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| Hiking | 4.90 Miles |
2,830 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.90 Miles | 5 Hrs | | 0.98 mph |
| 2,830 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Got rained out about a mile or so into this one yesterday so I had to abort. Today however was a perfect day to come back and hike the Arcadia Trail up to the Heliograph Lookout Tower and then over to Shannon Campground and back down to the Arcadia Trailhead.
This is an amazing trail except for one big problem! From Mile 2 to the end of Mile 4 going up it is VERY overgrown and littered with fallen trees. Needless to say wearing shorts was a mistake. My legs are all cut up from the thorny plants that are everywhere. Once up near the Heliograph turn and up to the Tower it gets much better. Then the last mile from the Heliograph trail over to the Shannon Campground it is nearly perfect.
What was super cool was from mile 3.5 and up there were TONS of wild raspberries. I couldn't resist and must have had somewhere between 50 and a 100 of them round trip! Soooo Good! The best way to get to them if you are into such a thing would be to drive the road up to the Shannon Campground and then work your way down to them. It wouldn't take long and you wouldn't have to deal with the overgrowth and fallen trees.
Heliograph Tower was neat to see but sadly it isn't open to the public. I would have loved to climbed up and gone inside. It has a cool history and the elevation at the base of it is 10,028 so it is worth the side trip either way in my humble opinion.
On the way back down it started to sprinkle lightly which was just perfect and made the mountain with all its plant life super fragrant. I was enjoying the view and making good time when I nearly stepped on a 5 foot long rattler. He was right in the middle of the trail. Once I saw him I must have jumped a couple feet in the air and then away from him! He was not at all happy with me and coiled right up and was ready to strike. I asked him to smile for a couple photos and then went on my way.
It continued to sprinkle but never got muddy. What was amazing to me is that the whole time I was hiking I only saw one other couple on the trail.
I really enjoyed so many things about this one and would strongly recommend it. If you are going to do the middle section at all you may want to wear pants and save the shins.  |
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