The Chinook Trail Association in conjunction with Washington Trails Association had a 3-day work party on the Bluff Mountain Trail. We did an amazing amount of work brushing and restoring tread on 0.6 miles of trail. Chinook Trail Association had a brushed and restored tread last year too, and there is more work to be done on brushing and tread. We worked on the eastern portion of the trail as it crosses beneath Bluff Mountain and up to the old jeep road. The trail from Little Baldy east to the Bluff Mountain Trailhead is in pretty good shape except for 0.12 mile where it is still very brushy. The trail from Little Baldy to Silver Star is brushy in several spots.
There is one snow bridge beneath Bluff Mountain that will melt out in a week. Be very careful crossing the snow bridge as it is about a 5 foot drop and the snow bridge will thin until it collapses with the coming warm weather.
Right now there is plenty of water along the trail beneath Bluff Mountain.
Trillium, Oregon Anemone, Avalanche and Glacier Lilies are blooming now. I didn't see any buds on the beargrass.
If you haven't hiked the Bluff Mountain Trail you are missing a gem of a trail. The WTA directions are not the best. The least potholed route is to use Google Maps and put this into Google Maps:
Start: Battle Ground Lake State Park, 18002 NE 249th St, Battle Ground, WA 98604
End: Starway Trailhead, NF-41, Yacolt, WA 98675
Once you reach the Starway Trailhead on your map, continue for 5 more miles uphill on the same road, FR-41, to a large parking area in a saddle. There are few to no signs on the roads.
Comments
Skip32 on Bluff Mountain
Thank you and your teammates for all your work. Given funding for agencies volunteers are more important than ever. I'm looking forward to another hike up on Bluff Mountain now.
Posted by:
Skip32 on Jun 26, 2022 09:17 AM