Poets Ridge - Little Wenatchee River loop, Henry M. Jackson Wilderness

It's hard to beat Glacier Peak-area ridges (like this, this, and this), and Poets Ridge is no exception. Thanks to a few recent TRs from the area I thought it would be a good time to finally get to it. Yes, and no. A few steep snow traverses remain between Poe and Longfellow and while a fall likely wouldn't be fatal, it did not look fun. Conditions and the terrain probably were a bit riskier than I normally do alone. Steep-ish snow traverses remain past Longfellow and Bryant as well, but largely were not an issue. I definitely felt relief once making it past Bryant... I think the route would be more enjoyable once it melts out, though I didn't see another person all day, which was nice.

• Poe Mountain trail: lots of wet brush and blowdowns; patchy snow drifts around 4800' with solid snow around ~5700' on the trail heading to the north of Poe. 
• Poets Ridge route: steep snow traverses remain; 3-6" of fresh snow that was melting fast. North end of ridge where the route contours over to the N/NE side is solid snow. Most south-facing slopes have melted out.
• Little Wenatchee River trail: snow patches and melting bridges through Meander Meadows. Some light brush up high and eroded-rocky trail, more brush down low and the more difficult blowdowns are in the first few miles from the TH. 

17 miles, ~5100' gain (skipping Poets Ridge summits)

Climbing up the Poe Mountain trail, with fresh snow

Some awkward drifts/slides to pass on the Poe Mountain trail

Around 5800' on Poe's NW side

Melting 10' cornice-drift on Poets Ridge north of Poe Mountain

Looking north up Poets Ridge from Point 6174'; Meander Meadows at left

Quick view of Glacier Peak from southern Poets Ridge

Looking back on one of the first steep traverses

Little slide, likely from melting snow off trees above

Looking back on another steep traverse

Nearing the end of the steeper traverses

Descending traverse past Longfellow, Bryant Peak in the middle

Looking back on my tracks along the descending traverse past Longfellow

Glacier Lily on Poets Ridge

Snotel for anyone wanting to climb Whittier Peak (left)

South ridge of Bryant Peak

Marmots were out along Poets Ridge

Little Wenatchee River drainage and the Cascade Crest

Looking back south along Poets Ridge from Point 5840'

Traversing over to the PCT and Meander Meadows

White Pass, White Mountain, Portal Peak, from the pass about Meander Meadows

Fields of Glacier Lily above Meander Meadows and Poets Ridge in the background

Meander Meadows namesake

An extremely pleasant meadow in the Little Wenatchee drainage

Jolly Mountain - Middle Fork Teanaway River loop, Teanaway

The last time I was on Jolly Mountain with Sir Hikes conditions were a bit less than ideal. It was pretty nice yesterday to get the views missed last November and then tack on the surprisingly-adventurous return to the trailhead via the Jolly Creek and Middle Fork Teanaway River trails.

I'm definitely guilty of succumbing to the, "get high, get views!" modus operandi for getting out into the mountains; who doesn't love a good panorama of multiple ridge lines, glaciers and craggy summits? And then something like the Middle Fork Teanaway River hits me. I knew it was going to be brushy, have a lot of downed trees and a bunch of river crossings. Sounds kind of like a trail I would normally want to avoid! What it turned out to be was highly-engaging with a lot of special little scenes and no people. Yes, there is a lot of brush, 50+ blowdowns (maybe up to 100?) and 14 fords of the river. But, somewhat unbelievably, it's extremely fun!

• Yellow-Elbow-Jolly: some blowdowns, the dirtbikes appear to already have been out this year and many of the downhill sections have water damage on top of the bike impact, so they are getting severely damaged. Essentially snow free to Jolly Mountain (small, inconsequential patches).
• North Jolly-Jolly Creek: still currently .5m of snow on the north side of Jolly leading to the split for Jolly Creek to the east and Sasse Ridge to the west. Turning east onto Jolly Creek the trail is very torn up, decent number of blowdowns, but snow free.
• Middle Fork Teanaway River: Lots of brush and blowdown, ~14 river crossings (12 and one area where we crossed and recrossed to find the trail, might be easier if you're coming up the trail), few sections where the trail has been blown out by the river. All fords were approximately thigh-depth or lower; majority below knee.

Balsamroot, paintbrush and lupine down low

Middle Fork Teanaway region and Stuart-Enchantment ranges

Dave on the Elbow Peak-Jolly Mountain trail

Flowers up high too

Rainier

Elbow Peak left-center, on the way to Jolly

Looks like nice balsamroot in the foreground

Dave approaching Jolly Mountain 6443'

Glacier Peak and The Cradle

Looking west from Jolly: Alpine Lakes peaks from Chikamin on the left to Daniel on the right

Looking north off of Jolly, Jolly Creek drainage on the right

Upper Jolly Creek trail

Upper Jolly Creek trail

Junction with Middle Fork Teanaway trail

Let the fords begin...

Cool cottonwood growing in the river

Northern Sagebrush Lizard or Fence Lizard? Spotted by Dave

Cool little pool just 1/4m from the trailhead

Suiattle Pass, Glacier Peak Wilderness

Dave's first run over 50k in a year-plus! Welcome back, buddy.

Relevant trail conditions past Miners Ridge:

• Miners Ridge-Suiattle Pass connector: 5 blowdowns, all relatively small. Patchy snow on the eastern portion of the trail toward the junction with the PCT, but no navigational issues except for 200' through the meadows right before the junction. 
• PCT: 75% snow from the Miners Ridge junction to Suiattle Pass; 3 blowdowns from Suiattle Pass down to the junction with the Buck Creek Pass trail with many wet melt-stream crossings. From the Buck Creek Pass junction southbound to the Miners Ridge junction there are 33 blowdowns including three very large ones. One set of two (pictured below) may be problematic to clear.

Oh yeah...it also was a bazillion degrees! 

Northwestern Alligator Lizard (I think?)

Dakobed Range

Dave with the north side of Fortress and Chiwawa in the background

Dave cruising toward Suiattle Pass

Glacier Peak Mine detritus

Hiker route to Cloudy Pass from Suiattle Pass; Cloudy Peak on the left

Descending back to the PCT from Suiattle Pass

Chiwawa (l), north side of Fortress, and the unnamed (?) pass

Dave's photo

Cluster of blowdowns at the Buck Creek Pass junction

Huge Doug Fir took out the Cedar when it fell; I'm standing on top of the fir and the trail is directly under the cedar's root ball. 

Where the PCT hits the Suiattle River bed; it was the hottest section of the day

Nice way to finish

36ish miles going by maps