Cougar Rock Trail
Cougar Rock Trail
I have been trying to retrace the route of the Cougar Rock Trail. Does anybody have a GPS track?
Last edited by aircooled on April 29th, 2019, 9:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Cougar Rock Trail
I would have thought Cougar Rock is in forbidden territory. You sure about this?
Attached is a track from a 2017 hike I did up Elevator Shaft then east on the rim. I followed the Cougar Rock trail for a couple hundred feet and it is quite visible in the track. I backtracked then went on to Nesika and Franklin Ridge, etc.
--Paul
Attached is a track from a 2017 hike I did up Elevator Shaft then east on the rim. I followed the Cougar Rock trail for a couple hundred feet and it is quite visible in the track. I backtracked then went on to Nesika and Franklin Ridge, etc.
--Paul
- Attachments
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- Current.gpx
- Track
- (641.84 KiB) Downloaded 194 times
The future's uncertain and the end is always near.
Re: Cougar Rock Trail
As of 4/22/2019, when I last talked to a ranger, that entire entire is closed. I was told it would remain closed "for some time" due to unstable rock.
Re: Cougar Rock Trail
Cougar Rock may be unstable but the Cougar Rock trail itself followed a broad ridge then cut across the basin. I don't recall any spots where unstable rock could fall on a hiker.
Re: Cougar Rock Trail
The rockfall danger is not up on the ridge itself, but on the approaches below. The trail beyond Benson Bridge is closed due to ongoing rockfall. This means there is no normal access to the Elevator Shaft or Larch Mountain trails.
I doubt that Cougar Rock itself is any more unstable than it's ever been, and you should be able to approach it safely from following the Larch Mountain trail down from the parking lot. However, the area east of the Larch Mountain trail is closed, for whatever reason. Best to respect the closure for now. There are plenty of other areas to explore.
Re: Cougar Rock Trail
Yeah, if you haven't already gotten one, I do. Not really any visible sign of the trail remaining.
Clear sailing...
No danger from rocks around there. Falling trees are another question!
Not a good place to be in a windstorm!
Karl
Back on the trail, again...
Back on the trail, again...
Re: Cougar Rock Trail
Technically the whole basin is still under the closure.
Re: Cougar Rock Trail
Interestingly, despite some signage saying the road is closed, the "high water trail" totally lacks any indication of that.
Karl
Back on the trail, again...
Back on the trail, again...
Re: Cougar Rock Trail
Likely because as far as I know, the highwater trail isn't an official split, and the powers that be that haven't actually been out there didn't know to sign it.