[Sadie's Driver]

OK - so say that five times really fast! This is a story of a Trailpair summit WITH views! The curse was lifted! Well, at least for today. Team today consisted of: Bob, Kolleen, Elle, Jim K, Barry, the Driver, Gus, Luis and the new addition, Lupe! The thought was maybe do a one-way from the DeRoux side over the saddle between Iron and Teanaway, up Bill, up Mary and then out Bean Creek. Well, we decided to eliminate all of the driving and two-car thing and just head up Beverly Creek Basin. Start time: 9:30 a.m. Not a lot of cars in the parking lot, but a few - probably some overnighters.

Heading out

Pretty in Pink

Before long, we reached the infamous Bean Creek crossing . . .

Heading up the Basin

Crossing Bean Creek at the start

all managed to ford the creek without incident and we were soon on our way . . .

Heading up the Basin

The weather was much better than we expected - a pleasant 56 degrees to start - no wind - and mostly sunny (despite the appearance of Trailpair! ). Take note, the snow is pretty much gone. Oh sure, there are spots here and there - but they won't last long. However, we did use our ice axes on the decent of Bill. We were clipping along at great time, and before long were at Four Creek Pass for a quick snack.

Snack time at Four Creek Pass

From here, we would head (basically) just straight up the ridge. Sometimes snow, sometimes, dirt.

Elle heading up to Bill

We were on the summit of Bill before noon.

Mary Peak from Bill

Looking south down the Basin

Teanaway and Iron from Bill

Enchantments from Bill

Driver and Gus on summit of Bill with Iron as a backdrop 06-20-09

Kolleen and Luis heading to the summit of Bill

Gorgeous views today

Stuart in and out of the clouds

Daniel and friends

Queen of the Teanaways

Motley crew on Bill (- the Driver)

Studly Luis

The Enchantments

The Big R from Bill

Bob deep in concentration on Bill

Elle on Bill with Enchantments as a backdrop

We spent about 45 minutes on the summit and were ready to head down. Barry, Elle, the Driver and Gus decided to take a "different route" back to Four Creek Pass (the now famous, "Barry direct route."

We part ways here

and met up with a group of scouts and their leaders out for an overnighter; we chit-chatted while we waited for Trailpair and Jim K to join us. At the Pass it was decided that we would split up - Barry, Elle, driver and Gus would head up Mary and down Bean Creek Basin back to the cars. Meanwhile, Bob, Kolleen, Luis, Lupe and Jim K would head back down the Beverly Creek Basin and skip the trifecta today. The rest of this report will be about the next two peaks achieved by the intrepid trio and buddy Gus. Jim K had said that it was a 600' gain to the peak of Mary - ahhh Jim, we need to talk! Try 1100' of gain to reach the peak of Mary. Now, this is after a "little" 1300' gain to the summit of bill in about 3/4mile! Oh well, it was worth it! There are a couple of "false summits" on the way to Mary, but the route was easy enough to find - Elle chose the snow to ascend, Barry, the driver and Gus chose the dirt/rocks. Some pretty flowers along the way.

Tweedy's Lewisia(?) If not, what?

Anemone

Mary and the Trio + Gus

On the summit of Mary we were greeted by three hikers with two dogs (all the way from El Salvador - one of the group had been in the Peace Corps there and brought them back). They were most cordial and agreed snap a pic. They had come up from Bean Creek Basin, over Judy and were going to head down Mary - we were doing the opposite. We didn't linger long on the summit and soon headed down toward Judy along the ridge - fabulous!

Mary from Bill

Bill from Mary

New friends up on Mary

Looking north to the Judy/Mary ridge

Barry on Judy (oh my!)

From here, it was our choice of where to drop from the ridge down to the Basin. Of course, Barry selected the "direct" route (read: straight down) Elle preferred a less steep route that (more or less) followed the "spine." In any case, we had to drop more than 2000' to get to Bean Creek.

Hooker's Onion

Barry on his own path

Elle coming down the "gentle" slope

Looking back to Judy

Finally, we crossed a small "creeklet"

Hot dog

and then soon reached the crossing of Bean Creek. It was much less intimidating then when the driver and Gus were there a few weeks back when then did Earl Peak. Gus had no trouble getting across and needed no assistance. In fact, he was more than happy to lounge in the creek before making the full crossing. Soon we were back to the junction with the Beverly Creek Basin trail and on our way back to the parking lot. On our way, we spotted a little message left for Angry Hiker.

This one is for Angry Hiker - fresh from the Teanaways!

Back at the parking lot, Jim K, Trailpair and the Chihuahuas had been waiting for us for about an hour. They can fill in their part of the trip. Our stats for the day - Three peaks: Bill, Mary and Judy; elevation gain about 4500'; distance about 10 miles. Perfect day - not too hot or humid. Traffic was thick as we got back to Seattle - but only took us about 2 hours each way. Great day, great fun, great friends!

[puzzlr]

Cartman, my friend Luke, and I did Earl today. When we got down we ran into Jimk and Trail Pair at the trailhead while they were waiting for Judy crew to show. Nice spring day in the Teanaway!

[TrailPair]

Bill is a steep sucker, but probably is the best vantage point in the Teanaways. We should have continued on to Mary with you so we could show you the correct route down through Bean Creek Basin!

Bill Peak highlighted in the sunshine

Jim K with Mary beyond

Bob on Bill Peak

Steep climb

Scramble near the summit

Near the summit

Luis racing to the summit

Summit on Bill

Luis' summit shot.

