One reason for residing in the Pacific Northwest this summer was to do some hiking. That's central to my health plan. Between the Gifford Pinchot NF and the Cascade Mountains, nature was calling. So it was time to answer.
I started with the Buck Creek trail. It was a 3.9 mile spur with about 1,200' elevation gain. So about 7.8 miles round trip. But I had two false starts. The first was heading west from the trailhead. The trail started descending immediately, which didn't seem right. But I did see a nice buck!
That trail also joined a horse trail. So I returned to the truck and started again, east this time. That quickly turned south, and showed even more equestrian evidence. So I deduced it connected to the horse camp just down the road.
Third time's a charm? So I went north, which quickly veered west then south, rejoining the first trail where I initially turned around. (shrug) After scratching my brain a few beats, and listening, I heard running water. I decided maybe the trail needed to descend to the creek. Then I could follow it upstream. So I pressed on and was rewarded by being proven right. (whew)
I followed it up to Morrison Creek Trail. Since I didn't have a good map, I had no idea if I could make a loop out of it or not. So I ate my lunch early then returned the way I came. No complaints. It was a nice 8 miles of exercise.
Returning through Trout Lake I stopped at the Mt. Adams Ranger Station for some 411. Turns out I could've taken Morrison Creek back as a loop option. If only I'd had a map!
After some discussion I bought a nice map that covered 3 nearby wilderness areas: Mt. Adams, Trapper Creek and Indian Heaven. Over the next week it seemed like the more I studied the map the more it gave me pause. The format didn't feel very trail friendly for one thing. And maybe I'm spoiled because trails were numbered but lacked convenient distance measurements. (shrug)
Maybe time to give AllTrails a try. I'd been using the free web version for a while already. So I bought a 1-year subscription for their PRO version. I first tried putting their App on my iPad but that wouldn't work at all! But it did work on my iPhone, which is newer and more trail friendly anyway, so maybe that was just as well. The reason I got the PRO version to create custom maps. I've got several in the works now. This weekend I took the first out for a trial hike.
From the Indian Heaven Wilderness I chose the Cultus Creek area. It's a campground with two nearby campgrounds. So I could leave one, hike a loop, and return to the other. Here's what the tracking screen looked like on my iPhone after the initial ascent.
With the PRO version one can leverage map data a number of ways. The screenshot above from my phone was made by downloading it there. I was \able to export a GPX file with the route information. That was imported into Google Maps. Then driving directions were overlaid.
I like Google's terrain layer. It let's you pan and zoom for context or details. As you zoom in to lakes, for example, the named ones get labeled. Pretty cool, eh?
Let's take a virtual tour. The trail's sorta figure 8 shaped. From the trailhead I did the upper loop counter clockwise. That screenshot above was about the highest point in the hike. If you can navigate the Google Map you might notice the saddle pass where the trail crossed the predominant north-south ridge.
I took pix of eight lakes as I went. The first was Clear Lake, just south of the connector between the figure 8 loops.
Next was Lemei Lake on the inside as I started clockwise around the lower loop.
Junction Lake was to the south, just outside the bottom loop.
Returning north up the bottom loop there was a spur to the west. First I passed Bear Lake.
Elk Lake was at the end of the spur.
Just before the figure-8 connector was Deer Lake to the west. There wasn't much beach. The steep banks down to the water had trees close to the shore.
At the connector I went east again to complete the upper loop counter clockwise. Cultus Lake was to the east.
Right after that was a spur so short I didn't even mark it on the route. But that went east to Deep Lake.
Doing the loop the way I did saved this treat for last. Way behind the lake, poking up above the trees is the snow capped top of Mt. Adams.
Maybe I should've said "next the last" treat. Because a bit later was a switchback on the descent back to the trailheads. At that first kinky corner the trail hugged a precipace. The steep drop into a sweeping valley created a commanding view of Mt. Adams.
Actually there was one more cute treat waiting inside the campground between the two trailheads. While only a few stone's throws from each other they're out of eyeshot. That's my excuse for not seeing it on the way in anyway. Some chainsaw artist turned a rooted tree trunk into a sculpture.
It looks like Smokey The Bear to me. Anyone who says otherwise is just itching for a fight.
So there's a long-winded story about my first trial of AllTrails PRO. At this point I'd says the value proposition is positive enough to justify it's cost. Let's see how the rest of summer goes.
