lot to see if you slow down a bit look more closely. In 2005 I was
46. I did the loop in 6:43 total time. In 2024 I was 65 and we did it
in 10:48. I was looking to speed it up a bit this time. I planned the
hike for Friday, the day before the Memorial Day Weekend. I got up at
4:38 am and made it to Monroe when I discovered I had forgotten my
camera. This is not a trip to do without a camera. I went home. On
Saturday I got up at 4:23 am and was on the road at 5:15 am. It is a
135 mile drive to the trailhead. I went over Stevens Pass, down through
Leavenworth and exited at Cashmere. The drive is paved until the last
2.7 miles of dirt. I arrived at the trailhead at 7:49 am. That is the
earliest ever. There were two other cars in the lot. I was on my way at
7:54 am. It was partly overcast as forecast. Friday was a better day
for the hike as it was about 5 degrees cooler. An early start would
offset a bit of the higher temperatures.
I immediately crossed Mission Creek on a bridge. The early flowers were much less than usual. I quickly reached the trail junction. I would much later come down the Mission Ridge trail. Only the first few minutes would be repeated on this loop hike. I went right on the Devil's Gulch Trail. Arrowleaf Balsamroot were past prime. That would be much different later on. There were a lot of mariposa lilies early on. I also saw prairie stars, larkspur, Phacelia, arnica, false Solomon's seal, desert parsley, peas, lupine, and more. There was a good variety but fewer total flowers. I normally expect to see lots of ballhead waterleaf. There were none down low and only a few farther up the trail. The first side creek crossing is at 1 mile and it was an easy step across. I saw one right at peak saprophyte. Where we usually see them they were just out of the ground. Abut 2 miles in a lone hiker passed my as she was heading down. Nobody passed me from behind on the entire 17 miles trip. There were a few muddy spots too. Before the first crossing of Mission Creek I saw a couple blooming Tweedy Lewisia. They are a highlight of this hike. I have not seen them that low previously.
At 2.7 miles I reached the first Mission Creek crossing. This is where the creek is largest. I check out the creek flow level at Cashmere to help plan this trip. Above about 50 cfs I would not try to cross. Janet and I crossed on a day the flow was at 42 cfs. This day it was 17.5 but seemed much higher. There was no chance of rock hopping. I took off my boots and waded across barefoot. It was fast moving and half way to my knees at the deepest. After a quick food and water break I was on my way. The forest gives way to open slopes in sunshine. It as now mostly sunny. I saw more larkspur and other flowers but kept looking for scarlet gilia. I usually see it only here but in small quantities. I saw none until a backpacker passed me heading down. He did the loop in two days. While we talked I noticed I had walked past a lone scarlet gilia in bloom. Soon, I saw another one. The flowers were right at peak. I also found the rare Mountain Lady Slipper in bloom. About a quarter were blooming and the rest will be in a few more days. I had never seen one until doing this hike. In fact in my first half a dozen times up Devil's Gulch I did not see them. On recent trips I have their blooming timed right and now see them.
I continued to the next creek crossing. I have forded the creek several times. Last year we tried a big log down across and that worked well. This time it worked again. This saved time taking off and putting boots back on. After a short water and food break I moved on. The trail was now back on the right side of the creek. This put it more out in the sunshine. There are some forested sections and a lot of out in the open. This is also where the much of the day's Tweedy Lewisia is found. This year's Tweedy display is excellent. I started seeing them soon after the creek crossing and it just kept going on. In places I could see a dozen different plants with multiple flowers. They grow mostly on open slopes and in rocky spots. I was on a narrow trail section with steep slopes above and below when the first motorcycle of the arrived. I had to edge a boot on the soft dirt slope while he went by. Some of the flowers seen on this section were Tweedy, more Lady Slippers, old man's whiskers, clematis, several varieties of penstemon, Arrowleaf balsamroot, lupine, Valerian, and larkspur. A group of 4 hikers passed by heading down. I had now seen 7 people in about three hours.
