Miles: 7.8 miles RT (.5 miles longer to continue to Joan Lake)
Elevation Gain/Highest: 2150ft/5530ft
Map: Green Trails No 144 Benchmark Mountain
My favorite places to stop post hike with friends are: Grilla Bites, Route 2 Taproom and Grazing Place, Good Brewing Company, River House Cafe, Espresso Chalet, Gustav’s, Yodelin’s Broth Company, South, Dan’s Food Market, or just Pack A Cooler. You can learn more about these places in my Must Hike Must Eat Eating Out Guide.
Find out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. Pretty please.
My hike:
6/21/2018
Let me just start off by saying that I am not even going to do justice to the breathtaking hike this is supposed to be as for the second time now I have managed to hike it under less than ideal situations. Not that hanging with two of your hiking besties is less than ideal, but when everyone talks about how wonderful a hike is and you have yet to see all that wonderfulness, you can’t help but shake your head at your poor luck. It’s a wee bit like my relationship with Skyline Divide. Someday…
Anyway, we met in Monroe at 8am and were up HWY 2, the Beckler River Road and to the tiny trailhead (basically the road just ends) at around 9:30am with the day still encased in low-lying clouds. We knew it was supposed to burn off around lunch time but we were taking our chances by starting so early.
The trail begins where the road has been decommissioned and because it has no drainwork, the runoff has left it rocky and rutted in the middle. Just a few feet up we came to the trail kiosk and register and a report from almost a month before warning of snow along the ridge. We knew that was possible and had come prepared with pole and gaiters.
The next .6 miles continue on the old road, gaining about 600ft in that short distance. It was a reminder that this ridge trail was not going to afford us switchbacks and it would be an undulating up and down for most of our hike.
The first patches of snow started at 1.2 miles in and about 4600ft (trailhead at 3700ft). The trail was easy to spot around the snow and luckily most of it was on the more level portions of the trail (rather than on the steeper sections) making it possible to continue without needing extra traction or a lot of kickstepping.
The fog clung ethereally in the moss covered trees and we could only guess at the views beyond our little sliver of terrain as we climbed towards Sunrise Mountain, the first summit along our trek. You know you are getting closer because the trail was been meandering the last .7 miles and 300ft and then shoots straight up to bring you to the final 100ft. The summit was completely covered in snow but it was easy to see where it continued around to the left on the snowfield by faded footsteps from previous hikers. No views yet…
We didn’t pause long and were quickly back down on the other side to the east through the trees where the trail drops steeply on slick pine needles a few hundred feet and then rambles on the ridge toward Scorpion Mountain. The snow patches grew in frequency and a few times we really had to search for where it took up (and check GPS) because past footsteps had blended in with the debris and pollen covered snow.
The ridge made a turn to the north and then back to the east again about 3.5 miles in and 5300ft where it broke out from the tree cover shortly to reveal avalanche lily covered slopes and…more fog. From here to the summit of Scorpion, the ridge was very narrow as it wove through the trees and in some places we had to step out onto the steep slope and snow (or bushwhack through trees).
The final push to the summit was completely snow covered and we called it 3.8 miles in and 5530ft before the trail drops down on the other side to Joan Lake where we had no intention of visiting today. In our time at the summit the clouds parted just enough to be able to peer down the frozen lake, small patches of icy blue water distinguishing it from the snowy terrain around it.
I really wanted to stay and wait out the clouds but after about half an hour, we opted to head back down the trail without views for Glacier and Grizzly Peak, Mt McCausland, Benchmark, Fortune, Fernow; the list goes on and on.
And as it is for many a hike, the further we receded the more the clouds cleared and the views that make this such a scenic hike teased us for the remainder of our time on the ridge. I almost turned around. Almost.
As we dropped back down onto the old road section of the trail, Mount Fernow presented herself and the surrounding mountains of Stevens Pass lit up in the sunshine. Someone, somewhere was basking in the views. We were back to the car by 2:30pm and heading west and home.
I guess sometimes the early bird does not get the worm! Needless to say, the next sunny, not-a-cloud-in-the-sky day, I am booking it back up here to get those views!! If you want an idea of what the views would look like, here’s a picture from nearby Benchmark to whet your appetite.
Directions: From Everett drive east on Highway 2 for 50 miles, turning left onto Beckler River Road (FR 65). Continue north for almost seven miles to the end of the pavement and a three-way junction. If you cross a bridge over Rapid River, you’ve gone too far. Make a sharp right onto FR 6520 and proceed for almost 7 miles to the TH on the end of the road (there is a junction with FR 6522 about 2.7 miles in, keep left). There is room for about 3-4 cars and no bathroom. The road is often closed during the winter, check the forest service website for updates.
For more hikes near here, visit my HWY 2-Stevens Pass page.
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