Grassy Knoll 6/17/17

[romann]

With Dog Mtn in bloom for ~2 last weeks, I thought it's time to check Grassy Knoll to the north, which is just a bit higher at 3648' elevation. Turned out, we were a bit early for flowers (I estimate they were 20-30% of their best, should be a lot more by now), but this was last spring-like day and we had great temps in the upper 50's . Speaking of blooms, they were very uneven - almost none in many places, but in a few sunnier spots there were carpets of them.

We didn't meet anyone for 3 hours on the trail, but there were a couple of cars at trailhead, possibly backpackers camping further up.

The road had occasional big potholes, but my Corolla made across just fine - any bigger car wouldn't have much problem. Those 9.5 miles on narrow gravel road did take quite some time to drive, luckily we didn't get any cars heading in opposite direction.

Meadow on SW side of Grassy Knoll, last switchbacks to the summit


OTOH on the first meadow at trailhead there wasn't much going yet


Mariposa (will see a lot of those later on Mt. Hood)


I can tell paintbrush but not the other ones


Dogwood


The trail starts steeply through the woods, then eases on open ridge and goes slightly up and down. Some giant trees here and there among second-growth forest


Green carpet


Lots of tiny huckleberries, should be a good year for them?


On the other hand, very few beargrass


There are a couple of open rocky viewpoints overlooking Big Lava Bed, towards Little Huckleberry Mtn and (partly in clouds this day) Mt Adams




Lots of penstemon in the rocks


The trail gets overgrown in a few spots, but for the most part it's in great shape. We only saw 1 or 2 fallen trees across the path


Blue carpets of larkspur




Remnants of powerline to old Grassy Knoll Lookout (now only foundation remains)


Poor HDR, I know, but the clouds were very interesting


Balsamroot was on its way out, others are just starting


Lenticulars everywhere!






The summit didn't have much color (and on this day, much views), just to the north of the top everything looked really good




Hood Rover lit by a sunbreak in the distance


The end

[Webfoot]

Coincidentally I was there on the 17th as well, with my father. What time of day were you there? It was quite sunny for us, and we met a group of at least 17 just before 1pm.

[romann]

That's quite a difference a few hours make! My dad and I were there between 5-8 pm (he works at night so we got a late start); we saw one group pull out when we parked and the whole place seemed deserted. Got a bit of light rain in the end.

[justpeachy]

Beautiful!

How was the road? I remember one year the brush had grown so close over the road that it scratched the car in places, and it was basically single lane.

[Chip Down]

Wow! Been there when it was under snow in winter, and when bare in fall. Hope to see it in bloom someday.

[Webfoot]

Most of the approach via Bear Creek Road was paved or graded gravel, and I don't remember anything being too brushy, but as noted elsewhere there is a part near Grassy Knoll that gets pretty rough.

[woodswalker]

Great report. It's been way to many years since I've been there.
Colette Grace

[K.Wagner]

Romann,

A great report, as usual.

I have that same picture of that penstemon perched out on those rocks. That's just one of those "gotta take" pictures

[romann]

Thanks everyone!

Road conditions - I can't say it was brushy at any point, it's narrow enough to make passing other cars difficult, but plenty wide for one car. Potholes in some stretches (not all the time), some deeper ones in the last ~2 miles before the trailhead.

[justpeachy]

We went up there yesterday. The potholes stretch for about 10 miles, although not along every inch of the road. There are just enough of them that it makes for slow going, especially since I get carsick, which slows us down even more. It felt like it took FOREVER to drive 6808 and 68.