It was overcast and windy when I left the car, but by the time I passed Rodney Falls, the clouds had been replaced by sunshine that illuminated the Fall colors. Overall, it was a really great day to be out hiking (but tomorrow the cubicle awaits
).
There was a cloud deck over the river,
that was pushing in from the E against the cliffs below Hamilton Mountain.
Hamilton's summit was clear, however, and both Table and Adams were in view above the clouds.
From there, it was N to Dons Cutoff, then down to the equestrian bridge over Hardy Creek, then up the almost new trail to Hardy Ridge. The WTA has done an amazing amount of work putting great trails in this area - thanks! From the ridge, I could see Hood directly to the S,
Larch Mtn (under the cloud) to the W,
and Mt. Defiance (the white spot under the cloud) to the E.
I took the trail/old road down the W side of Hardy Ridge to its junction with the road down to the equestrian parking lot. In the past, I've just followed this road E to where it joins the Hardy Creek Trail and then taken that back to the TH. Today I headed due S XC from Pt 1338 to intersect with the Hamilton Mtn trail about where it passes under the powerlines. There was a little faded flagging right when I started and a faint use/game trail from time to time, so I'm sure other folks have gone this way, just not very often. Not too bad going down but looks like it would be a pain going up.
After about 0.5 mi in the brush, I popped out on the Hamilton Mtn trail about 100' up-trail from the power lines. Great day, comfortable classic hike with a different ending, and no one else on the trail - all told, about 10.9 mi and 3300' gain.
