My wife and I have been steadily completing sections of the Buck Creek Loop located north of White Salmon, WA. After reading the TR from bobcat we had an idea of what to expect. Our hike was very similar to his except we didn't visit Monte Cristo as we wanted to have a slightly shorter hike. Also, the map I have included at the end of the report was from our GPS.
First I want to thank @chrisca from PH's for the brushout of the Monte Carlo trail as it was in excellent shape and cleaned up nicely!
We started out at the Monte Cristo #53 TH located on Oklahoma Road. We were able to drive within 100ft of the trail, although the road has quite a few potholes.
The Monte Cristo #53 trail was very clear and is a great workout as it constantly gains altitude without many level areas.
We reached a road where a sign indicated the direction to Monte Cristo #53(left) or toward Monte Carlo #52(right).
Turning right and traversing a small meadow we quickly reached a more defined trail that headed up toward the ridge! As we climbed up the trail we looked back in an open area to see a great view of Monte Cristo!
The trail to the ridge follows a large number of switchbacks and was a continuation of a good workout! The trail breaks out into an open meadow before hitting the ridge and there were a number of rock piles showing the way. At this point the trail turns south very quickly.
The view from this end of the ridge was fantastic with views of the surrounding Mt's to the west and a view of Mt. Adams to the north!
There were also a multitude of flowers along the rock field below the ridge.
And as you follow along the ridge (old road) you will see an endless meadow with flowers scattered throughout.
After a while we finally intersected a sign indicating the trail direction to meet up with the Monte Carlo #52 trail. This location also appears to be near the Monte Carlo summit but it doesn't really stand out (from what we saw) as more than a rock pile?
However, there was a small area that felt more like a summit, just off trail and a short distance from the sign, where the view to the east was excellent. Does anyone know where the official Monte Carlo summit exists as the garmin map seems a bit off in my opinion?
We continued down the trail and came upon a sign indicating that switchbacks were ahead. I guess if you're on a bike this could be important!
At the onset of the switchbacks came the spectacular view of Mt. Hood framed by the surrounding Mt's.!
We descended down the switchbacks and then came upon a very very ugly active clearcut that obliterated the trail!
I guess it's time to get on my soapbox. This area looked horrible and many of the trees felled were very large; meaning 3.5ft+ in diameter.
They weren't quite old growth but they were older trees! Also, the trail was eliminated for 1-2 blocks and we had to climb over a sloppy mix of dirt mounds and tree debris! We finally reached some downed brush that had to be cleared before hitting the new bare dirt road. At this point we were depressed and wondered what the trail looked like ahead? Needless to say, it didn't look great as we hiked through what looked like overgrown brush with young trees that couldn't have been planted more than a couple years ago. The trail was somewhat easy to follow but not a good experience. I'd have to say that we will never hike this region of the trail again! The one consolation, if there is one, is that we reached a region called the Middle Fork Grove which contained a small number of Old Growth trees and a very nice bridge. It was strange that the bridge had orange posts and reflectors just prior to the crossing.
We continued the hike and eventually reached a parking area that required the Discover Pass(no picture)!
And as we continued we finally reached the intersection with the Monte Carlo #52 trail that led back down to Oklahoma Road.
There were also some views on the hike down toward Oklahoma Rd but I've run out of room for pictures. The walk back to our car along the road was uneventful except for the young group of campers that decided to shoot guns in the campground.
The hike was 11.5miles with an elevation gain of about 2250ft.
