RoySwkr
New member
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2003
- Messages
- 4,467
- Reaction score
- 285
Breezy day was pleasant for hiking. Parked at first pulloff down road to avoid fee. I thought this was a dry year but the approach trails were the muddiest in memory - I scuffed a few waterbars but didn't bring any plank bridges which were the greatest need. The bypass of the 1st and 2nd crossings appears to be the official trail now. Went up S peak and past M peak to main peak, this finished my 6th month for the grid so I'm halfway there after 51 years!
The bushwhack down the cone was mossy which was much appreciated after the mud and rock on the trails, but it was hard to pick up the ridge below so I used a compass. The ridge was thicker with more blowdown but occasional traces of herdpath, about 2 hours over to NW Hancock and I'm not sure why it took so long.
The 3643 bump to the W looked from the map like it might be an interesting place and probably hadn't been visited much since the loggers left. After Andy Martin tired of county highpoints and then prominent peaks, he started visiting every spot elevation on nearby quads so maybe this is the new game. Again it was tricky getting onto the correct ridge
but once there it was very obvious. The bump was quite distinct but completely wooded even on the steep sides so only limited views.
The route down was in big trees with minimal scrub but an immense number of blowdowns that were tedious to go over or around. This area would be better with 6 feet of dense snow. The Cedar Brook Trail over the pass was fortunately much easier to find than I expected from the WMG description. Once it got dark, I stopped for a rest and actually fell asleep so got home quite late. Full moon didn't penetrate woods much but was nice walking down the road.
The bushwhack down the cone was mossy which was much appreciated after the mud and rock on the trails, but it was hard to pick up the ridge below so I used a compass. The ridge was thicker with more blowdown but occasional traces of herdpath, about 2 hours over to NW Hancock and I'm not sure why it took so long.
The 3643 bump to the W looked from the map like it might be an interesting place and probably hadn't been visited much since the loggers left. After Andy Martin tired of county highpoints and then prominent peaks, he started visiting every spot elevation on nearby quads so maybe this is the new game. Again it was tricky getting onto the correct ridge
but once there it was very obvious. The bump was quite distinct but completely wooded even on the steep sides so only limited views.
The route down was in big trees with minimal scrub but an immense number of blowdowns that were tedious to go over or around. This area would be better with 6 feet of dense snow. The Cedar Brook Trail over the pass was fortunately much easier to find than I expected from the WMG description. Once it got dark, I stopped for a rest and actually fell asleep so got home quite late. Full moon didn't penetrate woods much but was nice walking down the road.
