Mount Zion

By John

September 05, 2011

Trailhead

Trailhead

Thirteen of us in three vehicles arrived at the trailhead at about 9:00 AM. It was a perfect day for a hike, no clouds, not too hot, no wind, and very few bugs. The trailhead is well marked with a lot of good information, like distances, elevations, and what we could expect to see. It was a little chilly at first, but after a short walk up the trail we were up to optimum hiking temperature.

Most of this hike is in the trees so sunscreen was not needed. Because there are few open areas there were few flowers along the way. Near the top there were a few view spots. The top was reached in a little less than 2 miles and a little over 1200 feet of elevation gain. Some made it in less than an hour and some took a little longer. A few of us explored the spur trail that goes northwest for a short distance.

Another half mile along the ridge to the southeast brought everyone together at lunch rock for a leisurely lunch and time of enjoying the views, the sun, and just talking about “stuff.” The view seemed to match the photo at the trailhead quite well. The only difference was some smoke making its way up from the notorious “Big Hump Fire.”

After about an hour of eating, basking, and talking, Karen said “does anyone want to go down the deadfall Trail with me?” There were four takers; Jeanne, Laura, Bob, and John. Frank volunteered to take Karen’s vehicle down to the Deadfall Trailhead. We went our separate ways. Yes, the Deadfall route is steep, but only about a half mile longer than returning to the Mt. Zion trailhead. The big difference is that the trail goes down to about the same elevation as the normal trailhead, up about 400 feet, and then down nearly 1,000 feet to the road. We were back together at 12:43 PM. A shorter than normal Monday Hike, but fitting for Labor Day, and we beat the rush across the Bridge.


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