[treeswarper]

I'll post this trail report because nobody else wants to wander around in a boring, non-wilderness old growth forest. Yes, there is still existing old growth forest outside of wilderness. I even took some pictures so you can see. Here is the sign at the trailhead. Note: Because it was so darn wet on the hike up, most photos were taken on the way down when my camera would not drown in my pocket.

A bit of background--I have tried a couple times before to hike this stretch of trail but always got turned back by snow. I figured that the snow must be melted by now so proceeded up the road to the trailhead. There were no Priuses, broken windows, litter, dog poop in bags (my little angel left some unbagged poopage by the truck), flip flop wearing hikers, and only one unleashed dog--mine. I have never seen anybody else on this trail--ever but now that I have written a trail report about it I guess we can expect the entire population of King County to appear. Oh well, I'll set up a hot dog stand or something. I know the people who live at the bottom of the hill. I was surprised to find it foggy and drizzly. Of course, I was dressed in cotton shorts and cotton t-shirt but did have my purple fleece top along so I put that on and ventured off into the wet brush. Because this part of the trail is little used, it is brushy. I also had on my brand new Hoka hiking boots for a trial run. I figured the drizzle would burn off later on, which it did, way later. Old growth pics:

This trail is an old trading trail used by the Cowlitz and Yakima tribes in the olden days. I took the westernmost part today and turned around at the junction with the Two Sisters or Pompeys Peak trail.

Along the way, there was brush to contend with and a short stretch of blowdown. Somebody had cleared most of the blowdown, but I suspect these were beyond their skill level and saw size.

Note this fancy cutting. I'm not sure why it was done.

Then a new way to hang flagging and there was reflective material on the clothespin.

Ski mentioned being attacked by mosquitoes on this trail. I did not encounter them until I arrived at the swamp, which I had only seen before as a pond surrounded by snow. The Used Dog had cooled off here on those past hikes. Today it was a swamp and the Slightly Used Dog did not find any water to cool off in.

This was the hill that the Used Dog had rolled and slid in snow on.

From here, the trail climbs a bit more, then sidehills the ridge. It is a pleasant walk in the woods for the most part, with some interesting rocks to look at.

On the way down, the fog had cleared a bit so here is a little bit of Mt Adams showing.

Tongue Mtn across the way.

And the Cowlitz Valley, way down there.

Normally, the last half of this walk would be with very painful feet. That was not the case. I think I have Hoka feet. The new boots were comfy even though my feet were sopping. I have no blisters and am not hobbling like in the past. I have no excuses now. So, stay tuned (Maybe) for the next section--Jackpot Lake to the 2 sisters junction. Pretty exciting, eh?

[MyFootHurts]

Did you go up Road 20? If so how is the reported washout?

[Ski]

[treeswarper]

[MyFootHurts]

According to the USFS website there's washout about 1 mile past the South Point trailhead "passable by high clearance vehicle". And who knows what the guy who updates the website considers "high clearance".

[Ski]

well.... the 2212 was definitely "high clearance" stuff when I drove it, and there was one spot where the outboard side of the road had slumped down the hill. kind of sketchy getting past that spot. best way to go up there is from the west side anyway (FS 5508-024) - the meadows around Castle Butte, Twin Sisters, and Cispus Peak are pretty spectacular.

[Pyrites]

I drove 22 t o 2200-160, then 160 to near end a couple weeks ago for a WTA trail project. 160 is not a car road. You should also have tires that are towards the new side. I went out to the west end of Klickitat where Treeswarper did on this report last spring. I came from S, from the Cispus. My main complaint was lack of signs. I did fortuitously go a couple hundred yards on a wrong spur before turning around. I got to hear a spotted owl, about 11 in the morning, in fog, visibility about 100 yards. Neat. Log work photo looks like trademark of a guy I met doing similar on S Point trail last year. On sidehill log it did make it easier to cross. Someone (FS?) logged that out this spring, for a definitive fix. I also drove FR 20 to it's end this week. I did ok in a Tahoe. A few places you want to be a driver that can envision the wheel track of each of your tires. Prius? The only trail access in this area I'd drive our Prius to is Dry Creek. But it is only hundreds of feet off US 12. You can idle to a spot to turn around and park past the one home on FR 20.

[treeswarper]

[Pyrites]

Link to article re: goats in Gifford Pinchot. It mentioned several places in area this thread seemed to cover. I keep trying to see goats on Smith Butte from east, and from west, at old Dry Creek lookout site, without luck. On the old abandoned South Point extension trail I’ve found small amounts of goat hair on brush. Best. http://www.chronline.com/news/native-mountain-goats-thriving-in-south-cascades/article_8b572f6e-b09f-11e7-97fd-638365563c13.html