4th of July Creek Trail

NEAR: Leavenworth

ROUND TRIP: 7 miles

ELEVATION GAIN: plenty!

This is possibly our last hike for the year and did we need it! We were desperate for some soul food after spending the past month worrying over Jon's job. The sun broke through the clouds on Saturday and the skies over Leavenworth were intensely blue. After a frigid and sleepless night in our tent at pretty Lower Johnny Creek campsite along the Icicle River we were ready to warm up on the challenging 4th of July Creek trail. Lilli, exhausted from her restless night and with the beginnings of a cold, was looking forward to snoozing in her backpack. The trail steeply snakes its way up to Icicle Ridge gaining 4370ft in 6 miles. I had no aspiration to reach the crest. Our plans were to hike as far as we could in an hour and a half, enjoy the views and breathe the fresh mountain air. We hiked further than I hoped, had wonderful views along the valley and tempting glimpses of the jagged Stuart range and the clear air was scented with the rich perfume of the Ponderosa Pines we were climbing between. Lilli napped deeply and awoke just after we had settled on a rocky butte looking over the valley. We discovered pine needles, gnawed pine cones, deer scat, bark, twigs and rocks. Before long it was time to return to our campsite to welcome our friends who were joining us for a night. Lilli, Jon and I set off down the trail. Lilli dawdled, stumbled and marched down 2 switchbacks before our patience wore thin and she was packed out on Jon's back.