05-18-24
Gary
and John joined me for a long
hike up Ingalls Creek. The latest trip report was12 days earlier.
Wildflowers were well short of peak. We gambled that they were close to
prime. The west side and mountains looked to be raining so going far to
the east of the crest gave us a chance at a clear day too. We met at
Sunset in Issaquah at 6:25 am and headed east. Traffic is not bad at
that early time. We turned onto Highway 970 and then 97 as we drove
north over Blewett
Pass. We reached the Ingalls Creek Trailhead at 8:07
am to find only about half a dozen other cars in the lot. It was cool
but sunny. We were packed up and on our way at 8:15 am. The wildflower
show began right at the start. It kept going all day long.
First there was lupine and arrowleaf balsamroot. Then came larkspur and sliver crown and prairie stars. Next were false Solomon's seal and pea vines and multiple colors of Indian paintbrush. All this in the first couple of hundred feet. We started out slow and then slowed more. You never know if you will see all these flowers farther up the trail sot he cameras were out and in use. We soon saw red, orange, and yellow paintbrush. We had a long trip planned and I could see quickly that we would not get back early. On previous trips we took a lot of photos and numerous groups passed by us. This day I kept waiting for it to happen. After one half hour we had traveled .50 miles. That might be the slowest I have ever hiked. The flower show just would not let up. Arnica and Hooker's fairy bells were soon seen. Oh, and Oregon grape flowers. Every hike this spring, east and west of the Cascades, has had a whole lot of blooming Oregon grape. The addition of mariposa lilies added a flower I only see every few years.
The slopes were mostly open with some trees and the river was soon well below. After one hour we were 1.2 miles along. We did speed up a little. We dropped closer to the river and could see all the whitewater. Ingalls is a creek but this time of year it looks and sound like a river. The terrain flattened and the flower show continued. In places the route was lined with lupine. The flowers did grow a bit less dense. We were now partly in shade. The day was warming slowly and was warm enough in shade. After an hour and a half nobody had passed us. Where were all the hikers? Hiking in we did see several groups of backpackers hiking out. We had a lot more solitude than I was expecting. In one spot, we had the sun backlighting a patch of balsamroot. The lit up yellow petals really looked great. We found one patch of purple penstemon in boom. On the way back we looked up the slope nearer the start and found a lot of it blooming.
At 9:25 am we took our first break right on the shore of the creek. We saw desert parsley here. Add one more flower to the count. We soon continued on. The next flowers seen were ballhead waterleaf, red currant, and stonecrop. Gary recognized the big boulder field where we found the "freezer" on an earlier trip. That day was hot and cold air blew out of the boulders. Looking in an opening we saw ice on a 70F day. I took a side trail and quickly found a big patch of glacier lilies in full bloom. Some had up to eight flowers on one stalk. It was by far the best display of glacier lilies I have seen in several years. I think the cold air from the boulders has kept them so fresh. We took photos and continued up the trail. Now the trillium show began ans what a show it was. Some older purple ones and fresh white one appeared. Then we started seeing every possible stage from one to the other. Red borders, red veins, pink ones, dark purple ones. I took a lot of trillium photos both going and returning. I can make a feature on trillium from just one trip.
Yellow violets appeared and we saw them off and on for miles. We saw some flowers that I did not recognize or know the name. The calypso orchid show was now beginning. We saw one then another. In places we were in darker forest with bare ground. That's where we saw most calypsos. They are very hard to get to auto focus. I deleted five photos for each keeper. With the time consuming attempts I fell behind the others and had to really pick up my pace to catch up. At 11:25 am we reached a spot Gary and I recognized as our lunch spot on the previous trips. We were now 5 miles in. We climbed down onto rocks right above the raging creek. The noise was pretty loud. We stayed until 11:48 am. At one point I saw movement across the creek out of the corner of my eye. at first I did not see what make it then I saw a small bird. Some 25 or so years ago. I was sitting along the NF Teanaway River reading a book after a hike when I saw a duck "swimming' up the fast moving river. It sat on rocks then dove under the water and popped up farther upstream. The Internet was in its infancy but I discovered it was a Harlequin duck. Though only about 1.5 lbs, they feed in fast flowing streams. The unusual markings and activity was amazing. Well, now I have seen them twice. A male and female Harlequin were move upstream against a fast flowing current. I took a lot of photos and a video. The video showed that I missed a third Harlequin chick in the family. That was a most unexpected treat to see.
