Navaho Pass

We drove out to the Teanaways to hike the Stafford Creek Trail up to Navaho Pass. We continued up beyond the pass a short ways for an 11.5 mile round trip hike with 3,200 ft of elevation gain. We did not see any other hikers on our way up the trail or while we were at the Pass. On our way back down, we me 8 backpackers and 3 day hikers. Very serene day in the mountains.

We saw quite a few of the early wildflowers. Near the trailhead where lots of arnica in bloom.

The lupine was mostly along the lower portions of this trail.

Across Stafford Creek, we saw what looked like an old avalanche.

We had some view of nearby peaks and ridges through the trees.

There were lots of shooting stars in bloom along the second half of the trail.

There was lots of water in Stafford Creek, and there were many small creeks from snow melt across the trail.

There were some snow patches to cross in the meadow below Navaho Pass.

View of Earl Peak across the meadow. Glacier lilies in bloom in the meadow.

View of the last bit of trail up to Navaho Pass and Navaho Peak.

View of Earl Peak going up to the Pass.

View of some of the Enchantment Peaks from Navaho Pass.

zoom of Dragontail and Little Annapurna

zoom of McClellan Peak 

There were some snow patches across the County Line Trail heading east up towards Navaho Peak.

We found a lovely spot for a lunch break and a view of more of the Enchantment Peaks.

zoom of the top of Mount Stuart

zoom of Colchuck Peak 

some of the many wildflowers we saw in bloom along the trail today:

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teanaway Butte via Jungle Creek

We drove out to the SnoPark at 29 Pines in the Teanaways to snowshoe up to Teanaway Butte via the closed Jungle Creek Road. This was about 11.5 miles round trip with 2,100 ft of gain, most in the last 1.5 miles. We hadn't seen any trip reports from this winter so we brought our snowshoes. We found the entire route well packed, so ended up carrying our snowshoes and wearing micro spikes. There was a beautiful sunrise as we left the trailhead.

We soon headed west, crossing a bridge over the North Fork of the Teanaway River.

Most of the route is up the closed Jungle Creek Road in the forest. For the first 4.25 miles, the road gains about 1,000 ft.

We decided, to stay on the road until it ends at Liars Prairie. Some people choose to go cross county earlier from where the road meets the Way Creek Trail. After looking at a topo map, we opted to continue the end of the road at Liars Praire and go around the false summit on the south side, eventually joining another closed forest road for a short while to its end and continue to the top of Teanaway Butte. There were several different snowshoe tracks going in different directions. We did find a set that went in the same direction we had planned on.

Part way up the cross country route, we looked back and could see Earl Peak in the distance. 

When we reached the short road section on the south side of Teanaway Butte, we entered the burn area from the Jolly Mountain fire of a few years ago. Here, we had a beautiful view of Mt Rainier to the southwest.

zoom of Mt Rainier

The very last bit up Teanaway Butte is steep!

From Teanaway Butte, we had a nice view of Mount Stuart

zoom of Stuart

the top of Teanaway Butte

pano to the west and north: Mt Rainier to Mt Stuart with many Teanaway Peaks in between:

view to the southeast

After a gorgeous lunch break, we headed northeast, back down Teanaway Butte 

Once we returned to the Jungle Creek Road, it was a long 5 miles back to the car. The snow had softened a little, and we did some occasional post holing, not enough to put on our snowshoes. Here we were walking alongside Jungle Creek.

some icicles

Lovely frost on beaches

a small pond near the road