10-24-09
Last fall the
Forest Service finished a new
trail. Unfortunately they did not have money set aside to
build a trailhead. I had the opportunity to hike the trail twice. It
goes through deep forest to a peak with good views. In time it will be
very popular. It also allows for a scramble of another peak. Did that
one on the second visit. With all the repairs still needed for the
floods of 2003 and 2006 money is still not available for the parking
lot. It will be at least another year until the trail can be officially
opened. In the mean time I am sworn to secrecy on the exact location.
All I can do is provide a few more photos of what is coming.
Kim and Jon joined me on this trip. We were on the trail at 10:45 am. There was one other vehicle. Since this is the second and last weekend of general deer hunting season it was a fair guess that there was one hunter on the trail. The best fall color was down low. The road in and the old road section of the trail were covered in many places by leaves. Lots of green and yellow too. Not much red to be seen. There were a number of tall trees covered in yellow leaves. We had little sun to light them up. It was also about 40 degrees when we started and a little colder higher up. Looks like short sleeve days are gone until next spring.
The trail survived last fall, winter, and spring with virtually no damage. Not a single tree down and no washouts or mud. It is still in "like new" condition. The leaves at the old logging landing near the start of the forest were well past prime. The forest has almost no underbrush but lots of mushrooms. Some were still coming up. With a half mile to go I met the hunter. He had gone to the summit but the cold drove him down.
I reached the summit first and put on several more layers. There was a little wind but not too bad. Views were disappointing. I could see a few close by summits but the really big views were lost in the clouds. The swirling clouds were scenic in their own right however. One of the features of this trail is that it is a steady 10% grade the whole way. Very easy on the knees coming down. I needed to get back early so our summit stay was short. With the near freezing temperature it was probably long enough.
The trip down was fast and easy. We did not see another person. Hopefully this trail will open next year. Regardless I'm sure I'll make another visit. When the trail is ready for the public I will post a not on this website.
Click on thumbnails to get larger pictures.
Trips - 2009
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Kim and Jon joined me on this trip. We were on the trail at 10:45 am. There was one other vehicle. Since this is the second and last weekend of general deer hunting season it was a fair guess that there was one hunter on the trail. The best fall color was down low. The road in and the old road section of the trail were covered in many places by leaves. Lots of green and yellow too. Not much red to be seen. There were a number of tall trees covered in yellow leaves. We had little sun to light them up. It was also about 40 degrees when we started and a little colder higher up. Looks like short sleeve days are gone until next spring.
The trail survived last fall, winter, and spring with virtually no damage. Not a single tree down and no washouts or mud. It is still in "like new" condition. The leaves at the old logging landing near the start of the forest were well past prime. The forest has almost no underbrush but lots of mushrooms. Some were still coming up. With a half mile to go I met the hunter. He had gone to the summit but the cold drove him down.
I reached the summit first and put on several more layers. There was a little wind but not too bad. Views were disappointing. I could see a few close by summits but the really big views were lost in the clouds. The swirling clouds were scenic in their own right however. One of the features of this trail is that it is a steady 10% grade the whole way. Very easy on the knees coming down. I needed to get back early so our summit stay was short. With the near freezing temperature it was probably long enough.
The trip down was fast and easy. We did not see another person. Hopefully this trail will open next year. Regardless I'm sure I'll make another visit. When the trail is ready for the public I will post a not on this website.
 Yellow & Green |
 Small Flowers |
 Carpet Of Leaves |
 Leaves & Clouds |
 Water Drops On Leaf |
 New Trail |
 Snowy Trees |
 Meadow Snow |
 Snow On Small Trees |
 Blue Sky & Steps |
 Meadow & Clouds |
 Snowy Branches |
 Nearby Peaks |
 White & Green |
 Many Colored Sky |
 Clouds & Blue |
 On The Summit |
 Moss & Red |
 Heading Down |
 Mushrooms |
 Another Shroom |
 Yellow Leaves |
 Yellow Tree |
 Bright Yellow |
 Flower & Leaves |
Trips - 2009
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