My pace was glacial as I don't recall ever seeing so many Tweedy Lewisia. The rapidly rising temperature did not help. I was glad for the forested spots. I had another really muddy section where water was running down the trail. The side creeks were mostly still small but I needed poles to walk narrow logs over a few. I was very pleased to finally reach the third and last crossing of Mission Creek. I crossed on two really narrow logs/sticks that barely held my weight. I was 7 miles in with 10 miles to go. I had a steady climb of 1400' from here to the highest point on Mission Ridge. I arrived at 11:43 am and had lunch. There is not a drop of water on the last 10 miles. I pumped water to refill my supply. At 12:05 I started up. The motorcycle trail is very gently graded. Too gentle for most hikers. It takes a long time to get up to the top of Mission Ridge. There ware several breaks with views across to Tronsen Ridge. A short way up I saw two trillium with flowers finished. They were the only ones I saw all day. I saw the only ballhead waterleaf along here. Higher up the penstemon, lupine, and balsamroot show took off. It just kept getting better higher up. In places, the trail was lined by all three.
I arrived at the Mission Ridge - Devil's Gulch trails junction at 1:00 pm. I was still 500' below the highest point on Mission Ridge. Just before I left, a group of four bicyclists came zooming down. We talked for a couple minutes That brought the count up to 11 people seen. The route up was non-stop balsamroot, lupine, and penstemon. It was really thick. Much denser color than I have seen here. It has been a great year for wildflowers east of the Cascades and this was no exception. I took a lot of photos and one video here. I was pleased as I neared the top. There is a huge concentration of bitterroot here. Last year we were a little early and saw many buds but no flowers. First come a bunch of onion flowers on the right. Then come all the bitterroot. They were blooming! There is no shade and it was very warm. Bitterroot are about an inch tall so I had to kneel down and get up many times. Close up photos make them look large but they are not. Colors ranged from reddish to pink to white. It was an excellent display. I had now hiked 9.7 miles and still had 7.3 to go.
The trip down has trail right on the ridge crest, sidehilling around some bumps, some very steep drops down the ridge line, and more than a few uphill sections to get to the top of more bumps on the ridge. Some is out in the open and some is in forest. It also has some of the best wildflower displays on the trip. The balsamroot continued much of the way down. Tweedy Lewisia also returned on the right side of the ridge. On the top and left side were more bitterroot. Throw in a bunch of death camas, serviceberry, and Indian paintbrush. Farther down larkspur, peas, arnica other flowers seen lower in Devil's Gulch showed up again. I even had views out to the Mt. Stuart and the Stuart Range and Glacier Peak. The steep sections with some loose dirt, the uphills, and some narrow trail are not helpful is hiking fast. Add in all the flowers and my pace was good but not fast. I took a last break at about 15 miles. This was at one of my favorite places. Bright green long grass covers everything but the narrow brown trail. There are tall pine and fir trees providing shade though not close together. It is quite a site. In side the last mile I stepped off the trail as two motorcycles went by. That brought the total seen up to 13. Three motorcyclists, four mountain bikers, five hikers, and one backpacker. That's not bad for 17 miles on a holiday weekend.
I closed my loop crossing Mission Creek for the next to last time on a bridge. A few minutes later I crossed the last bridge into the parking lot. There were four cars in the lot and across the road. It was 70 degrees and half the lot was now in the shade. It was quite comfortable. I have had bad bugs at this trailhead before but they were minimal this time. I reached the lot at 5:15 pm. I took 9:21 to cover those 17 miles. I cut 1:27 off last years time. That ensured I would get home before dark. I planned to cut down a little on photos but failed miserably as I ended up with 490, a new record. In my defense, the flower show was the best I have seen on this trip. For the Saturday of the long weekend, traffic was light as expected. I took Blewett and Snoqualmie Passes home with no slowdowns. Even my driving was a loop. It is fun to do this trip with others but for the third time I did it along. I had more solitude than expected. Only seeing one motorcycle in the first 9 hours was a shock. The flower display was worth all the considerable effort. At least at this age, I can still get around the loop and finish pretty strongly.
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Trips - 2025
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I immediately crossed Mission Creek on a bridge. The early flowers were much less than usual. I quickly reached the trail junction. I would much later come down the Mission Ridge trail. Only the first few minutes would be repeated on this loop hike. I went right on the Devil's Gulch Trail. Arrowleaf Balsamroot were past prime. That would be much different later on. There were a lot of mariposa lilies early on. I also saw prairie stars, larkspur, Phacelia, arnica, false Solomon's seal, desert parsley, peas, lupine, and more. There was a good variety but fewer total flowers. I normally expect to see lots of ballhead waterleaf. There were none down low and only a few farther up the trail. The first side creek crossing is at 1 mile and it was an easy step across. I saw one right at peak saprophyte. Where we usually see them they were just out of the ground. Abut 2 miles in a lone hiker passed my as she was heading down. Nobody passed me from behind on the entire 17 miles trip. There were a few muddy spots too. Before the first crossing of Mission Creek I saw a couple blooming Tweedy Lewisia. They are a highlight of this hike. I have not seen them that low previously.
