Forum Index > Trip Reports > Mt. Lillian (Blewett Pass) loop 6/25/07
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Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore



Joined: 15 May 2003
Posts: 14152 | TRs | Pics
Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore
PostMon Jun 25, 2007 7:12 pm 
Alan Bauer suggested this for flowers, JimK planned it, I invited myself. One fun thing about this place is the boogie-woogie stretch of road that hugs a steeeeep slope a ways; scary for the passenger, not so much for the driver - both are worried about oncoming vehicles. I think I'd faint if another vehicle appeared here. But it all worked out, and we made it to Haney Mdws and were on the trail by 10:30.
trail
trail
We followed a recent TR on WTA's site from Lunapeople , a very nice loop trip which is outlined in the old 100 hikes in Alpine Lakes book in it's typical headachy round-about way. From sagebrush to boggy mitrewort, this place has it all.
sagebrush and ponderosa pines
sagebrush and ponderosa pines
mitrewort
mitrewort
We took the Mt Lillian trail up and over the summit, dropped down to rd 9712 and turned left. Walked a few minutes to the Howard Creek trail (1372) to the intersection with Old Ellensburg trail and back to Haney Mdws. The entire loop is about 7 miles or so, 1,000 gain. Easy to do. The trail rolls through interesting and varied terrain; open slopes of pine, fir and grasses, wonderful open views, wierd pinnacles pocked with holes (presumably made by gasses in the formation period), and drops way down through dense lodgepole forest.
pinnacles and jim2
pinnacles and jim2
Lillian
Lillian
Toward Chelan4
Toward Chelan4
Toward Chelan3
Toward Chelan3
Toward Chelan1
Toward Chelan1
Rain shower
Rain shower
East slope of Lillian
East slope of Lillian
The lodgepole forest is interspersed with many large meadows and a meandering creek lined with flora. The green meadows are a balm for the eyes sore with looking at the scritchy silvery-black, chaotic mess inherent in a lodgepole forest. Amazing to see the huge piles of jackstraw that comes down in this forest. It's kindly sawed off the trail by the Backcountry Horsemen and likely motorized users. Some of these blowdown piles would take a loong time to negotiate. Great hike, great company, topped off with a mexican dinner at El Caporal in Cle Elum. I shoulda mentioned my birthday is next week 'cause at El Caporal, they take a picture of you wearing a gigantic tacky sombrero as you slurp on birthday feed they put in a trough for you. A few sets of motorbikes puttered by, not at all irritating. up.gif
Balsamroot1
Balsamroot1
Bitterroot
Bitterroot
Death camas and old mans whiskers2
Death camas and old mans whiskers2
Lupine and old mans whiskers
Lupine and old mans whiskers
Old Mans Whiskers1
Old Mans Whiskers1
Lillian
Lillian
Yellow thing
Yellow thing
balsamroot and larkspur
balsamroot and larkspur
vetch
vetch

"...Other than that, the post was more or less accurate." Bernardo, NW Hikers' Bureau Chief of Reporting
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yukon222
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Joined: 12 Mar 2007
Posts: 1893 | TRs | Pics
yukon222
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PostMon Jun 25, 2007 8:51 pm 
Quark wrote:
One fun thing about this place is the boogie-woogie stretch of road that hugs a steeeeep slope a ways; scary for the passenger, not so much for the driver - both are worried about oncoming vehicles. I think I'd faint if another vehicle appeared here.
Quark, you should see that road across the cliff face in the middle of winter as you go across it on a snowmobile. Then, halfway across that face, drop off the edge and glide to the bottom of the slope. Turn around and hope your snowmobile has enough juice to climb the face back up! hockeygrin.gif

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Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore



Joined: 15 May 2003
Posts: 14152 | TRs | Pics
Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore
PostMon Jun 25, 2007 8:54 pm 
Shacknasty Jim wrote:
I think your vetch is polemonium (Jacob's ladder).
I made up the part about the vetch. I wasn't too sure and haven't looked it up; yet. Why should I - you did! embarassedlaugh.gif Looking up that alien TV antenna mitrewort tapped my research bone. What I did was, I looked at every page of the Pojar/Makinnon book 'cause I didn't know where to start. Funny about this year; I had never seen Old Man's Whiskers til about 2004 in Oroville. Haven't seen 'em since, but this year I've seen them everywhere, and I'm totally intrigued by them in their blown stage. JimK said he hasn't seen so many rock rose before. It's truly the year of flowers. up.gif

"...Other than that, the post was more or less accurate." Bernardo, NW Hikers' Bureau Chief of Reporting
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More Cowbell
Warrior Princess



Joined: 01 Jul 2006
Posts: 5657 | TRs | Pics
Location: Alive on Earth
More Cowbell
Warrior Princess
PostMon Jun 25, 2007 8:55 pm 
Quark, you have that Old Man's Whiskers thing down now. Very Nice.

“If you want to forget all your other troubles, wear too tight shoes.” - Unknown
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Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore



Joined: 15 May 2003
Posts: 14152 | TRs | Pics
Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore
PostMon Jun 25, 2007 8:58 pm 
Yukon222, I've seen the remains of a red truck down there; didn't see it this year - I must've just missed it. Do you know if that thing rolled off the road? Bet that's a spincter-sucker on a snowmobile. Any pics? I didn't mention the wrecked truck to Jim 'cause although I spied it while behind the wheel a couple of years ago, I wanted him to keep his eye on the road.

"...Other than that, the post was more or less accurate." Bernardo, NW Hikers' Bureau Chief of Reporting
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dicentra
Plant Geek



Joined: 04 May 2003
Posts: 1127 | TRs | Pics
Location: Der Town
dicentra
Plant Geek
PostTue Jun 26, 2007 9:41 am 
Wow! Pretty!! up.gif

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peltoms
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Joined: 13 Jul 2006
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Location: Worcester MA
peltoms
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PostTue Jun 26, 2007 10:00 am 
That Yellow thing looks like a Penstemon. However I have not seen enough Yellow Penstemon's (Penstemon confertus) to be able to identify it just from a head shot. Do you have any others?

North Cascade Glacier Climate Project: http://www.nichols.edu/departments/glacier/
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