When the trail begins as the forest service road, there is no formal trail sign.
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| It’s poop! |
That’s not to say there aren’t informal signs on the trail, though, and Big Bear kindly left this trail marker which TBGuide demonstrated how to interpret.
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| Tahoma Creek |
The first 3.8 miles is a gentle climb up the service road. It’s also popular for folks to ride their bikes up the road to the trail heads, and we did see some who were doing just that.
Often as we hike, we wonder aloud why this and why that. For instance, why did they close this road and how long ago? Why is it called Gobblers when there are zero turkeys? Why does this fly keep circling around my head with no intention of ever landing but apparently to simply annoy me? The answer to the third question is the same as the answer to almost every animal question you’ll ever have: Food. Enough summer school! Class dismissed!
If you’re counting, this trailhead is 3.8 miles from the start. With 2.4 more to the lookout, the day’s total would be 12.4. The WTA website says it’s an 11-mile round trip. Pull yourself together, WTA! At any rate, this is the part of the hike during which you pay your dues.
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| Talol, Tacoma, Tahoma, Tacobeh, Rainier, Regniere, or Pooskaus. |
Not far up the trail at a small footbridge, the southwest face peeks (peaks!) through the trees. If we hadn’t paused to take advantage of the wonderfully cool breeze blowing up the hillside over the bridge, we may have missed this view.
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| Avalanche Lilies |
Most of the 2.4 miles is a grinder up through the forest with an occasional short clearing. At .9 miles is Lake George, which looked inviting, but of which we took no photos because it would’ve taken a lot of time to find a spot clear of the trees to get a good shot, and since we weren’t spending any time at the lake, it’s not really part of this story.
In one such clearing, the fire lookout destination becomes visible for the first time. Even though I was the one who chose this hike, it completely escaped me that there was an actual fire lookout at the top. I’ll be more diligent in the future.
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| Tiger Lilies |
Nearing the top, things change.
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| Scary beautiful. |
The trail opens up, providing breathtaking and dizzying perspectives both out, up, and d-d-down.
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| Shady, wildflowery side. |
Hello, Pooskaus.
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| Pretending to be nonchalant. |
I did walk around most of the catwalk, although it was quite distressing for me.
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| Louwala-Clough, Lawetlat’la, Loowit, St. Helens |
Mount St. Helens is visible from the lookout. This is a very zoomed-in photo of her. Were you alive in 1980 when she blew her top? I was, but lived in Ohio. TBG was, lived here, and heard it. Is that cool, or is that terrifying? Cool because he wasn’t affected physically, terrifying because volcano.
We caught up to and were joined by other hikers at the top, where everyone takes a well-deserved break. One lady remarked to her fella that it wasn’t really lunchtime, and I felt a little self-conscious because I was eating part of my lunch. I felt vindicated when the fella had a snack as well.
After enjoying the outlook from the lookout, we headed back down. I was trying to get the gorilla clip set up for a photo of us at my favorite view point of the hike, when Anti-lunch-lady and Fella came by and were nice enough to lend us a hand.
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| Piqued by the peeking peak. |
The trail down was hard on knees and feet, reminding us that while this is not a difficult trail, it is a long one — our longest hike of the year so far.
Back near Lake George, we paused at the old ranger cabin and campsites. There was a sign indicating a toilet facility was nearby.
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| O, rly? |
It looks as though Big Bear may have had a difference of opinion with this comfort station. Fortunately, there was an intact one a bit further up the path.
Back out on the road, I went up in the opposite direction a brief distance to check out some signs we had seen on the way in. One just indicated another short access trail, but one pointed to a roadside Marine Memorial that commemorates a 1946 airplane crash into south Tahoma Glacier in which 32 marines lost their lives. The old, mossy stone steps were lovely, but I did not take any photos. It’s best viewed in person.
On the way out of the park, the line of cars to get in stretched for at least a mile. We smugly patted ourselves on the back for being early to rise, and then we encountered horrible traffic on the highways home. It’s the tradeoff for living in such a beautiful place.
I can’t end this post with the last picture being of a destroyed outhouse, so let me see what I can find…
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| Oh, here’s one. See you again soon, Tacobeh! |