rossb Member
Joined: 23 Sep 2002 Posts: 1679 | TRs | Pics
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rossb
Member
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Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:01 pm
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Bob and I had planned to hike up Meadow Creek Trail to Fortune Mountain (which we've done before). Unfortunately, the clouds were so think that we decided it wasn't worth the trail finding effort (too much snow to make it easy). Instead, we spent much of the day improving the trail.
The sign by the trailhead says this trail isn't maintained. This is not true. The first mile or two is in great shape. All the logs have been completely removed. However, at about 3600 feet (1/2 mile or so before entering Scoop Jackson Wilderness) we ran across a nasty avalanche section. This is also where the snow began. The trail actually makes a couple switch backs at this point. This is easy to miss, as there are cut logs which suggest going forward even though there is a clear switchback at this point. We missed all of this in the morning and guessed where the trail might be. After following the creek a while, we determined that we were below the trail. We then bushwacked our way up the hill to find the trail. After entering the Wilderness (actually, I believe we just went from Wild Sky to Henry Jackson Wilderness) we went another mile or so and things got tricky again. This time, it was the snow that was causing some confusion (again, about 3600 feet). Since the clouds didn't seem to be lifting as we had hoped, we just decided to not bother with all the route finding and turn around (we were both confident that we could have kept going, but that it just wasn't worth it). There are a few ribbons here and there that do help, but not enough to make it easy.
On the way back, we discovered the section we missed. We decided to do a pretty thorough job of trail work on this area. Since there were numerous blow downs from the avalanche, it took us a while. We are both proud of work, considering it was done with one little saw and a lot of pulling. There are still a few logs left, but they should be easy to duck under or step over. In general, this is a nice trail that just needed a little work.
Some pics:
Early view, looking back towards Johnson Ridge (Sunrise/Scorpion Mountain)
Pretty Stream:
Avalanche Area
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bobbi stillaGUAMish
Joined: 13 Jul 2006 Posts: 8012 | TRs | Pics Location: olympics! |
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bobbi
stillaGUAMish
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Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:15 pm
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thanks for your impromptu trail work!
bobbi ૐ
"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!" - Oh, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Seuss
bobbi ૐ
"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!" - Oh, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Seuss
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