[Quark]

Of wrong roads and idjits. For a variety of reasons, none of which I’ll go into now, but most (read “all”) of which point to me being an idjit, I thought the road to the north end of the Tronsen Ridge trail was via Ruby Creek, which is where the trailhead is not, and not Five Mile Road, where the trailhead is (sabe?). Of wierdo intersections and axles. A mysterious and overly-accurate, yet strangely un-curious seer appears. We hit a weirdo intersection and I told Sarah “I sure as [expletive] don’t remember this!” But an old guy in a pickup assured me that the Tronsen Ridge trailhead was up that road, pointing up yonder, so away we went. The Ruby Creek Road got worse, and after dropping the right front tire down to the truck axle into a canyonic pit of a pothole that caused eyeglasses to fly and tested the axlerod (is that the name of a rockband, or is that a real thing?) of my truck, the road soon more resembled a trail than a road. I confidently negotiated slumps, lateral cracks, large rocks and general road malaise. Finally I reached the limit of my confidence and luckily found a slight wide spot in the road and did a thousand-point turn around. You can’t be too picky when choosing a wide spot on a forest road – the only criteria here was that trees be below the slope to stop me if I rolled off the edge. Old guys in pickup trucks are usually a pretty reliable source of information, and the old guy who pointed me in the direction of the Tronsen trailhead was probably right – but he neglected to tell me what JimK later advised – that particular trailhead has been defunct for years – I should have been on Five Mile Road just north of Blewett Pass. Too bad the old guy in a pickup didn't have the wherewithall to tell me I'm an idiot, and to ask what the heck was I thinking? I guess he doesn't post on the internet. Of Plan B via Plan A (1) (a) (i). We decided to do Ingalls Creek instead. On the way back to Highway 97, I mentioned to Sarah that it feels funny to be so close of Cashmere and the Aplet and Cotlet Factory within, without partaking so much as one free sample. When I got to the highway, I did what any red-blooded Aplet & Cotlet hound would do. A little slice of Americana and disguises. The trick to snarfing up on free samples at the Aplet and Cotlet Factory Gift Shoppe is loudly proclaiming you’ve never had the candy before and boy is it ever good. Do this with each change of disguise. I always carry a different hat to change into at random times, as well as sunglasses, and a jacket, regardless of the weather. Using these 3 items, plus ponytail and non-ponytail hair combinations you have no less than 18 good disguises (I advise against the glasses with the mustache and big nose disguise – they’re onto that one [another story I won’t go into at this time]). It takes quite a long time for even the keenest clerk at the cash register to detect the ploy (average detection time is 10 trips to the free sample counter – longer, if the Sunshine Coach is in – confused little old ladies bumping around the gift shop like balls in a pinball game are always great for distracting the clerk). Of oceans in Cashmere and vagabonds. Also in Cashmere that day was a street fair, complete with a off-for-Cashmere-themed “Under the Sea” parade float on display. I suppose one would get tired of apple-themed floats after a few decades. Evidently no longer of any use, but far too wonderful to dismantle just yet, the street fair was a perfect venue to show it off one more time. Where the story falls flat. Not much else to report. Ingalls Creek is a wonderful trail; I had never been here before. What a beautiful creek! Big ponderosas. We espied a clump of lady slipper flowers on our way out. Several parties had noted them about 5 miles in, but the ones we found were only a few miles in. The obligatory comment about that one burger place in Cle Elum. Yes, at 7:30 PM when many hungry hikers and traveler’s yearn for a good burger and shake, it was closed for the day. We ate at the Cottage Café.

Slice of Americana #1 - Weather vane, Cashmere, Washington

Slice of Americana #2 - Under the Sea themed float, Cashmere, Washington

Ingalls Creek trail:

what's up with this? Cherry tree, I think - disease?

disease detail

Ladyslippers1

Ladyslippers2

[marta]

Oh cool. The lady slippers are still there. We haven't seen them in several years. I was talking with another hiker on Teanaway Ridge about seeing them in the past but we thought maybe they were gone. Just took a good year to get them to bloom.

[alpinelakes]

Nice photos. Looks like some kind of leaf maggott larvae. They are probably very nutritious!

[HitTheTrail]

Interesting TR and photos. But it could have been worse. You could have gone up Five Mile Rd to begin with. That way both an axle and a paint job would have been in order.

[Quark]

That's the dumb part - I've done Tronsen Ridge via Five Mile Road several times. But for some reason, I got Ruby Creek Road in my head. The bad stretch of Ruby Creek is longer and way worse than the stretch of badness on Five Mile. Darn brain, anyway.

[HitTheTrail]

Also, it may not be as bad as I originally thought. I just checked with a body shop and was told I could probably get the scratches just "buffed out" for around $150 saving me a complete paint job.