Iron Peak

Iron Peak is situated north of Cle Elum, WA. If you are familiar with Ingalls Lake (popular especially in Larch Season), this trailhead is just shy of that trail’s start.

The trail itself is a continuous uphill, shaded at first but progressively more exposed. The only source of water is at the trailhead itself, so bring what you need! Sunscreen, hat, poles are especially good for the downhill as earth is loose and rocky in places.

The view from the top is like so many views of this great state ; indescribable. I could throw some words at you : “Epic”, grandiose, awe-inspiring, majestic, but those all fall short… It’s better I describe the feeling : serene, silent, peaceful, alone and one with something much larger… From near oneself, there is rock and flower; twisted trunks of long dead and withered pine, in mid-field one sees the trees below, Mount Stewart dominating far above, valleys, the dirt roads where there might be an occassional interloper to the the world that is otherwise your own… but off in the distance… sun, sky, dust, the smoke of fires to the north (Little Giant, currently, which is threatening camping plans I have next week). Further still… Rainier was hiding in clouds, but to east, mountains fade off to the desert beyond, still, silent, undulating in gentle curves, seductive, arid, but beautiful in its tanned flesh tones…

I sat atop the peak for a long time, first incorporating the silence and the strange stillness of the landscape which brought that same stillness to my heart. Then I broke out my notebook and wrote what then was in my heart…

We are so fortunate to have this world to explore and at whose gentle silence we might learn what is truly real.