Day 2
Day
2
By 5:30 am I was awake and I could hear Gary. It was completely light by then. We got up to find that the sun was behind the ridge and would be for some time. Mosquitoes were worse than most all backpacking trips I have done in the Teanaway. It was cool and buggy. After breakfast we packed light packs and were ready for our second summit of the weekend. I have done a loop on our route then up and over Bean Peak and back to the trailhead as a day trip dozens of times. It is one of my favorite day hikes. I had not camped on the route or done Devil's Head Peak. We would be hiking back up to the ridge top next to Volcanic Neck and this time we would turn right and follow the ridge up to the top of Bean Peak. We were on our way by 6:43 am.
The forecast 20+ mph winds overnight were mostly calm. In the morning it was dead calm. Blue sky and cool was perfect for a scramble up Bean Peak. The summit is 6743 which left us only 650' net gain. We hiked up to the pass and headed up the ridge. 35 years ago there was no sign of a boot path. Now there is one much of the way up. The ridge has a couple climbs and drops before the last steeper part to the top. We had early morning light on all the peaks. Once on the ridge we were mostly in sunshine. The rock is very sticky which helps to scramble up. We reached the summit at 7:19 am. That is easily the earliest I have been on the summit. The lighting was great. The views were outstanding. Even Mt. Adams stood out clearly with no haze. With no wind the summit stay was more comfortable than on Devil's Head.
Much to our surprise a lone scrambler reached the summit via Bean Creek Basin at about 8:00 am. He was not camping below and came in and hiked up reaching the top at a very early hour. He headed down before us. At about 8:32 am. That gave us a full 1:13 on the summit. We were debating a detour up Iron Peak on the way out. We felt good enough for a third summit. Otherwise, I would have been fine with even a longer stay atop Bean Peak. The descent went fine and we were soon back at camp. It was warming up fast as we broke camp and headed aback onto the trail. We made much better time going down the rocky trail. On the way down we saw several groups coming up. We saw one person the first day and now we started seeing more hikers.
We reached Fourth Creek Pass and continued down to the Beverly Creek Trail. There were a couple groups camping in the upper basin. It was getting warmer fast. Rather than carrying all our gear up Iron Peak we chose to cache some of it. The last 1300' climb was much easier with lighter packs. We crossed Beverly Creek and began the climb up Iron. Along the way there are several big meadows. At the first one I told Gary that I have seen elephant heat lousewort there several times. We did not see any in the first and second meadows. Gary did notice a couple perfect yellow columbine. I seldom see that variety. Farther up, Gary noticed elephant head lousewort right alongside the trail. There were a dozen or so plants there. I had not seen it in half a dozen years.
We reached the saddle between Iron and Teanaway Peaks at 11:50 am. It was now very toasty. Much warmer than forecast. We quickly headed on to the summit. As we neared the top two other hikers headed down. We had the summit to ourselves.We reached the summit at 12:19 am. More great views all around. Mt. Daniel still had lots of snow. We could see the Crest peaks north of Snoqualmie Pass. Time for some more food and water and to just lay back and enjoy the scenery. Our stay lasted until about 12:55 pm. We dropped down to the pass and then down to our gear cache in the upper basin. Now with heavier packs we set out on the last 2.8 miles to the trailhead.
We stopped for some wildflower photos but far fewer than on the way up. I was more than ready for entering the forest. It was much cooler in the trees. The last mile seemed drag on. We reached the trailhead at 3:47 pm. The lot was more full but not overflowing. We were on the road soon enough. It was 78 degrees at the trailhead. That was much hotter than expected. Unlike most Sundays, the road was wide open all they way home. The long weekend worked out well for us.
After no backpacking last year, it was nice to get in a trip early this summer. If wildfire smoke is not too bad there is a lot of time to get in more trips. We had surprising solitude on day 1. I reached a new summit in the Teanaway. That does not happen often. Getting three summits was a bonus. All in all, it was a fun two days covering 16 miles with 5500' of elevation gain.
By 5:30 am I was awake and I could hear Gary. It was completely light by then. We got up to find that the sun was behind the ridge and would be for some time. Mosquitoes were worse than most all backpacking trips I have done in the Teanaway. It was cool and buggy. After breakfast we packed light packs and were ready for our second summit of the weekend. I have done a loop on our route then up and over Bean Peak and back to the trailhead as a day trip dozens of times. It is one of my favorite day hikes. I had not camped on the route or done Devil's Head Peak. We would be hiking back up to the ridge top next to Volcanic Neck and this time we would turn right and follow the ridge up to the top of Bean Peak. We were on our way by 6:43 am.
