Road to Silver Star North trailhead

[Don Nelsen]

Adam, yes, I remember your TR from last year. Nice! Mud and ropes really add to the fun.

dn

[romann]

kepPNW wrote: ↑June 13th, 2018, 6:20 am
I will never understand the fascination with that north trailhead. Why, why, why???

It's trailhead for one of favorite family hikes, I used to go there with my parents every summer. Nice alpine-like scenery, perfect when we're still waiting for Mt. Hood to melt out.

Hiking alone, I always prefer quiet trails; Silver Star area got a bit too popular on weekends.

[kepPNW]

I don't remember that section of Cedar Mountain, and I've done that hike in all conditions (wet, dry, snowy), as well as both drunk and sober. Hmmm.

D'oh! I totally misspoke... The spot I started measuring from had an elevation of ~1500'. Multitasking meltdown...

I haven't found anything with a steeper grade than Starvation Ridge trail, based on documented miles/elevation between junctions or other notable points (i.e. no cherry-picking a short steep segment). I've been meaning to start a topic to discuss that, but you know how it is [maybe somebody should...I guess I keep thinking I want to do more research, but maybe it's better to just throw the topic out there for discussion].

That'd be a fun thread.

[romann]

OK we made it to North Silver Star trailhead today - the first thing we saw was this Audi at the trailhead! Well, likely not the same car talked about in FB post but still not sure how they made it. We had 10'' ground clearance and scraped the bottom a couple times.. also got a few new scratches from brush. There's 2 bad spots near the bottom of rough stretch, the rest was okay with an SUV.

But what changed in the 5 years since I last been there in a Subaru, back then main obstacle were high water diversion "bumps" across the road, and a few big rocks. Right now bumps are gone and water makes deep channels in the road. It's going to deteriorate fast..

The hike of course was awesome as always. Lots of flowers, beargrass was almost done but it's replaced with summer varieties.

[justpeachy]

We were up there today too. The road is just horrible now. We were in a Tacoma with a lift and good thing too because my Outback would never have made it up there. There's one particularly bad ditch that gets deeper every year. We counted seven abandoned cars alongside the road, and three more parked at the bottom. I think it's only a matter of time before one of those ditches becomes a washout and the road becomes impassible.

[romann]

Yes it seems like these days, one sure way to get to many trails is to get bigger and bigger rig (we were with a 4Runner).. Five years ago my Outback could still do it, now it would've been stuck and block that road for good . I remember that bad ditch, it was deep enough to roll a car, if one accidentally drives in it. But if they at least brush the road this summer, I'd see it as a sign they plan to keep it open.

We hiked SS on Saturday, not same day as you were but I posted it after midnight..

[Webfoot]

People do get crossovers into some surprising places. Maybe I should stand around and wait form them to go by; I might learn something.

There's a major washout on Abbott Road (FR-4610) that's apparently been left for decades. Hopefully this road doesn't end up like that.

[adamschneider]

A friend of mine sent me this photo from today; note the several inches of daylight under the left rear tire.

[Don Nelsen]

I took these reports as a challenge and hiked Silver Star today from the 4109 road TH. No problem, but this is a road that requires some clearance and some experience. There was a Volvo wagon at the TH when I arrived so if a Volvo can get there I'd say a Subaru can as well but don't even try if you are uncomfortable with such things.

Lots of cars and even trucks parked along the road below the worst of it. This road, as correctly reported, is the worst it's been in many years - at least the worst I've seen it in the almost twenty years I've been going up there.

Still, there are only two spots where it is really horrible. The red truck that Adam posted a pic of took the wrong line through that spot - he should have gone as far to the left as he could and would not have had a problem.

I saw about 30 hikers but about half of them had come up from the Grouse Vista TH. On the way back, I saw a couple of forest service guys hiking up to check out reports of an untended campfire. They had driven as far as they could in a nice new fire rig and even that was stopped at the first bad spot. I think they could have made it but I asked the two guys waiting down below at the truck and they said they didn't want to scratch up their new truck. Reasonable, for sure.

BTW, the wind was ferocious up there today. I took my Kestral gage and recorded 51 MPH on Ed's Trail on the way up. "Only" 32 mph at the top, though. surprisingly cool, too. 63 at the top, 65 at the TH. a few raindrops but not enough to get wet. another great day in the woods!

dn

The flowers are great up there: