Page 26: Beverly Creek

Mt. Stuart from meadows east of Ingalls Lake.

Friday – Day 14, 6 PM
Beverly Creek

We packed up and headed out early.  I wanted to leave the hunters behind me as quickly as I could.

My, but the wind sure blew hard last night! I was beginning to think I would awaken to a tattered tent. And it was still blowing strong when we left this morning; not quite as hard as last night but so hard that I couldn't roll the tent up as usual. I had to sort of fold/squish it up against my body as I crouched behind the shelter of some rocks. I finally got it in the stuffbag, but couldn’t get the ground cloth in, too.  (Normally they both fit in perfectly.)

Boy, Ingalls Lake is going to be full tonight! Besides the two hunters who strutted into our camp last night, we met three more on their way in, plus two pairs of hikers (each team going for a summit attempt up the North Ridge of Stuart), four young boys day-hiking in to fish, and one family of three backpacking up. If it keeps on at that rate, it will be one crowded lake for the weekend!

Mt. Rainier in distance, Esmerelda Basin below.

I was surprised to find that they have redone a portion of the trail. From the rocks outside the lake to Ingalls Pass, the trail now goes through a lovely high basin, there are new switch back by the “Picture Tree,” and the steep, narrow chute I have come to call ‘The Escalator” has been bypassed with more switchbacks. The trail is now very nice and very easy, but it will unfortunately mean even more people will come up to this lake now. And that's pretty sad when you think about it.

We sped right along and were down to Esmerelda Basin in no time. Micki trotted right along with no discernable problem.

The Iron Creek trail was not as bad as the map indicated. There were about 100 little switchbacks, though. (Yes, I counted.) After reaching the top and then descending briefly, I immediately realized we had gotten off route somehow and were heading down Turnpike Creek instead of Beverly Creek.  I hadn't looked at the map very carefully this morning and forgot that intersection was there. I just remembered ‘turn left,’ so I did.  Fortunately, I realize my mistake before any real harm was done and backtracked to the intersection. There I pondered upon the signs and the map, and still wasn't sure which way to go. But after due consideration I opted to just go the other way.

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