The forecast 20+ mph winds overnight were mostly calm. In the morning it was dead calm. Blue sky and cool was perfect for a scramble up Bean Peak. The summit is 6743 which left us only 650' net gain. We hiked up to the pass and headed up the ridge. 35 years ago there was no sign of a boot path. Now there is one much of the way up. The ridge has a couple climbs and drops before the last steeper part to the top. We had early morning light on all the peaks. Once on the ridge we were mostly in sunshine. The rock is very sticky which helps to scramble up. We reached the summit at 7:19 am. That is easily the earliest I have been on the summit. The lighting was great. The views were outstanding. Even Mt. Adams stood out clearly with no haze. With no wind the summit stay was more comfortable than on Devil's Head.
Much to our surprise a lone scrambler reached the summit via Bean Creek Basin at about 8:00 am. He was not camping below and came in and hiked up reaching the top at a very early hour. He headed down before us. At about 8:32 am. That gave us a full 1:13 on the summit. We were debating a detour up Iron Peak on the way out. We felt good enough for a third summit. Otherwise, I would have been fine with even a longer stay atop Bean Peak. The descent went fine and we were soon back at camp. It was warming up fast as we broke camp and headed aback onto the trail. We made much better time going down the rocky trail. On the way down we saw several groups coming up. We saw one person the first day and now we started seeing more hikers.
We reached Fourth Creek Pass and continued down to the Beverly Creek Trail. There were a couple groups camping in the upper basin. It was getting warmer fast. Rather than carrying all our gear up Iron Peak we chose to cache some of it. The last 1300' climb was much easier with lighter packs. We crossed Beverly Creek and began the climb up Iron. Along the way there are several big meadows. At the first one I told Gary that I have seen elephant heat lousewort there several times. We did not see any in the first and second meadows. Gary did notice a couple perfect yellow columbine. I seldom see that variety. Farther up, Gary noticed elephant head lousewort right alongside the trail. There were a dozen or so plants there. I had not seen it in half a dozen years.
We reached the saddle between Iron and Teanaway Peaks at 11:50 am. It was now very toasty. Much warmer than forecast. We quickly headed on to the summit. As we neared the top two other hikers headed down. We had the summit to ourselves.We reached the summit at 12:19 am. More great views all around. Mt. Daniel still had lots of snow. We could see the Crest peaks north of Snoqualmie Pass. Time for some more food and water and to just lay back and enjoy the scenery. Our stay lasted until about 12:55 pm. We dropped down to the pass and then down to our gear cache in the upper basin. Now with heavier packs we set out on the last 2.8 miles to the trailhead.
We stopped for some wildflower photos but far fewer than on the way up. I was more than ready for entering the forest. It was much cooler in the trees. The last mile seemed drag on. We reached the trailhead at 3:47 pm. The lot was more full but not overflowing. We were on the road soon enough. It was 78 degrees at the trailhead. That was much hotter than expected. Unlike most Sundays, the road was wide open all they way home. The long weekend worked out well for us.
After no backpacking last year, it was nice to get in a trip early this summer. If wildfire smoke is not too bad there is a lot of time to get in more trips. We had surprising solitude on day 1. I reached a new summit in the Teanaway. That does not happen often. Getting three summits was a bonus. All in all, it was a fun two days covering 16 miles with 5500' of elevation gain.
 Morning Light On Stuart |
 Stonecrop |
 Shade On Devil's Head |
 Rainier & Mary Peak |
 Time For Bean Peak |
 Gary On Bean Ridge |
 Gary & Stuart Range |
 More Spring Beauty |
 Mary Peak & Rainier |
 View North |
 Gary Atop Bean Peak |
 Gary At Work |
 Jim Atop Bean Peak |
 Ingalls & Stuart |
 Heading Down |
 Scrambling Down |
 Gary Descends |
 Bean Above |
 Back Near Trail |
 Elephant Head |
 Bill Peak |
 Devil's Head To Bean |
 Iron Saddle |
 Looking East |
 Iron Summit In Sight |
 Mt. Daniel |
 Mt. Rainier |
 Gary On Iron Peak |
 Teanaway, Stuart, Bill |
 Stuart Range & Bill Peak |
 Cascade Crest Peaks |
 Jim On Iron Summit |
 More Flowers |
 Gary At Saddle |
 Red Columbine |
 Yellow Columbine |
 On Beverly Creek Trail |
 Penstemon |
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Devil's Head - Bean - Iron Peaks Report
Trips - 2023
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