At 2.7 miles I reached the first Mission Creek crossing. This is where the creek is largest. I check out the creek flow level at Cashmere to help plan this trip. Above about 50 cfs I would not try to cross. Janet and I crossed on a day the flow was at 42 cfs. This day it was 17.5 but seemed much higher. There was no chance of rock hopping. I took off my boots and waded across barefoot. It was fast moving and half way to my knees at the deepest. After a quick food and water break I was on my way. The forest gives way to open slopes in sunshine. It as now mostly sunny. I saw more larkspur and other flowers but kept looking for scarlet gilia. I usually see it only here but in small quantities. I saw none until a backpacker passed me heading down. He did the loop in two days. While we talked I noticed I had walked past a lone scarlet gilia in bloom. Soon, I saw another one. The flowers were right at peak. I also found the rare Mountain Lady Slipper in bloom. About a quarter were blooming and the rest will be in a few more days. I had never seen one until doing this hike. In fact in my first half a dozen times up Devil's Gulch I did not see them. On recent trips I have their blooming timed right and now see them.
I continued to the next creek crossing. I have forded the creek several times. Last year we tried a big log down across and that worked well. This time it worked again. This saved time taking off and putting boots back on. After a short water and food break I moved on. The trail was now back on the right side of the creek. This put it more out in the sunshine. There are some forested sections and a lot of out in the open. This is also where the much of the day's Tweedy Lewisia is found. This year's Tweedy display is excellent. I started seeing them soon after the creek crossing and it just kept going on. In places I could see a dozen different plants with multiple flowers. They grow mostly on open slopes and in rocky spots. I was on a narrow trail section with steep slopes above and below when the first motorcycle of the arrived. I had to edge a boot on the soft dirt slope while he went by. Some of the flowers seen on this section were Tweedy, more Lady Slippers, old man's whiskers, clematis, several varieties of penstemon, Arrowleaf balsamroot, lupine, Valerian, and larkspur. A group of 4 hikers passed by heading down. I had now seen 7 people in about three hours.
My pace was glacial as I don't recall ever seeing so many Tweedy Lewisia. The rapidly rising temperature did not help. I was glad for the forested spots. I had another really muddy section where water was running down the trail. The side creeks were mostly still small but I needed poles to walk narrow logs over a few. I was very pleased to finally reach the third and last crossing of Mission Creek. I crossed on two really narrow logs/sticks that barely held my weight. I was 7 miles in with 10 miles to go. I had a steady climb of 1400' from here to the highest point on Mission Ridge. I arrived at 11:43 am and had lunch. There is not a drop of water on the last 10 miles. I pumped water to refill my supply. At 12:05 I started up. The motorcycle trail is very gently graded. Too gentle for most hikers. It takes a long time to get up to the top of Mission Ridge. There ware several breaks with views across to Tronsen Ridge. A short way up I saw two trillium with flowers finished. They were the only ones I saw all day. I saw the only ballhead waterleaf along here. Higher up the penstemon, lupine, and balsamroot show took off. It just kept getting better higher up. In places, the trail was lined by all three.
I arrived at the Mission Ridge - Devil's Gulch trails junction at 1:00 pm. I was still 500' below the highest point on Mission Ridge. Just before I left, a group of four bicyclists came zooming down. We talked for a couple minutes That brought the count up to 11 people seen. The route up was non-stop balsamroot, lupine, and penstemon. It was really thick. Much denser color than I have seen here. It has been a great year for wildflowers east of the Cascades and this was no exception. I took a lot of photos and one video here. I was pleased as I neared the top. There is a huge concentration of bitterroot here. Last year we were a little early and saw many buds but no flowers. First come a bunch of onion flowers on the right. Then come all the bitterroot. They were blooming! There is no shade and it was very warm. Bitterroot are about an inch tall so I had to kneel down and get up many times. Close up photos make them look large but they are not. Colors ranged from reddish to pink to white. It was an excellent display. I had now hiked 9.7 miles and still had 7.3 to go.
