Green Mountain - Gold Creek Trail — Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011

Olympic Peninsula > Kitsap Peninsula

Green Mountain was a pleasant, low-intensity hike to continue our hiking season into the winter. It's a little bit off the beaten path, but not too remote, and likely to see little or no snow. The trail is easy to follow and provides pleasant, though not spectacular views. We hiked on a mostly cloudy day, but there was plenty of small stuff to enjoy. For our first trip to Green Mountain, we had trouble with the directions on the website and had to rely on GPS. For this trip, we used the coordinates on the map (47.551700,-122.826600) and plugged them into Google or Yahoo maps. From Bremerton, we took WA-16 to West Belfair Valley Road (missed the LEFT exit to Belfair/Shelton and had to double back). We went 3 miles, then turned right onto NE Bear Creek Dewatto Rd. We went another 3.1 miles and turned right onto Gold Creek Rd W. After about 2.3 miles, the Gold Creek Trailhead parking lot was on our right. We arrived at 11 am, with just a few other cars, horse trailers, and a pair of horses in the parking lot. We followed the signs for the Gold Creek Trail. The trail was in good condition. There were a couple motorbikes out, but we did not encounter them on our trail. Trail highlights included rushing creeks, abundant moss, mushrooms, a few blueberries and a few last vestiges of fall foliage. Pack animals take the trail, too, so watch your step! The view at the top was limited due to the weather. We could see Tahuya Lake and hints of the Olympics; we could see Bremerton, but the only evidence of downtown Seattle was the top of the Columbia Tower peaking through the clouds. We went back down the same way we came, along the Gold Creek Trail.