Silver Star, S Ridge 27-Apr-2013

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VanMarmot
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Silver Star, S Ridge 27-Apr-2013

Post by VanMarmot » April 27th, 2013, 3:31 pm

Weather was supposed to be coming in, but there seemed time for a quick hike of Silver Star - short hike, magnificent views, close to Portland. The road to the TH at 1500' was fine except for the repairs done in a few spots with fist-sized gravel - great for logging trucks, not so great for my small car. The old road up from the TH had been neatened into a two-track and cleared of brush almost to the 3000' level - made for a very easy hike up to that first big view of Silver Star and Pt 4060 (Indian Pits).

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Took a chance with no snow shoes or microspikes, which paid off - the only snow was on the saddle between Pt 4060 and Silver Star and it was very walkable. The ridge up to the Indian Pits had melted off entirely,

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and Hood was in full view. The clouds that were coming in added character.

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From Pt 4060, I got a classic view of Silver Star and St. Helens,

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and Adams.

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After crossing the saddle - only significant snow on this route - I had a view of Hood, with Jefferson on the far horizon.

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There were two people on the summit when I came over Star 2, but they soon left and I had the summit to myself - pretty amazing on such a nice, warm day with the road to Grouse Vista open.

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From the summit St Helens and Rainier were in view.

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I rarely get up here in the summer and had forgotten there was a "bench" available for a lunch spot.

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The Bluff Mtn trail is starting to melt out, as is (hopefully) the Starway Trail.

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Saddle Mtn in the Coast Range was faintly visible beyond Sturgeon Rock.

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After enjoying lunch, the sunshine, the light breeze, and the (unexpected) solitude, I went back down the S Ridge, dropping off the saddle to intersect the old road below Pt 4060, and hence back to the TH. One of the best short (7.5 mi RT, 2200' EG) view-laden hikes close to town! :D

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kepPNW
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Re: Silver Star, S Ridge 27-Apr-2013

Post by kepPNW » April 27th, 2013, 5:12 pm

Fabulous!!! I can't tell you how welcome that post is. I am totally ready to get back up there, but really didn't want to haul snowshoes for the last half-mile. Looks like you had a great day up there! :)

Thanks for the report!
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

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Tyc
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Re: Silver Star, S Ridge 27-Apr-2013

Post by Tyc » April 27th, 2013, 8:38 pm

Lucky! I started at grouse vista on April 23rd and went up to pt 4060 through several feet of snow off trail and it was not fun without snowshoes plus having to break in the trail. Wish I would have taken the other road. Looks like you had a great trip and I am glad to see the trail is melting out quickly.

Couple pics from April 23rd:

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Roy
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Re: Silver Star, S Ridge 27-Apr-2013

Post by Roy » April 28th, 2013, 8:29 am

Nice report Van seems coming from coming up the south and north is better than up the middle from Grouse vista.

Thanks for sharing.
The downhill of the mind is harder than the uphill of the body. - Yuichiro Miura

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discodan7700
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Thank you!

Post by discodan7700 » April 28th, 2013, 8:50 pm

Thank you!

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weathercrazy
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Re: Silver Star, S Ridge 27-Apr-2013

Post by weathercrazy » May 3rd, 2013, 5:12 pm

Okay, take me to the TH with directions? I've been up Silver Star via Bluff Mountain, Grouse, Ed's Trail, and some other trail (not Starway) so I'd love to add another!

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VanMarmot
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Re: Silver Star, S Ridge 27-Apr-2013

Post by VanMarmot » May 3rd, 2013, 5:34 pm

weathercrazy wrote:Okay, take me to the TH with directions? I've been up Silver Star via Bluff Mountain, Grouse, Ed's Trail, and some other trail (not Starway) so I'd love to add another!
Washougal River Rd to Hughes Rd (about 6.5 mi), then left up Hughes Rd to Skamania Mines Rd in 3.2 miles, take the mines road to Road W 1200 (used to be a sign but it went missing during the clearcutting). Road W 1200 goes up to Grouse Vista. But 2.5 mi after you get on it, you'll come to a logging road on your left and a gravel pile and gate on your right. Go right and park so as not to block the gate. This is the S Ridge TH. Go past the gate and take the dirt road to the left. 0.3 mi up this road you'll see an opportunity to go right up an old road blocked by a berm. Follow this road - keep straight at all intersections - to the ridge coming down from the Indian Pits. You can see Silver Star from here and there are a lot of options for getting to it.

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