We moved on and at 5.5 miles reached the big camp area at the junction with the Falls Creek Trail. The trail is on the other side of the creek and there is no safe way to cross at this time of year. Last year, John and I scrambled up Three Brothers Mountain and passed the upper end of this trail. There was nobody at the camp area at 12:11 pm. We did go to the creek and found it very fast moving. Beyond the camp area we saw a new flower. This time it was Oregon anemone. It is not seen often but I have seen it often enough to remember the name. They varied from very light blue to very dark. I had not before seen them so pale. We planned to go at least 7 miles before turning around.
We saw some phlox at a spot where I planned a short off trail trip. On my first visit we found a lot of calypso orchids here or so I though. We climbed up and found some unexpected wildflowers. The purple flowers I saw then are still there. They are shooting stars. We also saw some Columbia Lewisia, stonecrop, and another very unexpected find. I have only seen broomrape in two places. Now it is three. The tiny flowers are very colorful. After that, the forest began to enter the more recent fire area. We had one tree to get around. We took a hard route in and the easy way coming out. So far we had crossed creeks periodically. They were all pretty easy. We had a few more that also were just rock hops. We passed one spot where a slide left soft uneven ground and debris. It looked to be fairly recent. There was no trouble crossing it. We stopped at 7 miles. I recalled seeing a waterfall above that I though was on Crystal Creek coming down from the Enchantments. I wanted to go on a little farther. We met a group heading out. They had recently turned around. We went to just past the turn off and campsite at the junction with the Cascade Creek Trail. This one comes down from Navaho Pass. Crossing now would be very dangerous. There was a camper here. We now had enough miles in for a 15 mile day. We headed back. It was 1:48 pm. With breaks and a lot of photo stops we took 5:33 to hike 7.5 miles. We would need to pick up the pace to get home before dark.
We did pick up the pace. It as along slog coming out and there were more photos to take. In the last few miles we had shade now. The lighting was much different than in the morning. Some photos were blown out in the morning sunshine and were much better in the evening. I took quite a few photos but a lot less than on the way in. We took another break at the lunch spot. Clouds had been coming in all day and we had a very shot spit of rain there. It did not last long. We had shade and sun coming out. We guessed that we would not see any new flowers coming out. We did. We saw three or four new flowers and several types of mushrooms too. For-get-me-nots were the first new variety we saw. Even with three people looking for flowers we missed the new ones and one patch of 9 calypso orchids right alongside the trail. Most close to the trailhead campsites had campers now. We were dragging a bit the last mile but we all finished feeling pretty good. We reached the trailhead at 6:01 pm. The gps read exactly 15.00 miles. With ups and downs we gained just under 2300' of elevation gain. On the drive home the rain began as we left Cle Elum.
This was a great trip. The wildflower display was much better than I had hoped. Nearly everything seemed to be in full bloom except the trillium. Those were in every possible stage of blooming from small and bright white to big and deep purple. They put on quite a show by themselves. This is a long drive from Seattle at 262 miles round trip but it was well worth it. We managed to leave a rainy day in most everywhere west of our trip. It was also mostly sunny and not hot. Near perfect conditions for a long day hike. With wildflowers timing is everything and we timed this trip perfectly.
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Trips - 2024
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First there was lupine and arrowleaf balsamroot. Then came larkspur and sliver crown and prairie stars. Next were false Solomon's seal and pea vines and multiple colors of Indian paintbrush. All this in the first couple of hundred feet. We started out slow and then slowed more. You never know if you will see all these flowers farther up the trail sot he cameras were out and in use. We soon saw red, orange, and yellow paintbrush. We had a long trip planned and I could see quickly that we would not get back early. On previous trips we took a lot of photos and numerous groups passed by us. This day I kept waiting for it to happen. After one half hour we had traveled .50 miles. That might be the slowest I have ever hiked. The flower show just would not let up. Arnica and Hooker's fairy bells were soon seen. Oh, and Oregon grape flowers. Every hike this spring, east and west of the Cascades, has had a whole lot of blooming Oregon grape. The addition of mariposa lilies added a flower I only see every few years.
