kidzwonthike and I successfully got up to Malcolm Mountain using the most direct route: via Jungle Creek Trail, Way Creek Trail, and Koppen Mountain Trail. We started this hike early to avoid high temps later in the day and were mostly successful (it was a bit toasty on the way down).
This trail (excepting the Malcolm Mountain section I guess; it's optional) is an excellent alternative to Iron Bear Trail for the slightly more adventurous who are seeking awesome views of wildflowers and mountains.
Jungle Creek Trail
... in short, lives up to the name because of the overgrowth in the first section.
There were a handful of small stream crossings, a few logs to hop over/around (not that many by a [partial] burn zone's standards to be honest), and some really dusty trail with loose gravel. Not too bad, but I would probably pick a different day later on in the season, maybe, as the dustiness/small scree proved to be a challenge to get up/down.
The day was starting to warm up a bit, this section of the trail was pretty exposed after the first portion, but wasn't unbearable.
This section is your best source of water, currently.
Way Creek Trail
Goes through a bit more of a burn zone. More sun exposure, but there were a lot of pretty green shrubs around the lingering matchstick forest.
Once we got past the Jungle Creek/Way Creek junction, we dipped into the forest which was a wonderful respite from the rising temps.
This section involves some ups and downs, including some longer downs and slightly steeper ups. The trail profile was similar to Koppen Mountain Trail.
There are some blowdowns over the trail, but it's fairly easy to hop over them.
This part of the trail is where the views of the Stuart Range and Teanaway started to open up.
There was a trickling stream here, but it would have been hard to filter from.
Koppen Mountain Trail
This section honestly needs a lot of trail maintenance love: there's a lot of sluffing (which makes for slightly more difficult sidehilling), loose dirt/scree, there are blowdowns, and the path was a bit hard to follow in areas with social boot paths and game trails.
It will likely be a bit easier to follow now with fresh boot prints for a spell, but it would be nice if proper maintenance was done to this section.
The views of the Stuart Range and Teanaway were excellent along this section; quite frankly I think they were better than the views from Johnson Mountain, and in some ways better than from DeRoux/Koppen.
No water sources here.
Malcolm Mountain
It's a bit of a bushwhack along here, but nothing really terrible. The social bootpath follows the ridge, for the most part, or skirts along it.
There are a couple established campsites along the way, likely made by hunters. It's kind of interesting seeing what gear was present and how the campsites were organized.
The final push up to the summit was steep, but kidzwonthike and I were able to switchback/follow a game trail to the summit.
There isn't a summit register, but there's a memorial placard of some kind (which is pretty cool).
Some of the bugs were annoying here (flies), but others were just trying to chill (butterflies, bees).
Some water sources here.
Getting Back Down...
It was pretty much the same as the way in, but in reverse. The one item of note is that because of the exposure and rise in temps, it was a bit unpleasant in the sun exposed sections, but not completely unbearable because we wore appropriate summer attire.
Trekking poles were an absolute must given current trail conditions (pretty dusty, lots of loose gravel in sections).
Lots of encounters with flies, but also tons of encounters with beautiful butterflies as well trying to get a drink from the pools of water around the forest floor. It was wonderful to see 💚.
Wildflowers
- Dandylion (I think?)
- Lupine
- Paintbrush
- Pentsemon
- Scarlet Gilia
Attire
- REI Sahara pants
- T-shirt
- Trail runners
- Well-supported quarter-crew socks (I really didn't feel a need for full hiking socks)
Gear
- Navigation tools
- Trekking poles
10 Essentials Used
- Salty snacks (trail mix++)
- Sunscreen... and lots of it...
- Water: I went through a bit less than 4L (I packed around 5L, just in case)
Comments