[alpinelakes]

Went up Stafford Creek on Saturday and camped in the meadow below the pass. The meadow is still half covered with snow and pretty swampy, but I found a dry spot on a little mound behind some trees.

There were lots of day hikers and a few other campers on saturday but I had the place to myself on sunday night. No bugs on saturday, but on sunday some small black winged demons began to appear. At first I thought they were gnats, but then they started ripping chunks out of me. Some sort of tiny baby demon black fly... the bites itch like crazy. Lots of flowers.

The climb up Navajo was fun. I tried following the trail east, but lost it in the snow. There were tons of boot tracks going in all directions. I traversed up and to the right until I could see the dry pass on the south side of Navajo, and then followed ramps up along the side of the ridge. I found a long section of bare, steep, serpentine trail which led right to the peak

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/54887736.jpg The clouds were unreal. They lit up and glowed like neon over the Teanaway. I stayed up there for hours, smoking my pipe and trying to name all the peaks. They're beautiful with all the snow remaining.

Stafford Creek trail is pretty much clear of snow up to the meadow below the pass. There are patches, and the trail is a creek for most of the last mile. There are a few dry camping spots if you look carefully. Most of the meadow is a swamp right now...