The slopes were mostly open with some trees and the river was soon well below. After one hour we were 1.2 miles along. We did speed up a little. We dropped closer to the river and could see all the whitewater. Ingalls is a creek but this time of year it looks and sound like a river. The terrain flattened and the flower show continued. In places the route was lined with lupine. The flowers did grow a bit less dense. We were now partly in shade. The day was warming slowly and was warm enough in shade. After an hour and a half nobody had passed us. Where were all the hikers? Hiking in we did see several groups of backpackers hiking out. We had a lot more solitude than I was expecting. In one spot, we had the sun backlighting a patch of balsamroot. The lit up yellow petals really looked great. We found one patch of purple penstemon in boom. On the way back we looked up the slope nearer the start and found a lot of it blooming.
At 9:25 am we took our first break right on the shore of the creek. We saw desert parsley here. Add one more flower to the count. We soon continued on. The next flowers seen were ballhead waterleaf, red currant, and stonecrop. Gary recognized the big boulder field where we found the "freezer" on an earlier trip. That day was hot and cold air blew out of the boulders. Looking in an opening we saw ice on a 70F day. I took a side trail and quickly found a big patch of glacier lilies in full bloom. Some had up to eight flowers on one stalk. It was by far the best display of glacier lilies I have seen in several years. I think the cold air from the boulders has kept them so fresh. We took photos and continued up the trail. Now the trillium show began ans what a show it was. Some older purple ones and fresh white one appeared. Then we started seeing every possible stage from one to the other. Red borders, red veins, pink ones, dark purple ones. I took a lot of trillium photos both going and returning. I can make a feature on trillium from just one trip.
Yellow violets appeared and we saw them off and on for miles. We saw some flowers that I did not recognize or know the name. The calypso orchid show was now beginning. We saw one then another. In places we were in darker forest with bare ground. That's where we saw most calypsos. They are very hard to get to auto focus. I deleted five photos for each keeper. With the time consuming attempts I fell behind the others and had to really pick up my pace to catch up. At 11:25 am we reached a spot Gary and I recognized as our lunch spot on the previous trips. We were now 5 miles in. We climbed down onto rocks right above the raging creek. The noise was pretty loud. We stayed until 11:48 am. At one point I saw movement across the creek out of the corner of my eye. at first I did not see what make it then I saw a small bird. Some 25 or so years ago. I was sitting along the NF Teanaway River reading a book after a hike when I saw a duck "swimming' up the fast moving river. It sat on rocks then dove under the water and popped up farther upstream. The Internet was in its infancy but I discovered it was a Harlequin duck. Though only about 1.5 lbs, they feed in fast flowing streams. The unusual markings and activity was amazing. Well, now I have seen them twice. A male and female Harlequin were move upstream against a fast flowing current. I took a lot of photos and a video. The video showed that I missed a third Harlequin chick in the family. That was a most unexpected treat to see.
We moved on and at 5.5 miles reached the big camp area at the junction with the Falls Creek Trail. The trail is on the other side of the creek and there is no safe way to cross at this time of year. Last year, John and I scrambled up Three Brothers Mountain and passed the upper end of this trail. There was nobody at the camp area at 12:11 pm. We did go to the creek and found it very fast moving. Beyond the camp area we saw a new flower. This time it was Oregon anemone. It is not seen often but I have seen it often enough to remember the name. They varied from very light blue to very dark. I had not before seen them so pale. We planned to go at least 7 miles before turning around.
