Hoards of hikers descended on the popular Gorge trails on such a lovely Sunday, and even though my two hiking partners and I started before 9:00 AM from the fish hatchery, we saw a fair amount of traffic on Eagle Creek trail. However, the 5 1/2 mile warm-up on Eagle Creek was pleasant in the relative cool of the morning, and soon enough we were starting up the Eagle Benson trail and off the beaten path:
It was noon and roasting hot when we reached the nice viewpoint at 2400' on the Eagle Benson Trail:
Hood peeked through the remaining burned snags at about 3400'. The Eagle-Benson trail is getting bad again, with many snags in the burned area having come down across the trail in the last couple winters. Also, brush is encroaching on the trail in many places. If only I'd thought to bring some clippers; I will next time.
I usually do this hike in October, so I was interested to see what the conditions and snow situation on the Benson Plateau were like. All the way to Camp Smokey, there was no snow at all. Smokey Spring was running strong due to the snowmelt higher (in October it has always been just moist ground or barely a trickle)
Only a few hundred yards up the PCT, the snow started, and as we got onto the top of the Plateau, we would go across stretches of snow that would last a couple tenths of a mile, then peter out, then appear again. The snow was mainly limited to above 3800'. Where the snow was absent, the bear grass was coming up and looked especially lush and shiny. Following the trail wasn't hard, though GPS was helpful a couple of times when we exited a snowfield and the trail wasn't visible. On the north side of Ruckle Creek, the snow disappeared entirely.
A view of Tanner Butte from the Benson Way trail on the Plateau:
Wildflowers lined the trail in many places on the route.
On Eagle Creek:
On Eagle Benson:
On Ruckle Creek:
