Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Better than a treadmill, by far.

The forest concierge at the Mt. Adams Ranger Station answered my question without hesitation and with a visual aid (map). A ten mile hike that’s not too hard starts at the Buck Creek Trail, connects with the Morrison Creek Trail, then turn right onto the Wicky Trail and back home. I left with the map. About 4 hours into the hike, when I was uncertain of my bearings, a friendly horse rider pulled out the same schematic. Some or all of the route constituted part of last weekend’s Ride & Tie National Championship.

As the trail names foreshadow, I crossed or skirted several creeks, some roaring and others trickling through the woods. The forest changes from healthy, to acres of snags and fallen trees; from relatively tightly-packed to more like a meadow with trees. The route afforded no grand views, but there were a couple of peeks at the peak. Mainly, I wanted to get some exercise and continue to test the hip.

By the way, if you actually reach the horse camp, then you guessed wrong at the last fork in the trail. I learned that from experience, not from the forest concierge.

Two gorgeous days up here in Trout Lake. Couldn’t ask for more perfect weather.

1 comment:

  1. My dear friend Ann Merrick is sitting in my living room. She and my husband and I have been discussing the summer solstice and she mentioned your experience at the Stonehedge replica so we read about it. This is a great blog! We enjoyed reading your story and your pictures are gorgeous.
    Mary Barnum

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