[boot up]

Balsamroot, the happy plant. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Panorama upper view. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

4th of July creek trail 9.9.miles round trip 4397 feet elevation gain 6625 feet max elevation 2278 feet parking 8hr22min car to car 5/18/13

I am over 60...haven't done the legendary Fourth of july creek trail... better give it a shot while I still have some knees left. Several lessons learned on this day.... If you want to see the really nice flower show down low on the east side, you need to put up with Crap Snow conditions near the summits. You don't get both. Also, I noticed that all the other trailheads on Icicle creek road were overflowing when I drove out. But at a trail notorious for being unrelenting steep, I saw less than 10 people all day. And views are good almost the entire way up, so if you don't make it to the Summit....it is not a big deal. I got a moderately early start, although already two other cars were already there.

Morning parking. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Rain was all around, but I stayed dry all day. Seemed like the cool cloudy day was perfect to keep from baking, and kept it cool enough to wear long pants, which paid off with the heavy underbrush over much of this trail and many snaggy blowdowns to get over. Plus the lighting in the morning was awesome for viewing the Balsamroot.

Short blooming Silvercrown. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Blue sky in the morning. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Larkspur. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Balsamroot in the morning. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Balsamroot, the happy plant. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Morning Balsamroot hillside. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Morning trail. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Morning trail. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Balsam root. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Morning trail. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Morning trail. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Lupine and Balsamroot. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Happy Trails. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Larkspur. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Penstemon. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Blossoms. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Glacier Lily. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

dash of blue. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Wildlife sighting of the day was a grouse showing off for me.

Male grouse flirting with me. Sorry, I don't swing that way. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Grouse showing off. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

The Burn Zone was interesting and still smelled heavily of charcoal in a few places.

Feelin the burn. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Panorama in the burn. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Yellow Bell. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Rock up. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Pushing through the burn. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

I dawdled too much heading up, trying to pace myself, without knowing the trail. And when I hit the snowline I notice the tracks headed off course from the summer trail. And the first snowfield I crossed, my hiking pole went in deep, showing the pathfinders were making it over the snowfields more with luck than anything, and I could hear water running under the snow. I used my GPS to shortcut and work my way up a bit higher and found the summer trail again, which quickly disappeared again. At that point I figured being solo and off track and too few people around... well my preference is for a low risk, fun hike. Out of Bold or Old for being a hiker...I choose Old.

I did cross this snow field. It was easy but had some hollow spots under it. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Tracks heading off summer route. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Cloud level...very level. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Panorama upper view. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

That is the trail, where I turned around. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Me at the Enuf point. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

So darn close to the top. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

And I heard it was about 30 degrees colder on top, which did not seem appealing for a lunch stop. So I dropped down a bit and had a leisurely lunch at a Good Enough comfortable view spot, before heading back down the trail.

Panorama Lunch View. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Rain moving in. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Rockin out. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

View near the top. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Lunch boot shot. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Lunch view. Fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Whorl. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Feelin the burn. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Paintbrush. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Hazy lazy afternoon. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Lupine trail. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

afternoon balsamroot hillside. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

afternoon hillside. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Balsamroot in the afternoon. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Some people may chide me for getting so close and bailing from hitting the summit. I liked the local hiker's philosophy. The guy with his dog that uses the trail for a quick morning jaunt, with no crowds and nice views from a different viewpoint, no matter how far you get. No regrets from me! No obsessive compulsive need to make the summit for me. Just happy to have a nice day and great views on an uncrowded trail.

[mepokeu]

your first photo is awesome

[meandering Wa]

the grouse is an amazing and lucky catch. He must have been really into it to display for you

[cascadedy]

I didn't realize that the trail is hikable this early. Very inspirational. I hope I can make to it one day.

[boot up]

[Bedivere]

Beautiful pics and a nice writeup. Looks like a good leg-stretcher, regardless of how far you did or didn't make it.

[Magellan]

Nice TR, boot up. The flower pictures are great, too. I've been there too early or too late for colors like those. We heard a few grouse on the trail two weeks ago, but saw nary a one.

Short blooming Silvercrown. fourth of July creek trail Leavenworth WA 5/18/13

Very interesting. Not sure if I have seen those before.

[Fletcher]

I went up there about this time last year. Saw 3 or 4 grouse. Their thumping sounds followed me all day long. Cool critters

[wolffie]

What is the white flower, broadleafed shrub, 3rd photo before the grouse "Blossoms. fourth of July creek trail "? We were on Miller Mt; snow conditions there were easy for travel. That was Teanaway Ridge Trail. We saw nobody except 2 coming in from the Iron Bear trail. A biker logged it out during the day, so the trick may be to do these motorized trails early, while there's still enough snow and seasonal blowdown to keep the machines out. Last year, June or July, I found 5 blue grouse eggs on the trail (!) on a secluded west-side trail. Looked like small, dirty chicken eggs.

[Ingunn]

That first photo makes me want to go hiking NOW.

[Trailblazing Todd]

I hiked this trail on Sunday, my first "leg burner" trail of the year (4500 ft. in 4.5 miles for me). There were about 15 people and there was light rain off and on all day. The day was between 50 and 60 degrees with a couple patches of blue sky in the afternoon. The Balsamroot/Lupine field was great and it is the first time I can remember seeing a field of Silvercrown. I made it to the top of the ridge. After your "Enuf" point, the snow gets deeper and soon I was at the top walking on 5 feet of snow. There was no point of going farther to see more "sea of white." It took me 4 hours up and 3 hours down - great for me considering all the conditions. The "Blossoms" plant I think is Bitter Cherry. Redflower Currant is also growing here.