My goal was to climb six peaks in the Teanaway Range. Needing to be back in town around 2pm it was going to be a bit of a time crunch. The solution was to start early. Got up a little before 1 and made the 3 hour drive to the Beverly Turnpike Trailhead and was on the trail at 4:10. I knew I was going to have to move fast and run a lot of the ridges if I was going to make all six peaks and get back to the car by 11 so I set a quick pace.
Trailhead
The first part of the trail went quickly. Hiking by headlamp I made my way to the turn off to the SW ridge of Earl's and started up the switchbacks. Suddenly there was a flash of feathers and loud furious flapping of wings right in my face! A grouse took off right by my feet and scared the living **** out of me! After that adrenaline burst I pushed the rest of the way up to the summit of Earl's Peak and arrived at 5:45.
Earl Peak Panorama 5:45 am
It was dark. The first light of dawn was breaking over the horizon. I didn't linger long. I signed the summit register and headed toward's Bean.
Early views of Bean and Stuart
Stuart range silhouettes
Getting lighter
Soon the silhouette's of the Stuart Range illuminated in the pre-dawn light and I could see the ridge line over to Bean and the peaks beyond.
Bean Peak pano
It was then I knew I had no chance of completing all six peaks in my time frame. The ridge lines are rough and no place for running. I'd have to shorten my loop, but the bright side is I'd be able to take my time and enjoy the journey a bit more. I really enjoyed watching the morning light spill over the Stuart Range and Hardscrabble Creek Basin.
Bean with Stuart
First light on Stuart
Volcanic Neck Alpenglow
Looking back at Earl Peak
Alpenglow on Mary's and Judi's
A good look at the ridge between Bean and Mary's
As I approached Bean I eyed a scramble route straight up the SE face. I had to route find a bit and felt there were a few 4th class moves but the rock was solid and grippy. I wasn't expecting much scrambling on this trip and enjoyed it quite a bit. I reached the summit of Bean about 7:00.
I particularly liked the views of Harding and The Cradle between Ingalls and Stuart. I watched the morning light dance off the faces of the peaks in between cloud breaks.
Point 7095, The Cradle, Harding
The Cradle
Point 7095 basking in morning light
There was a Mountaineers register on Bean but the thing was full as of 9/3 or something. All entries were from '15 and '16. Bean apparently sees a lot of traffic. After a 30 minute stay it was off to Mary's Peak.
Fun with shadows
The ridge between Bean and Mary's is pretty rugged and rocky. More scrambling! What fun!
This is typical of the Bean - Mary's ridge
Lava tube formations
Looking at Bean from the ridge to Mary's
Judi's and the Bean - Mary's ridge
Volcanic Neck
Devil's Head and Volcanic Neck
Judi's Peak
I stayed on the south side of the ridge line and scrambled over numerous ribs for about an hour and twenty minutes of scrambling before I reached the summit of Mary's.
Mary's Peak panorama
Bean and Stuart Range from Mary's
More great views, but pretty much the same as Bean. No summit register.
Argonaut Peak
Colckuck Peak
Dragontail Peak
Little Anapurna with Bean in the foreground
McClellan Peak
The trip over to Judi's went pretty quickly. More views, but nothing new. No summit register. Least interesting peak of the day.
Judi's Peak panorama
View north from Judi's Peak
From there I took gully SE of Judi's down to the Bean Creek trail. I considered taking the E ridge, but the gully caught my eye and drew me it. The descent was a bit annoying. Hard packed dirt not soft enough to plunge step, fairly loose, slow going. Eventually I just took the gully proper which had better footing on solid rock.
Judi's SE gully
There were several waterfall sections to circumnavigate and any rock that was wet was extremely slick. I found out the hard way and scraped my arm a bit in a fall. I was happy to reach the trail and shortly later my car.
Bean Creek trail
My GPS stopped tracking me for a short section, but I think it was like 9.5 miles 5K elevation gain round trip, 6:15 car to car. This was my first time in the Teanaway Range and it was pretty cool. This area is great for peak bagging! You can rack up a lot of peaks here in short order. Another side note, it was my first trip in Salomon Speedcross 4's and I absolutely love them! Perhaps the most comfortable shoe I've ever worn. It was like walking on clouds. They even handled just fine on class 3, but not super good with smearing. Fun day! I'll be back for Volcanic Neck and Devil's Head and many others!
Great intro to the Teanaway! I've been going to the area for years, keeps me coming back. The ridge running from Earl towards Navaho Pass is mostly pretty easy terrain to navigate. I did about half of it starting from the Navaho Pass side and the rest looked decent. You can also do Iron and Teanaway/Gene's Peak and run the ridge to Long's Pass or Ingalls Pass.
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