[boot up]

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

8.6 miles Loop 1667 elevation gain Smith Rock, Burma Trail, Terrebone OR, 4/23/17

8.6 miles, 1667 feet gain, 3828 feet high point, with a bunch of scrabbly steep spots, doesn't seem like much, but its my personal best since my ankle fusion. I joined up with a local club for their usual carefully planned out hike on every Sunday. i.e. no one had any idea where we would go until we got there. Most went with a stroll up the river. Infamous Larry suggested the infamous Burma Trail and beyond and a few of us suckers fell for it.

Linda(Nordic Club) Cranking up Burma Road. Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club on Burma Trail loop.

Biggest challenge was finding parking at a major tourist attraction at 10:30am on Sunday morning, then finding the other part of the carpool. You can see the glint of all the cars in some of the pics. Its like Mt Si, but with dust instead of mud and its usually baking in the sun. Today was a perfect cloudy cool day for the Burma climb. First you drop down to the Crooked River, and get to look forward to a climb at the end of the hike. Nice thing is the crowds thin out fast on Burma Trail.

Nordic Club, Social Climber sub-group at base of Misery ridge, waving. Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

Nordic Club, Social Climber sub-group at base of Misery ridge, waving Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

I was surprised that Burma wasn't harder than it was. WA training for climbs pays off. And plenty of views to enjoy on the way up. But its very scrabbly and I was glad it was a loop so I wouldn't have to go down that trail.

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club on Burma Trail loop.

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club on Burma Trail loop.

Paint Brush. Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club on Burma Trail loop.

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club on Burma Trail loop.

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

Nordic club Social Climber sub group. Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club on Burma Trail loop.

No photo stops by the group, so I got my interval training in for the day. Then more climbing on the Gray Butte trail.

Mtn biker earning her fun descent. Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

The group split as I noticed the final push to the summit (another .8 mile, 550 feet) was scrabbly and steep to the point of exceeding the hard stop on my fused ankle for coming back down. So I hung out, talked with a few people as I poked around to find my lunch spot, had a leisurely lunch, and finally headed down taking plenty of pics on the way down, while the rest of the crew pushed to the summit called Crow's Nest.

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

Too scrabbly and steep for my fused ankle. My turn back spot....and leisurely lunch spot. Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club on Burma Trail loop.

Fused ankle(right) Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club on Burma Trail loop.

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club on Burma Trail loop.

Phlox Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club on Burma Trail loop.

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

We kept in text contact while we parted ways. That was novel after being used to normally being out of cell range for hikes in WA. I decided to take the easy longer river path around Smith Rock to get back. They decided on the shortcut going over aptly named Misery Ridge. To their credit, that gives them the Triple Crown bagging(Burma, Crow's Nest, Misery) which has a bit of prestige in the area.

Smith Rock, Terrebone OR 04/24/17 with Nordic Club

I had a nice half hour wait for them at the trailhead and got to watch them drag themselves up from the Bridge Meadow. Ominous sky, but only a few drops of rain. Temps probably in the low 50's. Perfect day for this hike....although a weekday would definitely be a better time. Hard stop on the fused ankle is a bummer, but it does seem to be getting stronger and nerves healing.

[joker]

Nice hike. We did a variant a few years ago - up and over Misery Ridge, turn right when the descent trail on the far side hits the river, and then up and over the pass (w/o the bonus spur up the additional high point) and down and over to close the loop and return to the car. It gave some nice additional viewpoints on the area, and a good dose of extra walking beyond the more obvious short hikes there.

[boot up]

[joker]

Yes I've had it be toasty even in mid September (and have had it be fairly cool there the same week). On the hot day, it became more pleasant once rounding a corner on the climb up Misery, at which point there were bits of shade and the slope also had a less direct angle to the sun, making it a bit cooler than the part directly above the river.