Russell Ridge — Saturday, Jul. 30, 2016

South Cascades

Getting to the trailhead for Russell Ridge was the most stressful part of this outing. The directions in the description are no longer possible, Wildcat road has completely washed out and will not be rebuilt for some years to come. Coming from Yakima, go west past Wildcat road for a few miles and take a right on forest road 1308 (just past silver beach resort). The road is rough following heavy rains in 2014. Drive past the cabins and be respectful of speed and dust. You will come to a fork with a closed road (used to lead to the Indian creek trailhead). Take a right. BE CAREFUL: about a half mile up the road is partially washed out at Andy creek. The road is stable but very narrow. After this narrow passage the road is smooth to the Andy Creek trailhead. Park near the wilderness sign and start climbing. The trail is in sparse woods and is very easy to follow. It climbs up to Russell ridge and intersects the Russell Ridge trail. There are beautiful views of Bootjack Rock, the Goat Rocks, and Mt. Rainier from an outcropping south of the Russell ridge trail. On my outing, I backtracked and took Trail 1141 to Fox Meadow which is also impressive. Ironstone mountain overshadows the meadow. I did not see anyone else on my trip, but I did see a lot of 4-legged friends. The entire trip only took maybe 3 hours and I was able to go on another trip the same day. Overall a great hike.