I camped the night before at Ten Mile Campground, which is about three miles north of the Thirteen Mile Trailhead on Highway 21. Wanted to summit Seventeen Mile Mountain, which required about a 30-mile out and back day hike. Started my hike at 5:45 am.
The trail climbs moderately as it skirts a big canyon, at the bottom of which flows Thirteen Mile Creek. Old growth Ponderosa and Douglas Fir are frequent in this open forest. The first several miles are quite beautiful as the trail is often at or near the top of ridges. Open views are constant.
About two hours in, the trail intersects FS Road 2054. A trailhead is located here. Cross the road to continue your hike.
A bit less than 2 additional hours of hiking will bring you to another intersection. FS Road 300 terminates here. From this point on, the Thirteen Mile Trail heads down into more heavily forested terrain and the views aren't nearly as frequent. This is a good turnaround point.
However, I continued on, wanting to reach the highpoint of Thirteen Mile Trail where I would leave to scramble off-trail to the summit of Seventeen Mile Mountain. The trail does a lot of meandering and switchbacking and it's quite a long slog to reach that point. However, I succeeded and made it to the summit a little over 7 hours after I started the hike.
I was able to make it back to the trailhead before dark. As before, the lower section of trail, between the intersection with FS Road 300 and Highway 21 is most beautiful, especially with the long shadows of late afternoon.
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