10-29-24
John
had not had a larch hike this year. Gary and I had two hikes but were
open for another. Western Larch were about at peak and we had the place
to go. The only sunny day all week looked to be Tuesday. Sun makes the
golden larch colors really stand out.With that in mind, I took a day
off work to head east and see more larch trees. We needed an early
start to get out of town before traffic gets bad. Gary came to my place
at 6:30 am and we headed east to the Sunset Way Trailhead in Issaquah
to meet John. All went well across Mercer Island where two lanes were
closed for an accident on I-90. We mostly sat in traffic for about 20
minutes getting by it. John also had bad traffic heading north. We met
at 7:20 am instead of 7:00 am. Traffic was much better east of
Issaquah. It was cloudy with some rain as we headed east. Across
Snoqualmie Pass it improved. Beyond Easton it improved more. 35%
overcast in the morning then improving was looking more like zero
percent overcast in reality. We headed up the Teanaway Road under blue
sky. The road had been partly graded since my visit on May 12th. We
arrived at the trailhead at 8:43 am. We were not at all surprised to
see no other vehicles.
It was 28 degrees at the start. We were ready to get out into the meadow and into the sunshine. By 8:49 am we were on our way. It was warmer in the sunshine but a gentle breeze did not help. We cruised down the meadow.We left the meadow and headed up and into forest. The trail winds through wildflowers in the spring and leads to larch trees in the fall. We went off-trail to get close to the larch. We had the strange situation that some trees were still green at the top and dropping needles at the bottom. Trees were both pre and post prime. We reached the road and entered the best larch grove on the other side of the road. Some trees were near peaking. The sunshine really made the golden needles shine. It is not a big grove of larch but it is a good one. We would see many more larch at a distance over the day but this was really up close. By now the temperature was above freezing. We spent 20 minutes enjoying the larch show. At 9:56 am we headed on along the road. We dropped to cross the creek on a big bridge and then climbed back up. In shade it was cold but much of the road walk was in sunshine. It was still cold but felt much warmer in the sunshine.
We could see out at times to more larch trees. As we dropped down to the WF Teanaway River we saw some groves of big deciduous trees with lots of bright yellow leaves. Some leaves had already fallen but there were plenty still on the trees. We stopped at the bridge over the river. Ahead was a lot of shady road where it would be very cold. The bridge was in sunshine. It was time for a food and water break and just some time to enjoy the bright and warmer sunshine. We were soon back on our way. It was much colder on the shaded road. This section does not receive much sunshine this time of year. The low sun, trees, and valley walls block out most sunshine. There are a couple very large puddles on this flat section of the route. With the recent rain we expected them to be pretty big. They were. The puddles went from one side of the road to the other. There was just enough room to slip by without heading into the brush.
The route finally began to climb out of the valley of Dingbat Creek. The creek itself was almost entirely dry. We began to see a few golden larch trees off of the road. We still had completely blue sky overhead. We left the road/trail and began the climb up to Mammoth Rock and the ridge where Exclamation Point Rock is located. The slickrock was mostly dry with a few wet slippery spots. We reached Exclamation Point Rock at 11:23 am. We had traveled 4.7 miles so far. The rock just seems so out of place in the Cascade Mountains. A tall pillar of sandstone would be expected in Utah but not in these mountains. We took a few more photos of the rock to add to our large current collections and headed on. The trail follows the ridge top just north of Mammoth Rock. We hiked to the far end of the rock and then were able to climb up onto it. Where was a bit of cold wind blowing. We headed to the other end of the rock, near to Exclamation Point Rock. It was too windy to stop there. We headed back across Mammoth Rock again. At the point where we first reached the rock we stopped for our lunch break.
It was now 11:50 am. We had great views south across the valley and up to the ridge between us and Roslyn. There were plenty of golden larch trees in view. After the rain on the west side, it was nice to just lay back in the sunshine. We had a long break. At about 12:20 pm we were ready to head back. Usually we go back to Exclamation Point Rock the way we came in. Occasionally, we head down the south side of the ridge. Back in 2019 Gary and I headed down the south side when we heart the sound of running water. We went a little off trail and found a waterfall. The water pooled in front of the falls and went underground. There was no creek. We climbed above the falls and found the same thing. Water popped out of the ground and fell over the falls a few feet later. It was clear that water ran down Mammoth Rock and then continued running down the rock that was just inches below the ground soil. We came back with John and there was no water. we did it again a time or two and never saw a drop of water. This day there were puddles on Mammoth Rock. With all the recent rain surely there would be a waterfall once again. We had no trouble finding the falls and it was...completely dry. Moss on the rock was dry. Completely dry. The conditions were perfect. We may never see the falls again. This link to the trip report has a video of the waterfall. Honestly, it really can happen.
