From the posts on the site it looks like I wasn't the only one escaping from work on Tuesday to get in a few miles so I'll fess up and post a trip report:
After putting in a 14 hour day on Monday including a business trip to Eugene and back, I felt I deserved a little R & R so took advantage of one of the best days this year so far.
I've been wanting to see if I could find the old trail that once linked the fire lookouts between Greenleaf Peak and Birkenfeld Mountain so off I went starting at the west powerline trailhead for Table Mountain. (see map) I found and tracked a route up the south ridge last year so knew I could get up there without too much trouble. Today, I was hoping to make a loop out of it. As it turned out, I found the long-lost trail and was even treated to a bear sighting near the end of the trek! (see last photo.) It was already 72 degrees at my 9 AM starting time as I turned off Hwy 14 toward Greenleaf Slough so I gulped down another 1/2 liter of gatorade on top of the starbucks grande coffee I'd already chugged down on the way up the hwy. I crammed another liter and a half in my fanny pack and headed up the trail.
The first goal was Table Mountain:
The views were as good as it gets and the flowers were spectacular:
Mt. Adams with Greenleaf Peak in the foreground;
Returning from the cliff overlook, I spotted the new trail and dropped down to get a few pictures from the viewpoint below the cliffs. The new trail from the top is not blocked or signed so my guess is it must be open and ok to travel. It drops down to a large talus area and then it's a steep talus descent for about 450 vertical feet to where it continues east to intersect the old closed trail. Here's the view from there:
Of course, now I just condemmed myself to climbing back UP that 450 vertical feet of talus! What was I thinking!!?
Ok, now for the Birkenfeld part of the hike: Here's Birkenfeld from the north side of Table Mountain with St. Helens peeking over the horizon:
Here's the north side of Table from the south side of South Birkenfeld:
Once on top of Birkenfeld, here's the view south to Mt. Hood, Table Mountain and South Birkenfeld:
At the very north side of Birkenfeld there's a nice little meadow with great views of all of the nearest snow-capped peaks: Here's the view to the north showing St. Helens and Rainier. Adams is out of the frame to the right but my camara isn't wide-angled enough to get it in one shot:
I found the old trail down the NE ridge but it's a bit overgrown and could use a little cleaning up!
Defiance on the horizen, Greenleaf in the foreground from the NE ridge of Birkenfeld:
Mission accomplished, I followed the old logging road back to the PCT and headed back to the car. Here's a view of the west face of Table Mountain from the PCT:
I have rarely seen bears on the trails, much less been fast enough with my camera to get a photo but this guy decided to climb a tree when he saw me so I had a scant few seconds to get off a couple of pics: He climbed about 25 feet in about three seconds!! If you ever thought that you could escape a bear by going up a tree: Forget it - this guy proved to me that if a bear wants to get you, you are as good as done! He stayed up there for about ten seconds, dropped down about five feet, then jumped off the tree, falling about twenty feet and ran downhill into the brush and disappeared. I was tired, but found I had some more energy at this point so picked up my pace.
Total for the day: 17 miles, 5,650 vertical.
Here's a couple of maps:
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