[PaulS]

This was an experience... This hike started with a ~8 mile bike ride down the Whitehorse trail. Upon arriving at C-post road I proceed to cross the bridge and headed left. I'd familiarized myself with the road during a failed attempted earlier in the year. This time I found a few more small trees downed along the road. The road was in good condition for biking except for a small section near the swamp, where water was 4-8inches deep across the road. Upon arrival at the TH, there were numerous animal bones scattered where cars once parked. I figured the animal bones should ward off the evil spirits that would seek to steal my bike. Overgrown brush crowded the trail. Despite having to push back the foliage to make forward progress, the trail was easy to follow for quite a while. There were a few sections where short bushes had grown up through the trail. Further along the trail there were a few short bits where rocks had to hopped to avoid trekking through thick watery mud, followed by trees had to be crawled under. I would strongly recommend having boots that you are comfortable getting a lot of mud on. Next came the stream crossing (Dick's Creek). In my prior attempt, I had made it just past the water crossing and turned around 15mins later when I encountered snow. This time, I tossed my boots and socks across to the other side to avoid soaking them. There was a log nearby that was went 3/4 of the way across the stream so I walked across it and jumped to the other side with the aid of stick. Once on the other side, there were a few orange flaggings leading up the hill. Thankfully, the markings made the trail easy to follow. At this point the mosquitos must have sensed I was the only vulnerable food source in the area and descended upon me like seagulls to French Fries. Upon making it to the junction for Myrtle lake, I took a quick moment to look around. I felt like something else was in the woods with me. There were no other fresh boot tracks on the trail, nor a bike at the TH, so I had mentally convinced myself there must be an animal nearby. A short jaunt further ahead there is a section of pine that looks (right) toward a swamp. Moving about in the swamp was a black bear! Realizing that the bear spray was still at home, a quick decision needed to be made; press on regardless or turn back. While I contemplated my decision, I slowly paced back and forth as moving proved to be the only effective defense against the mosquitos. As the bear was ~100yds away but clearly focused on chowing down vegetation(?) in the swamp, I decided to move on. Proceeding passed the swamp, the trail climbed upward and came to a boulder field. The trail stayed to the right of the rocks until it disappeared in snow. I crossed the snow field and then climbed up toward a saddle where to get a view and determine my bearings (somewhere along 4600ft). There was no view from the saddle, and I proceeded upwards (looking at the map later, this was climbing up the peak north of Higgins). I got enough of a view some way up to realize that this was not the correct way and backtracked across the snow field. Snow patches up to one foot deep littered the forest, and eventually I came across a small snow patch which looked like it had a switchback further ahead. I was back on the trail to the former lookout. The trail was sounded like a small stream, water from the melting snow running below snow. ~5 minute later I arrived at the lookout site. 5 minutes later I heading back down as the mosquitos were unbearable. I wish I could have enjoyed it longer and proceeded east down the ridge. That journey might be saved for the list of future expeditions. On the descent, no bears showed their faces on the trail down and the bones scared off the spirits. All was going well on the bike ride until I heard gunfire. Approaching elevation 600-800, I began sounding the bike bell as I couldn't tell which direction they were shooting. They stopped shooting as I round a corner, somewhat surprised to see a biker coming downhill on the road. Proceeding down the rest of the way was enjoyable, though if there were some jumps... it would be even better. Upon crossing the bridge, I contemplated calling for a pick up as the Whitehorse trail was quite soft, but decided not to, which made for a slow going ride back to the house.

[RichP]

I'm hoping to try Higgins this summer. I like the bike and hike combo you did. Sounds like an adventure.