We dropped to the road that we had come in on. A short time later we completed our loop where we had headed up to Exclamation Point Rock. We continued down the road. I had mentioned that I needed 1700' of gain to reach 20,000' for the fourth straight month. We would probably be just a 100' or so short of that. We reached the last logging spur heading for the ridge to our left. This is the route we come out when we run the ridge on an alternate route. We ascended until I had reached the needed elevation. Gary and John had stopped but now continued up and so I went the last short way to the base of the sandstone ridge. We climbed up onto the ridge and went to the top. We had more good views out to forest, mostly green but with golden larch mixed in. I noticed a ladder made of logs on the other side of the ridge. I have no idea why it is there. It did not reach high enough to get on the ridge. We spent a few minutes enjoying the views and retraced our route back to the main road/trail.
We went back round the lakes/puddles and back to the bridge over the WF Teanaway River. It was still cold in the shady forest but much warmer in the sunshine at the bridge. Well, part of the bridge was in sunshine. After another break we headed on. We had to climb out of the valley floor. The route dropped to cross the newer bridge and we neared where we would leave the road. We took on last detour. It climbs to another slickrock slope with great views. Now it would be all downhill back to the car. We took another route that drops down to where we saw all the larch in the morning. The lighting was much different but in some ways even better than in the morning. We took more larch photos and then reached the road again. Our trek from the road to the big meadow was non-stop. It did not take long to reach the meadow.
From where we reached the meadow to the car is about .80 miles. The temperature was now in the mid to high 40s and with sunshine it was very comfortable. We reached the car at 3:59 pm. We spent 7:10 hiking 11 miles with 1700' of elevation gain. As expected, we saw exactly zero other people. The larch trees were mostly just short of peak though some were already losing their needles. There were plenty of golden larch to enjoy. After two alpine larch hikes we added a western larch day. All of them were looking great. I don't take off many mid-week days for a hike but I am glad I did so this day. We had total solitude, golden larch, and sunshine all day long. All that was missing was a rare sighting of Mammoth Falls. It as a great day to be on the trail.
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Trips - 2024
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It was 28 degrees at the start. We were ready to get out into the meadow and into the sunshine. By 8:49 am we were on our way. It was warmer in the sunshine but a gentle breeze did not help. We cruised down the meadow.We left the meadow and headed up and into forest. The trail winds through wildflowers in the spring and leads to larch trees in the fall. We went off-trail to get close to the larch. We had the strange situation that some trees were still green at the top and dropping needles at the bottom. Trees were both pre and post prime. We reached the road and entered the best larch grove on the other side of the road. Some trees were near peaking. The sunshine really made the golden needles shine. It is not a big grove of larch but it is a good one. We would see many more larch at a distance over the day but this was really up close. By now the temperature was above freezing. We spent 20 minutes enjoying the larch show. At 9:56 am we headed on along the road. We dropped to cross the creek on a big bridge and then climbed back up. In shade it was cold but much of the road walk was in sunshine. It was still cold but felt much warmer in the sunshine.
We could see out at times to more larch trees. As we dropped down to the WF Teanaway River we saw some groves of big deciduous trees with lots of bright yellow leaves. Some leaves had already fallen but there were plenty still on the trees. We stopped at the bridge over the river. Ahead was a lot of shady road where it would be very cold. The bridge was in sunshine. It was time for a food and water break and just some time to enjoy the bright and warmer sunshine. We were soon back on our way. It was much colder on the shaded road. This section does not receive much sunshine this time of year. The low sun, trees, and valley walls block out most sunshine. There are a couple very large puddles on this flat section of the route. With the recent rain we expected them to be pretty big. They were. The puddles went from one side of the road to the other. There was just enough room to slip by without heading into the brush.
The route finally began to climb out of the valley of Dingbat Creek. The creek itself was almost entirely dry. We began to see a few golden larch trees off of the road. We still had completely blue sky overhead. We left the road/trail and began the climb up to Mammoth Rock and the ridge where Exclamation Point Rock is located. The slickrock was mostly dry with a few wet slippery spots. We reached Exclamation Point Rock at 11:23 am. We had traveled 4.7 miles so far. The rock just seems so out of place in the Cascade Mountains. A tall pillar of sandstone would be expected in Utah but not in these mountains. We took a few more photos of the rock to add to our large current collections and headed on. The trail follows the ridge top just north of Mammoth Rock. We hiked to the far end of the rock and then were able to climb up onto it. Where was a bit of cold wind blowing. We headed to the other end of the rock, near to Exclamation Point Rock. It was too windy to stop there. We headed back across Mammoth Rock again. At the point where we first reached the rock we stopped for our lunch break.
