Deer Ridge

May 21, 2012

With an eye on the weather, Karen, in her wisdom, called an audible, opting for Deer Park which would hopefully be in the mountain rain shadow, rather than our first choice, Tunnel Creek, further east and likely in the rain path. Despite a few disparaging remarks from the peanut gallery (me), our small caravan with twelve hikers onboard set out for the Taylor Cutoff and Slab Camp Road arriving at the Deer Park Trailhead a little before ten.

The suit up area was damp but the air temperature was comfortable and although the sky was gray, there seemed to be no immediate threat of rain. Shirtsleeves and bare arms were the order of the morning. The trail was damp from recent rain, but muddy areas were rare and the path had recently been cleared of a few blow-downs. The intermediate objective would be “the benches”, two very well-built and inviting viewing seats perched along the ridge and facing nearby mountain peaks.

So, it was easy going except for the slightly serious grade (1,750’ elevation gain in 2-1/2 miles) and the succession of steep ascents ending in blind turns that promise the top of the ridge but repeatedly disappoint. Reaching the benches, there was no sign of snow, and we were treated to partial views of the mountains across the valley. It looked like we might be able to make it to the picnic area at Deer Park, or even to the top of Blue Mountain. (We had tried this the previous fall but had to turn back about half-way to Deer Park due to deep snow over the trail in one of the deep ravines.) There would not be a big elevation gain to the picnic area, and Blue Mountain, lacking tree cover, would likely be snow free.

The trail continued clear but the weather threatened with a light rain and soon added some wind-chill which had some of us getting out the raingear. We were encouraged when we passed the ravine that had stopped us on the last trip but soon were encountering familiar (from last week’s hike on Dirty Face Ridge) piles of deep snow across the trail. None of them proved to be show-stoppers, though some were a little dicey. Gerry had an argument with some sharp rocks crossing one snow patch and he lost.

Finally, Blue Mountain came into view which meant that the picnic area at Deer Park was within striking distance. But soon we were post holing on soft snow and it seemed reaching the picnic benches might be a stretch. Hikers in the lead explored the idea of bypassing Deer Park and taking a direct shot “cross-country” to the snowless flank of Blue Mountain.
But once reaching a high point they could see a wide expanse of snow-laden terrain between them and the bare mountainside.

It was clear that without snowshoes it would be a lengthy and arduous slog just to get above the snow line. Backtracking to the trail it was decided to again take up the quest for the picnic benches. Jim, acting as advanced scout, spied the picnic area, and soon discovered the top of a lone picnic table almost buried in several feet of grainy snow. It was near noon and a picnic here seemed a satisfactory conclusion to the morning’s labors.

It was cold in our snowy lunching spot and soon hikers were starting back down. The pace down was more moderate, the rain had abated, and faint shadows would occasionally appear, compliments of weak sunlight filtering through the high clouds. We were thankful for the ridge of high peaks to the south and west which seemed to be fending off heavier weather coming in from the coast. There was no shortage of photo ops as the slower pace revealed a variety of subjects all along the trail. The steep downgrade in the lower couple of miles produced some achy knees but the rain held off until we reached the parking area. We were glad to be on the way home but thankful that the hike had turned out so well (and left the morning naysayer chastened — sort of).

Happy hiking,
Neil

Photos by Jim R & Neil D

---

The thumbnail images below can be viewed as a slide show, just click on an image to start slideshow. Click or tap on the right or left side of the image to view the next or previous image. Click or tap outside the slideshow image and the slideshow will close.

To “Pin” an image, click the “Pin It” button and select image from list.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2012 at 1:57 pm and is filed under Author, Goat Notes, Season, Spring. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.