Joe,
The route to the lookout on Larch can be done easily by going up over the sub-peak to the left of the trail and then dropping back down to the trail. It avoids that side slope entirely. This year is exceptionally bad.
Nice work and great report on your adventure, too. (BTW, the link to your track doesn't work) The Bell Creek trail is one of my favorites - I think it's one of the best old-growth areas in the entire gorge. I've tracked it with my GPS a couple of times prior to the advent of the new technology units and wondered if it was my GPS that was off or was the trail that far off on the maps. Last summer I did a big figure 8 loop and tracked it again with my 60Cxs - yep, the maps are WAY off - the GPS doesnt lie. Here's the track:
I hate to say this but my partner that day slowed us down by about an hour with some heat problems. I have had a real good string of training lately which is making these all day jaunts kind of fun.
