[ragman and rodman]

Rodman and I found this little-travelled, little-publicized, 5220 foot peak to be a hidden jewel. Bean Peak was the only Teanaway peak that wasn't visible from the Johnson summit and the flowers were excellent. Take the North Fork Teanaway road just past the "29 Pines campground" where the paved road ends... here, find dirt roads leading to the left (Jungle Creek) and right (all of the popular Teanaway hikes)... turn left and drive the Jungle Creek road for 2.4 miles and find the 3000 foot trailhead (newly signed) on the right side of the road, with room for 4 cars to park on the left side of the road. The first mile gains 400 feet of elevation along a stream that involves 6 or 7 easy stream crossings... here the tempo picks up and you gain 1100 feet of elevation in the next mile to a 4500 foot saddle where the trail junctions with the Johnson Creek trail (coming up from the north) and the Way Creek Trail (#1235 coming in from the west)... take this Way Creek Trail (several ups and downs) for the next half mile as you traverse on the north side of Johnson Mountain to what Sutliff refers to as "the sheep driveway that turns off to the north"... do not take the "sheep driveway"... instead, head due south for a quarter mile and find the open ridge leading to the Johnson summit... on the way to the open ridge you might be enticed to take a heavily-treed ridge to the summit (which probably would work), but it will not be as pleasant as taking the open ridge. We stayed on top for an hour, soaking up the sun, snapping photos, and having a cup of tea... on the return trip we stayed on the south side of the mountain (sometimes a goat path and sometimes not), working our way back to the 4500 foot saddle, and finally retracing our steps back to the car... if you don't feel comfortable with your route finding skills, I would suggest retracing your steps back down the open ridge and using the Way Creek Trail to return to the 4500 foot saddle. 15 photos