Bluegrass Ridge Trail Clearing, 7/8/21
Posted: July 10th, 2021, 11:21 am
It was funny that Don posted a TR from a hike to Bluegrass Ridge earlier this week, since I was planning on a hike there this week too. I first hiked BR last year -- it had been on my to do list for a while, and the middle of a pandemic seemed like a good time to do it, as it nearly guaranteed solitude. While Don accessed BR from the Elk Cove TH at Mt Hood Meadows, I did the longer hike from the Pollalie TH, near Tamanawas falls.
The field guide lists the BR trail as "off trail" and warns it's difficult to follow. This is primarily because of a 1-2 mile section near the top of the ridge at the edge of the 2006 Bluegrass Ridge fire, where the shrubs and overgrowth along with abundant blow down makes following the trail difficult.
It's a shame because the ridge, which has been opened up because of the fire, is a wildflower bonanza and the views of Mt. Hood, Elk Meadows, Lookout Mtn, and the valley below are fantastic.
In an attempt to keep this trail alive, and as my good deed for the summer, I decided to take saw and loppers and try to clear out some of the overgrown trail. There is (was!) an especially overgrown section about 1/4 mile long starting on the northern boarder of the burn area that I wanted to focus on.
Starting from Pollalie TH, you take the Elk Meadows trail (the northern end) for about 2.5 miles, on well-worn, nicely graded trail through the woods, then turn off onto the Bluegrass Ridge trail. You dip down to Cold Spring Creek and make crossings of two branches of the creek.
The second branch is the wider of the two. There's this log for crossing, which while doable is a little daunting.
However, there's a much better crossing just a couple hundred feet upstream on a use trail. Look closely at the picture and you'll even see rope hand rail!
This picture shows concrete footings for a bridge. It's too bad we couldn't get something put in here -- even just a couple large split logs would be nice.
After a short steep climb to reach the ridge crest, it's a well-graded climb through lovely, although insect infested (from the look of the blow down), forest. The trail is almost complete free of blowdown, and it looks like it even has seen recent clearing.
About a mile and half in, and about half way to the edge of the burn, there start to be intermittent areas where young trees are growing in and encroaching on the trail. I couldn't help myself from clearing some of these areas so the trail doesn't disappear. I spent 3 hours traveling about a mile clearing some of the worst areas.
I finally reached the edge of the burn, and the overgrown section of trail. After a little lunch, I tackled the shrubs!
It took me 3 hours to clear the 1/4 mile of the worst overgrowth. I got a little sloppier towards the end, but the trail should be much easier to follow. After this point, the trail is still surrounded by shrubs, but it's mostly clear where the trail goes. To really preserve the trail, this section needs some clearing too, but for now it's passable.
Of course there's still tons of blow down along this section and you'll still be hopping up and over huge logs what seems like every 10 feet. But at least you can find the actual trail. It'd be great if someone would get up there with a saw and was able to clear out some of the worst of the blow down.
Once you're through this section, you get out onto the open with views of Mt. Hood, and huge fields of Lupine, Columbine, and Paintbrush. The trail traverses the open east slope of the ridge, slowly gaining elevation until it reaches the ridge crest. From here are amazing views all around. There's about a mile of ridge to explore. Despite the number of downed trees, it's pretty easy to get around.
I reached the ridge at 7 pm, and after the exhausting day, decided to return the way I came rather than complete the loop. Plus, this way I got to enjoy the fruits of my labor. It took me 7 mins to traverse the quarter mile section I had worked on!
There are a lot of options when hiking BR. The full loop up BR and returning via Elk Meadow trail is about 16 miles. You can make a shorter hike of about 12 miles by doing an out and back as I did. (Of course, the shortest access to BR is by the Elk Meadow TH that Don described, at only 7-ish miles.) This is a great less-visited hike with rewarding views of Mt. Hood, with a little sense of adventure due to the trail conditions. I hope more folks go check it out so we don't lose this trail!
The field guide lists the BR trail as "off trail" and warns it's difficult to follow. This is primarily because of a 1-2 mile section near the top of the ridge at the edge of the 2006 Bluegrass Ridge fire, where the shrubs and overgrowth along with abundant blow down makes following the trail difficult.
It's a shame because the ridge, which has been opened up because of the fire, is a wildflower bonanza and the views of Mt. Hood, Elk Meadows, Lookout Mtn, and the valley below are fantastic.
In an attempt to keep this trail alive, and as my good deed for the summer, I decided to take saw and loppers and try to clear out some of the overgrown trail. There is (was!) an especially overgrown section about 1/4 mile long starting on the northern boarder of the burn area that I wanted to focus on.
Starting from Pollalie TH, you take the Elk Meadows trail (the northern end) for about 2.5 miles, on well-worn, nicely graded trail through the woods, then turn off onto the Bluegrass Ridge trail. You dip down to Cold Spring Creek and make crossings of two branches of the creek.
The second branch is the wider of the two. There's this log for crossing, which while doable is a little daunting.
However, there's a much better crossing just a couple hundred feet upstream on a use trail. Look closely at the picture and you'll even see rope hand rail!
This picture shows concrete footings for a bridge. It's too bad we couldn't get something put in here -- even just a couple large split logs would be nice.
After a short steep climb to reach the ridge crest, it's a well-graded climb through lovely, although insect infested (from the look of the blow down), forest. The trail is almost complete free of blowdown, and it looks like it even has seen recent clearing.
About a mile and half in, and about half way to the edge of the burn, there start to be intermittent areas where young trees are growing in and encroaching on the trail. I couldn't help myself from clearing some of these areas so the trail doesn't disappear. I spent 3 hours traveling about a mile clearing some of the worst areas.
I finally reached the edge of the burn, and the overgrown section of trail. After a little lunch, I tackled the shrubs!
It took me 3 hours to clear the 1/4 mile of the worst overgrowth. I got a little sloppier towards the end, but the trail should be much easier to follow. After this point, the trail is still surrounded by shrubs, but it's mostly clear where the trail goes. To really preserve the trail, this section needs some clearing too, but for now it's passable.
Of course there's still tons of blow down along this section and you'll still be hopping up and over huge logs what seems like every 10 feet. But at least you can find the actual trail. It'd be great if someone would get up there with a saw and was able to clear out some of the worst of the blow down.
Once you're through this section, you get out onto the open with views of Mt. Hood, and huge fields of Lupine, Columbine, and Paintbrush. The trail traverses the open east slope of the ridge, slowly gaining elevation until it reaches the ridge crest. From here are amazing views all around. There's about a mile of ridge to explore. Despite the number of downed trees, it's pretty easy to get around.
I reached the ridge at 7 pm, and after the exhausting day, decided to return the way I came rather than complete the loop. Plus, this way I got to enjoy the fruits of my labor. It took me 7 mins to traverse the quarter mile section I had worked on!
There are a lot of options when hiking BR. The full loop up BR and returning via Elk Meadow trail is about 16 miles. You can make a shorter hike of about 12 miles by doing an out and back as I did. (Of course, the shortest access to BR is by the Elk Meadow TH that Don described, at only 7-ish miles.) This is a great less-visited hike with rewarding views of Mt. Hood, with a little sense of adventure due to the trail conditions. I hope more folks go check it out so we don't lose this trail!