shamples
New member
Saturday had been iffy all week watching the weather forecasts, but it looked like the rain would hold off long enough so I went for this hike that has eluded me for years.
Got to the Percival parking lot at 6:45 and saw no cars in any of the 3 parking lots (Rattlesnake/Morgan). Got on the trail at 6:50am. Took Mount Percival Trail all the way up. Easy to follow and finally hits the cave to the left/cliff to the right junction. Took the cave route and it was so much fun. Early morning and solo had me a little freaked out and wanted to make sure there were no animals (bears) that happened to be in the cave from overnight or something. So had my Superman ears going for any sounds I could hear and peaked in the cave before I entered. Was fine. I did have to remove my pack and slide that in first and then myself. Once inside, the cave opens up nicely and is a cool spot. Exiting, I had to do the same thing of sliding my pack thru first and then myself. I made sure not to hit or brush against too much on the entrance and exit... all I could think about was 127 hours if something collapsed on me all alone. LOL Sometimes your mind plays tricks on you hiking solo to freak you out just a bit. And this was my first time checking this out. The boulder field for the rest of the way up was actually challenging in places.. alot of awkward angles and gaps thru here. Def fun though. Hit the top just after 8 and didn't see a soul. Was curious about the Cliff trail so I actually went back down the Cave route again (just to see how it would be going down also... um harder actually, but not the cave itself) thru the cave the opposite way and back to the junction to take the Cliff route up.
Followed Crawford-Ridgepole Trail across. Easy trail. Found the summit of Morgan which wasn't marked but not too hard to find. Then found the ledges. Hadn't seen the ladders yet but knew they were somewhere. So I took the regular trail down and found the junction with the ladders. Took the ladders up and thru that cave at the top of the 3rd ladder. So much fun! Climbed the rest of the ledges back up to the top ledge where I had been, then again took it the opposite way to see how tough the ladders would be going down. Actually not too bad I thought. Either way - ladders up Morgan or caves up Percival were def easier on the ascent. But going down both was fine also with some being careful, which goes without saying.
Followed Mount Morgan Trail down to Morse Trail connector back to the Percival parking lot. Was back at my car by 11am, so about 4 hours overall and that was with me even going back and forth on the ladders and caves exploring. One thing I will say, once at the top of both mountains, there is no junction signs pointing you to which route is which. So when I hit the top of Morgan, I didn't know the ladders go to the right if you follow the yellow blazes down and the regular trail is to the left. Same with Percival. If ascending Morgan first and hitting Percival second, there is nothing on top of Percival saying to the left is the easier cliff trail and to the right is the tougher cave route. These are the little things that sometimes trick people and good to know before hand.
Totally fun loop though and this dry season allowed the lots to finally be open early and no mud to speak of. I will def be doing this again and multiple times.
Got to the Percival parking lot at 6:45 and saw no cars in any of the 3 parking lots (Rattlesnake/Morgan). Got on the trail at 6:50am. Took Mount Percival Trail all the way up. Easy to follow and finally hits the cave to the left/cliff to the right junction. Took the cave route and it was so much fun. Early morning and solo had me a little freaked out and wanted to make sure there were no animals (bears) that happened to be in the cave from overnight or something. So had my Superman ears going for any sounds I could hear and peaked in the cave before I entered. Was fine. I did have to remove my pack and slide that in first and then myself. Once inside, the cave opens up nicely and is a cool spot. Exiting, I had to do the same thing of sliding my pack thru first and then myself. I made sure not to hit or brush against too much on the entrance and exit... all I could think about was 127 hours if something collapsed on me all alone. LOL Sometimes your mind plays tricks on you hiking solo to freak you out just a bit. And this was my first time checking this out. The boulder field for the rest of the way up was actually challenging in places.. alot of awkward angles and gaps thru here. Def fun though. Hit the top just after 8 and didn't see a soul. Was curious about the Cliff trail so I actually went back down the Cave route again (just to see how it would be going down also... um harder actually, but not the cave itself) thru the cave the opposite way and back to the junction to take the Cliff route up.
Followed Crawford-Ridgepole Trail across. Easy trail. Found the summit of Morgan which wasn't marked but not too hard to find. Then found the ledges. Hadn't seen the ladders yet but knew they were somewhere. So I took the regular trail down and found the junction with the ladders. Took the ladders up and thru that cave at the top of the 3rd ladder. So much fun! Climbed the rest of the ledges back up to the top ledge where I had been, then again took it the opposite way to see how tough the ladders would be going down. Actually not too bad I thought. Either way - ladders up Morgan or caves up Percival were def easier on the ascent. But going down both was fine also with some being careful, which goes without saying.
Followed Mount Morgan Trail down to Morse Trail connector back to the Percival parking lot. Was back at my car by 11am, so about 4 hours overall and that was with me even going back and forth on the ladders and caves exploring. One thing I will say, once at the top of both mountains, there is no junction signs pointing you to which route is which. So when I hit the top of Morgan, I didn't know the ladders go to the right if you follow the yellow blazes down and the regular trail is to the left. Same with Percival. If ascending Morgan first and hitting Percival second, there is nothing on top of Percival saying to the left is the easier cliff trail and to the right is the tougher cave route. These are the little things that sometimes trick people and good to know before hand.
Totally fun loop though and this dry season allowed the lots to finally be open early and no mud to speak of. I will def be doing this again and multiple times.