We saw some phlox at a spot where I planned a short off trail trip. On my first visit we found a lot of calypso orchids here or so I though. We climbed up and found some unexpected wildflowers. The purple flowers I saw then are still there. They are shooting stars. We also saw some Columbia Lewisia, stonecrop, and another very unexpected find. I have only seen broomrape in two places. Now it is three. The tiny flowers are very colorful. After that, the forest began to enter the more recent fire area. We had one tree to get around. We took a hard route in and the easy way coming out. So far we had crossed creeks periodically. They were all pretty easy. We had a few more that also were just rock hops. We passed one spot where a slide left soft uneven ground and debris. It looked to be fairly recent. There was no trouble crossing it. We stopped at 7 miles. I recalled seeing a waterfall above that I though was on Crystal Creek coming down from the Enchantments. I wanted to go on a little farther. We met a group heading out. They had recently turned around. We went to just past the turn off and campsite at the junction with the Cascade Creek Trail. This one comes down from Navaho Pass. Crossing now would be very dangerous. There was a camper here. We now had enough miles in for a 15 mile day. We headed back. It was 1:48 pm. With breaks and a lot of photo stops we took 5:33 to hike 7.5 miles. We would need to pick up the pace to get home before dark.
We did pick up the pace. It as along slog coming out and there were more photos to take. In the last few miles we had shade now. The lighting was much different than in the morning. Some photos were blown out in the morning sunshine and were much better in the evening. I took quite a few photos but a lot less than on the way in. We took another break at the lunch spot. Clouds had been coming in all day and we had a very shot spit of rain there. It did not last long. We had shade and sun coming out. We guessed that we would not see any new flowers coming out. We did. We saw three or four new flowers and several types of mushrooms too. For-get-me-nots were the first new variety we saw. Even with three people looking for flowers we missed the new ones and one patch of 9 calypso orchids right alongside the trail. Most close to the trailhead campsites had campers now. We were dragging a bit the last mile but we all finished feeling pretty good. We reached the trailhead at 6:01 pm. The gps read exactly 15.00 miles. With ups and downs we gained just under 2300' of elevation gain. On the drive home the rain began as we left Cle Elum.
This was a great trip. The wildflower display was much better than I had hoped. Nearly everything seemed to be in full bloom except the trillium. Those were in every possible stage of blooming from small and bright white to big and deep purple. They put on quite a show by themselves. This is a long drive from Seattle at 262 miles round trip but it was well worth it. We managed to leave a rainy day in most everywhere west of our trip. It was also mostly sunny and not hot. Near perfect conditions for a long day hike. With wildflowers timing is everything and we timed this trip perfectly.
 Trailhead |
 First Lupine |
 Prairie Stars |
 Arrowleaf Balsamroot |
 Pea Vines |
 First Indian Paintbrush |
 Oregon Grape |
 White Flower |
 Perfect Paintbrush |
 Great Lupine |
 New Wilderness sign |
 Flower Lined Trail |
 Mostly Blue Sky |
 Mariposa Lily |
 Roaring Ingalls Creek |
 Silvercrown |
 Backlit Balsamroot |
 Common Yarrow |
 Penstemon |
 Paintbrush Colors |
 John & Wildflowers |
 John At Creek |
 Gary At Creek |
 Ingalls Creek Upstream |
 Desert Parsley |
 Ballhead Waterleaf |
 John & Arnica |
 Red Currant |
 Lined With Lupine |
 Glacier Lilies |
 Red Trillium |
 Bitter Cherry |
 View Of Ingalls Creek |
 Lone Calypso Orchid |
 Neat Trillium |
 Red Twin Trillium |
 Orange Paintbrush |
 Harlequin Ducks |
 Mile Harlequin Duck |
 Snow Above |
 New Trillium |
 Oregon Anemone |
 Dark Oregon Anemone |
 Phlox |
 Columbia Lewisia |
 Stonecrop Forest |
 Shooting Stars |
 Broomrape |
 More Shooting Stars |
 Larch Trees |
 McClellan Peak |
 Twin Trillium |
 Strawberry Flower |
 White Trillium |
 More Calypso Orchids |
 Lots Of Calypsos |
 Forget-Me-Nots |
 "Bottle Cap" Fungus |
 Hooker's Fairy-Bells |
 Turning Color |
 Pale Red Trillium |
 More Color |
 Mushrooms |
 Dark Color Trillium |
 Yellow Violet |
 Metal Container |
 Lupine & River |
 Gary, John, & Lupine |
 Arnica |
 Rose |
 Single Lupine |
 John & Flowers |
 Big Balsamroot |
 River In Sight |
 Larkspur |
 Vanilla Leaf |
 Mariposa Lily Again |
 Threadleaf Phacelia |
 Pea Vine Again |
 Lilac |
Trips - 2024
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