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| Hiking | 10.97 Miles |
2,063 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.97 Miles | 3 Hrs 50 Mns | | 2.96 mph |
| 2,063 ft AEG | 8 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Opted for a familiar trail with one new section. There are two trail options to hike to the summit of Mt CDA. Going up Caribou Ridge is longer, with more aeg, but requires a big creek crossing, which can still be tough in early summer, although this year’s snowmelt is below average. The other option is going up Beauty Carlin Trail, which is shorter, with less aeg, and the creek crossing is very easy. Beauty Carlin it was.
Got across the creek with dry feet, then started uphill. The trail is never steep, and is in excellent condition. At 1.50 miles, instead of staying on Beauty Carlin, I turned onto Trail 258, which was new ground for me. I’ve seen both ends of the trail, so I knew I’d end up on Caribou Ridge, knew it was popular with mtn bikers, and knew it was in good shape. First half was essentially flat, second half climbed a couple hundred feet up to Caribou Ridge. In the first half, and angry grouse hissed at me, fluffed its feathers, and ran at my leg. I punted the little poo mess back a few feet while it made some indignant noises and ran around. Good reminder that I don’t particularly like birds. I’ll eat the stupid things, but not my first choice.
Once on Caribou Ridge, the uphill continued. Saw one deer. Four mountain bikers and two heelers—one blue and one red. Kind of buggy around the summit. The old building near the high point seems to be falling apart more each year.
Descended the road down towards Beauty Carlin. Saw two guys in a truck, they offered me a ride to where the road meets the trail, but that kind of defeats the purpose of hiking. Noticed there was a neat double halo/rainbow around the sun. Trees were blocking a clear view of it, but I stopped in several places to take pics. The hike down Beauty Carlin back to my truck went by quickly. Saw one more mtn biker and his dog. He swore he remembered me, and he did seem kind of familiar, so maybe I encountered him on a previous hike on these trails. I was glad the variation on the route got me into double digits. This is a fairly easy hike on excellent trails, although views are pretty limited. Zero deadfall. Temps on the 60s pretty much the entire hike. |
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| Stop crying and just go do the hike. |
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