Month: June 2020

I told myself last weekend that, rain or shine, I would hike on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. And today I kept my promise to myself. Monday and Wednesday were beautiful but today there was a light rain most of the way. But I just put on a rain jacket and hat and trudged on.

I would like to keep up a 3-a-week hiking schedule. I need the workouts.

Today I just did the Tiger Mountain/Section Line loop where I go up the Section Line Trail and down the Nook Trail. And etc., numerous trails involved but on the ground it is just a 4.5 mile loop. The Section Line is .8 mile and fairly steep the entire way. That is the attraction on this hike.

But you do get to see a few little sights, including an interesting looking white fungus:

Not a jaw-dropping hike today but it beat sitting on the couch worried about dysfunctional White Houses and murderous viruses.

I met Carl this morning and we went up Zig Zag all the way to Truck Summit and went back down Zig Zag. That is the shortest route (about 6.25 miles round trip) but the way down is hell on the knees. We are both old guys and Carl thinks he may be getting a touch of arthritis.

You go from 1200 feet in the parking lot to 2750 feet at the top of Zig Zag in about 1.3 miles so going down it is steep and rough on the knees. And there are a couple of really nasty little step-downs (step-ups, of course, on the way up) that require great care.

But we had a great time, as always it is a super workout. I am slower than Carl going up but he was patient and waited for me at the top of Zig Zag. And today was his first trip to Truck Summit. Like me, he marveled at the beautiful views along the way.

Also, he saw a tree trunk that had been scraped to the bare wood by – by what? A bear? An elk?

A good time. Summer is here and it is time to get off the butt and get out into nature.

I took the Zig Zag Trail up to the service road (NF9021) and the service road up to Truck Summit. It’s only 3.2 miles from the parking lot to the truck but the parking lot is 1200 feet elevation and the truck is 4000 feet elevation. So it’s steep. That’s a lot of work just to see that truck but the workout is the point and the scenery is awesome.

I am planning to do the same route to the truck on Wednesday with Carl, but today I wanted to check out the service road down, as that is the way that Derek and Ryan and I will be driving in Ryan’s jeep when we make an attempt upon Chester Peak.

However, based on the only Chester Peak trip report I could find (I will send a link to Derek offline) it may be that our planned route, going south from Truck Summit, might not be doable. Instead, we might be able to take the jeep up NF110, and hike up from Chester’s more eastern approach.

We shall see how it goes. But I mentioned the scenery and here are some views:

Also, the trail up from the Hall Creek Connector, just up from the Hall Creek Trestle, quickly splits in two. If you go right you take the Hall Creek Trail, an interesting jaunt, but I went left, up Zig Zag:

Macchu Picchu, 2 photos above, is supposedly reached via Hall Creek Trail. Another one to check out.

From Truck Summit I hiked back down to the top of Zig Zag (where I today hung pink flagging tape so someone coming up is less likely to miss it) but instead of going back down Zig Zag I took the service road, wanting to see if it is driveable. It is. But that pushed my mileage to a hair under 11 miles.

It’s all good, I could use the workout.

Carl and I visited the service roads off Exit 38 this morning. We did about 8.8 miles but nothing real steep.

We parked on the side of SE Homestead Valley Road and went south-east up the service road, went west to Mine Creek Bridge (see photo above – Chester Peak is the peak in the distance with a little snow), then east to the McClellan Butte trail, up that trail to the next service road, down that back to the car.

Lots of fun and a good workout. Plenty of sights:

Here is our track:

Chester Peak is the un-marked peak, above, to the west (left) and south of McClellan Butte. Derek and Ryan and I are planning an assault on this peak – there is no trail – via the mountain goat trail south of Truck Summit.