My wife went out of town so I decided to return to the Lyle Cherry Orchard trail after our abortive attempt a few weeks ago. I dropped her at the airport a o-dark thirty this morning and headed east, arriving at the trailhead at 0605. It was cold (38 degrees), clear, and wind free. The only other vehicle at the trailhead was an idling semi with a sleeping driver. There was just the faintest hint of a rising sun in the east. On went the head lamp and I headed up the hill.
It was a little weird hiking by headlamp. I haven't done anything like that in a long time but it sure beat my Army experiences using night vision goggles. The views from the top with the early sun were beautiful.
Generally, the trail was in excellent shape, dry and clear of obstacles other than two large branches down just above the boot bush. Both were easy to get around or over. There were a few spots on the Lyle loop trail, where it is fully exposed to the west above town, that had been torn up by deer. This narrowed the trail a little, which isn’t very wide to begin with. The junctions are not signed, not that it is essential given that you go up or down and around 2 loops.
I love hitting trails early so I have a modest hope of seeing some wildlife. This morning did not disappoint. I managed to surprise 5 deer and a coyote. There are several spots, in the sheltered draws along the top of the ridge, that had a very strong musky odor but I didn’t see any other 4 legged critters. I did not see any falcons around the cherry orchard but I did see a couple of bald eagles cruising above the oak groves at the top of the ridge.
At the top of the Lyle trail loop, there is a sign asking hikers to stay on the trail because of the Lyle hill fire. Many of the oak trees in that area are charred around their base. It didn’t look like any were destroyed by the fire though.
Horse riders are ignoring the “horses prohibited” sign at the junction with the farm road on the cherry orchard loop. There were plenty of hoof prints on the trail.
I saw no flowers until I started exploring the lower bench. I found a few small ones opening up to the sun at the far western end of the bench. They were in the rocks along the trail.
As I approached the trailhead around 10 AM, I ran into a 5 people and one dog on their way up.
All in all, it was a delightful morning in the Gorge.
