Stafford Creek Trail good starting point for variety of hikes

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July 31, 1997

Stafford Creek Trail good starting point for variety of hikes

By KAREN SYKES
SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER

Got a summer weekend to spare? The Stafford Creek Trail is one of the first high-country trails to open in spring or early summer and is sometimes open by Memorial Day.

Whether you spend a day or a week, there are plenty of trails to explore, peaks to scramble, and meadows for indulging pure laziness in the Teanaway near Cle Elum.

Stafford Creek is popular, so if you seek solitude, try one of the other hikes that can be accessed from this trail, such as the Standup Creek Trail or the Falls Creek Trail.

The Standup Creek Trail leads to the ridge connecting Bean Peak and Earl Peak and solitary camping. Some of these trails can be followed to Ingalls Creek, and long one-way hikes are always an option by leaving a car at two trailheads.

Experienced mountaineers can bag several easy summits -- in a day or over a weekend by establishing base camp along Stafford Creek.

The Stuart Range is notorious for making its own weather -- watch out for thunderstorms in the afternoons and get off high ridges if you see one coming. The trail is now snow-free to Navaho Pass at 6,000 feet, 5.5 miles from the trailhead.

The view of the Stuart Range will stop you in your tracks. Even a poor photographer can get a good picture here. The trail to this pass is easy to follow as it climbs into ever more spectacular scenery, but it grows faint in a large wet meadow below the pass.

You may want to spend time there as the meadow should be a purple haze of Shooting Stars, a brilliant flower that thrives in moist places.

From the meadow it is only a couple hundred feet to Navaho Pass and more options for hikers and scramblers. From the pass, a way trail to the right leads to Navaho Peak. Experienced mountaineers can also approach Navaho Peak or the Three Brothers by leaving the Stafford Creek trail at about 4,600 feet and climbing cross-country for a shorter but more demanding route.

Off trail you may see an occasional boot print or coyote scat or a startled deer. You'll find odd sections of dark sandy terrain where nothing grows but flamingo-colored flowers.

If you wander off trail, be sure to take a map, compass and ice axe -- there are still snow patches at higher elevations.

Getting there
Map Drive state Route 970 north five miles from Interstate 90, turn west (left) on Teanaway River Road, and drive about 14 miles to 29 Pines Campground, end of pavement, and a junction. At the junction, turn right (the sign will read Beverly Creek Campground), drive about two miles to the Stafford Creek Road and turn right, drive 2.5 miles to the trailhead at 3,100 feet. It will be on your left. parking is to the right.

Trail detail
The trail starts out on an abandoned road, which is looking less roadlike each passing year as Stafford Creek reshapes the land. The road becomes trail and climbs easily through forest, breaking out in a couple of miles to views of neighboring ridges.

At four miles is a junction with the Standup Creek Trail. The Stafford Creek Trail continues climbing and becomes rockier, leading into a damp meadow.

Several good campsites can be found at the edge of the meadow. The trail beyond the meadow is vague and may be hard to follow -- follow cairns if you lose the trail. From the meadow the trail rises another 200 feet and crosses a small stream before reaching the pass.

Navaho Pass makes a good turnaround spot for the average hiker; families with small children may stop sooner. Strong hikers might consider a one-way hike beginning at the Standup Creek trailhead and coming out Stafford Creek.

This involves a short car shuttle between trailheads. Spend the weekend if you can, establish base camp and explore.

Trail data
Stafford Creek to Navaho Pass -- 11 miles, 2,900 feet gain. Don't attempt the Three Brothers or Navaho Peak in a day unless you are an absolute animal and/or are willing to hit the trailhead by 7 a.m. (it's a 2-1/2-hour drive from Seattle).