The trip down has trail right on the ridge crest, sidehilling around some bumps, some very steep drops down the ridge line, and more than a few uphill sections to get to the top of more bumps on the ridge. Some is out in the open and some is in forest. It also has some of the best wildflower displays on the trip. The balsamroot continued much of the way down. Tweedy Lewisia also returned on the right side of the ridge. On the top and left side were more bitterroot. Throw in a bunch of death camas, serviceberry, and Indian paintbrush. Farther down larkspur, peas, arnica other flowers seen lower in Devil's Gulch showed up again. I even had views out to the Mt. Stuart and the Stuart Range and Glacier Peak. The steep sections with some loose dirt, the uphills, and some narrow trail are not helpful is hiking fast. Add in all the flowers and my pace was good but not fast. I took a last break at about 15 miles. This was at one of my favorite places. Bright green long grass covers everything but the narrow brown trail. There are tall pine and fir trees providing shade though not close together. It is quite a site. In side the last mile I stepped off the trail as two motorcycles went by. That brought the total seen up to 13. Three motorcyclists, four mountain bikers, five hikers, and one backpacker. That's not bad for 17 miles on a holiday weekend.
I closed my loop crossing Mission Creek for the next to last time on a bridge. A few minutes later I crossed the last bridge into the parking lot. There were four cars in the lot and across the road. It was 70 degrees and half the lot was now in the shade. It was quite comfortable. I have had bad bugs at this trailhead before but they were minimal this time. I reached the lot at 5:15 pm. I took 9:21 to cover those 17 miles. I cut 1:27 off last years time. That ensured I would get home before dark. I planned to cut down a little on photos but failed miserably as I ended up with 490, a new record. In my defense, the flower show was the best I have seen on this trip. For the Saturday of the long weekend, traffic was light as expected. I took Blewett and Snoqualmie Passes home with no slowdowns. Even my driving was a loop. It is fun to do this trip with others but for the third time I did it along. I had more solitude than expected. Only seeing one motorcycle in the first 9 hours was a shock. The flower display was worth all the considerable effort. At least at this age, I can still get around the loop and finish pretty strongly.
 Trailhead |
 Lone Arnica |
 Woodland Stars |
 Mariposa Lilies |
 Grassy Hillside |
 Past Prime Balsamroot |
 First Peas |
 Larkspur Close Up |
 Unknown Flower |
 Great Saprophyte |
 Tuberous Hawkbit? |
 Vertical Rock Wall |
 White Phlox |
 Bright Indian Paintbrush |
 Purple & Yellow |
 More Peas |
 Butterfly |
 A Little Mud |
 More Arnica |
 First Creek Crossing |
 Orange Paintbrush |
 Another Larkspur |
 Mountain Lady Slipper |
 Many Lady Slippers |
 Perfect Mariposa Lily |
 Colorful Penstemon |
 Pink Penstemon |
 Green Flower |
 Scarlet Gilia |
 More Gilia |
 Lousewort |
 Second Creek Crossing |
 First Tweedy Photo |
 Multi-Tweedy Flowers |
 Dense Penstemon Bunch |
 Rose |
 More Tweedy Lewisia |
 Valerian? |
 More Larkspur |
 Clematis |
 Twin Peachy Tweedy |
 Twins |
 Backlit Tweedy |
 Three Beauties |
 Tweedy Penstemon |
 Old Man's Whiskers |
 Even More Penstemon |
 Near Peak Balsamroot |
 Another Crossing |
 Mess Of Tweedys |
 Closed Clematis |
 More Lady Slippers |
 Yellow Somethings |
 Last Creek Crossing |
 Ballhead Waterleaf |
 Tronsen Ridge |
 Sliver Crowns |
 Beautiful Penstemon |
 Meadow On Climb |
 Balsamroot Begins |
 Trails Junction |
 Heading To High Point |
 Death Camas |
 Lots Of Balsamroot |
 The Stuart Range |
 Almost On Top |
 Onions |
 First Bittertoot |
 Pale Bitterroot |
 Different Twins |
 Two More Bitterroot |
 Ridge & Flowers |
 Ridge Top Trail |
 Purple & Yellow |
 Balsamroot On Slope |
 Lupine Color |
 Tweedy Again |
 Very Pink Bitterroot |
 More Ups & Downs |
 Big Tree On Ridge |
 More Indian Paintbrush |
 Lizard |
 Very Green Grass |
 Even More Bitterroot |
 White Peas |
 More Great Colors |
 Purple & Green |
 Closing The Loop |
Trips - 2025
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