K and Luis, Enchantment Peaks beyond

[wildernessed]

The area is cleaning up pretty good, how is the Bean Creek Basin, snowfree yet ?.

[Middle E]

[GeoTom]

Good to see you finally getting out to the Teanaway Sadie's Driver.

[Sadie's Driver]

[TrailPair]

We were wondering how you "enjoyed" the bike ride today after the hike myesterday!?!? Anyway, you had a change of scenery from Teranaway to highway.

[Jasper]

[JimK]

My turn: All 35 photos can be seen here: Bill's Peak Photos The good weather was to the east so back we went to the Teanaway area. Bill Peak is one of the few Teanaway area summits nobody else had climbed. I had been up twice on dirt and once on snow. Our crew included Bob, Kolleen, Elle, Suzanne, and Barry. After a debate on the route we chose Beverly Creek to Bill's Peak then Mary Peak and out via Bean Creek Basin. There were already half a dozen cars in the lot when we arrived at 9:15 am.

Columbine

The first half mile up to Bean Creek went by fast. On my earlier backpack to Iron Peak the creek crossing was more than knee deep. The creek was a little lower now and a few logs span the creek. We all made it across with dry feet. Snow is rapidly disappearing. There is still some on Iron and Teanaway Peaks but the valley is snow free. Flowers are just beginning. I saw one yellow paintbrush and half dozen scarlet gilia. In a few weeks the paintbrush, lupine, and scarlet gilia should be more prolific.

Scarlet Gilia

First View Of Bill's Peak

Zoomed Bill's Summit

Colorful Flower

We passed a small group also heading up. One of only two groups we saw all day. On the trail up to Fourth Creek Pass more flowers appeared. The snow has not been gone long and there are still glacier lilies in bloom. I also saw shooting stars and western anemones. We took a break at the pass. From there to the summit is 1300' in about half a mile. We headed north from the pass. The slope is steep and the footing is a little loose but not all that bad. This south slope is completely snow free.

Climbing Steep Slope

Looking Down

The grade lessened markedly when we reached the ridge. Snow patches began. Some we skirted and some we hiked. up. As usual, Barry, Suzanne, and Elle were soon out of sight. Bob, Kolleen, and I followed prints in the snow or just took the path of least resistance. I recalled the steep grassy gully that leads to the summit block but there were too much snow to recognize it. We ended up going farther to the right (north). Hands were useful in a few places but for the most part it was a walk up. I finally popped up on the snow covered summit ridge and saw the others on the summit. The last 10 feet were up a sloping rock to the top.

Volcanic Neck

Snow Patch

Mt. Rainier Over Iron

Scrambling Up

Bob and Kolleen were a few minutes behind me. The top of Mt. Stuart was now in the clouds but all the other peaks were in the clear. Even Mt. Rainier avoided the clouds. Bill's Peak is one of the best viewpoints in the Teanaway area. At 6980' it is higher than Teanaway and Iron to the west. Only Stuart is high enough to block the view. I spent a half hour on the top. It was very windy in Cle Elum on the drive over but the wind on the summit was very mild. Cold enough for a jacket but not cold enough to chase us down. I arrived at 12:15. By 12:45 we headed down.

Bill's Summit

Mt. Stuart In Clouds

Fortune & Ingalls

I chose to take out my ice axe for the upper snow fields. The snow was not too hard but hard enough to send you sliding into trees if you slipped. The tracks in the snow from Barry, Elle, and Suzanne went much farther down the ridge than the point where we ascended to the ridge. We started down on loose scree over hard rock. Not very good footing. I traversed back right towards where we had come up. The footing improved and we made it down to Fourth Creek Pass.

Suzanne Descending

Bob's hip was hurting from the steep traversing descent. My knee was a little sore too. Bob, Kolleen, and I decided to head down via the Beverly Creek Trail which we had hiked up. The others took off on the ridge of Mary. We would just have to be content with "only" eight miles and 3300' of gain. After the very steep drop to the pass the rest of the way down was pretty easy. We had some time now to photograph flowers and peaks. I was not in a big hurry as we would have to wait in the parking lot for the others anyway.

Glacier Lily

Shooting Stars

More Color

Even at a moderate pace we reached the trailhead in about 2 1/4 hours from the summit. There were now 20 cars in the lot and a few more down the road. All those cars and we saw two groups on our trip. A number of groups returned while we waited. One group included puzzler and cartman from nwhikers. After an hour the rest of our group finished their trip. Seems they went over Mary then Judy Peaks and continued down the ridge to the Beverly Trail at the Bean Creek crossing. That had to be slower than an easy descent to Bean Creek Basin and a nice trail down from there. On the way home we had dark clouds over the mountains at and west of the crest. It was nice to have had a pretty sunny day east of the crest. Bill's Peak is a fun scramble. Steep slope to the ridge then less steep on the upper slopes. A little route finding and a little snow travel this day. And the spectacular views. All in all, it was a very nice day for a scramble summit.

[the Zachster]

Fun stuff, y'all!

[Sadie's Driver]

[joker]

Nice route and nice reporting from all. Thanks for sharing. I've done Iron/Bill/Earl as a ski trifecta - I'm guessing that despite our extra elevation gain, it was a bit easier due to ease of ski descent (and the long descending traverse across Bean Creek basin on the way from Bill to Earl), and we were pretty beat at the end of that day.

[twodogdad]

[Sadie's Driver]