The North Table Mountain Trail via the PCT has been on my bucket list for a long time and this weekend was time to pull the plug on this adventure. We started at the Rock Creek Pass Trail head about 9:00 AM and followed the PCT South, walking into a cloud. We decided to take a brief detour and tag Three Corner Rock which was a short diversion. Rejoining the PCT we headed out, continuing south on the PCT.... the PCT is in great shape of course and there were a few scattered snow patches but they will be gone in a week or less. The PCT crosses several roads and traverses several large clear cuts but is signed and easy to follow.
You need to be diligent in looking for the short user trail that will take you to North Table Mountain trail.... we walked past it the fist time but I knew we had gone too far and turned around , walked about 100 feet back and found it... You can find the user trail right before the PCT gets to the Powerlines AND right before we the PCT takes a hard 90 degree right. There is a small rock carin now marking the trail.... follow this down it is brushy and twists downhill for a couple hundred feet and then pops into the open on a maintenance road. Follow this down under the power lines and you will see two roads / trails,,, follow the one to the left and you will see a sign that tells you Table Mountain is 1.4 miles... from there is is a simple route... decent trail opening up to some beautiful views ... both to the east and west. There is a bit of scree and to traverse in a few places but you will reach a plateau before you know it.... there are two trail at this point... follow the trail to the left will take you to the Table Mountain summit sign and allow you to go a bit further to the view point. If you choose the trail to the right if will connect with the trail leading down the west ridge.... We tagged the summit and enjoyed the view before heading back.... retracing our steps.
We had some information that tis was a 12 mile hike, but we GPS's if at just over 17 miles and about 3400 ft elevation gain....
While it is close to the same distance as the approach from the south, I personally think this is a easier and more scenic route into Table Mountain.
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