It was now 11:50 am. We had great views south across the valley and up to the ridge between us and Roslyn. There were plenty of golden larch trees in view. After the rain on the west side, it was nice to just lay back in the sunshine. We had a long break. At about 12:20 pm we were ready to head back. Usually we go back to Exclamation Point Rock the way we came in. Occasionally, we head down the south side of the ridge. Back in 2019 Gary and I headed down the south side when we heart the sound of running water. We went a little off trail and found a waterfall. The water pooled in front of the falls and went underground. There was no creek. We climbed above the falls and found the same thing. Water popped out of the ground and fell over the falls a few feet later. It was clear that water ran down Mammoth Rock and then continued running down the rock that was just inches below the ground soil. We came back with John and there was no water. we did it again a time or two and never saw a drop of water. This day there were puddles on Mammoth Rock. With all the recent rain surely there would be a waterfall once again. We had no trouble finding the falls and it was...completely dry. Moss on the rock was dry. Completely dry. The conditions were perfect. We may never see the falls again. This link to the trip report has a video of the waterfall. Honestly, it really can happen.
We dropped to the road that we had come in on. A short time later we completed our loop where we had headed up to Exclamation Point Rock. We continued down the road. I had mentioned that I needed 1700' of gain to reach 20,000' for the fourth straight month. We would probably be just a 100' or so short of that. We reached the last logging spur heading for the ridge to our left. This is the route we come out when we run the ridge on an alternate route. We ascended until I had reached the needed elevation. Gary and John had stopped but now continued up and so I went the last short way to the base of the sandstone ridge. We climbed up onto the ridge and went to the top. We had more good views out to forest, mostly green but with golden larch mixed in. I noticed a ladder made of logs on the other side of the ridge. I have no idea why it is there. It did not reach high enough to get on the ridge. We spent a few minutes enjoying the views and retraced our route back to the main road/trail.
We went back round the lakes/puddles and back to the bridge over the WF Teanaway River. It was still cold in the shady forest but much warmer in the sunshine at the bridge. Well, part of the bridge was in sunshine. After another break we headed on. We had to climb out of the valley floor. The route dropped to cross the newer bridge and we neared where we would leave the road. We took on last detour. It climbs to another slickrock slope with great views. Now it would be all downhill back to the car. We took another route that drops down to where we saw all the larch in the morning. The lighting was much different but in some ways even better than in the morning. We took more larch photos and then reached the road again. Our trek from the road to the big meadow was non-stop. It did not take long to reach the meadow.
From where we reached the meadow to the car is about .80 miles. The temperature was now in the mid to high 40s and with sunshine it was very comfortable. We reached the car at 3:59 pm. We spent 7:10 hiking 11 miles with 1700' of elevation gain. As expected, we saw exactly zero other people. The larch trees were mostly just short of peak though some were already losing their needles. There were plenty of golden larch to enjoy. After two alpine larch hikes we added a western larch day. All of them were looking great. I don't take off many mid-week days for a hike but I am glad I did so this day. We had total solitude, golden larch, and sunshine all day long. All that was missing was a rare sighting of Mammoth Falls. It as a great day to be on the trail.
 Mt. Stuart |
 Entering Meadow |
 Golden Leaf Trees |
 First Larch Tree |
 Tall Larch Tree |
 Blue Through Larch |
 All Blue Sky |
 Larch Forest |
 Bright Orange Ferns |
 Blue & Gold |
 Gold Over Green |
 Almost At Peak |
 One Big Tree |
 Another Golden Larch |
 Ferns & Larch |
 A Lone Flower |
 A Green Background |
 Golden Leaf Tree |
 Hiking Shady Road |
 View Of Larch From Road |
 Quite A Display |
 Leaves Close Up |
 Shadows On A Bridge |
 Puddle Reflection |
 Big Lakes |
 Teanaway Lake |
 Nearing Sunshine |
 Small Larch |
 Ascending Slickrock |
 Nearing Mammoth Rock |
 Exclamation Point Rock |
 Mammoth Rock Wall |
 Picture In Picture |
 On Mammoth Rock |
 Crossing Rock |
 Larch Below Rock |
 Yellow Hill |
 Heading Back |
 John At Break |
 Gary At Break |
 Puffy Clouds |
 Tree Shadow |
 Larch Along Road |
 Long Brown Grass |
 A Backward E In The Sky |
 Larch Forest II |
 On Sandstone Ridge |
 Another Puddle Reflection |
 Gone To Seed |
 Slickrock Slope |
 Sunlit Larch |
 Guys & Larch |
 Lots Of Golden Larchiness |
 Larch Needles |
 Above The Meadow |
 Looking Down Meadow |
Trips - 2024
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