Day 38: Monday September 2nd, 2019
Location 1:
2.3 miles of trail covered
Today we slept late, and had no plans to hike. Except that the weather was really nice, and we were all geared up for it. The packs were out, we had travel food available - and there was the last third of the Underdown Segment nagging at us from a couple days earlier. We decided to just toss away the rest of the weekend and go get this last piece of Underdown finished, and see what else there was time and energy for.
With both cars and two bikes, we were ready for anything. On the map, you'll see that Loop Road crosses the IAT twice, once to the west and once to the east. We dropped one car off at the place we ended the last hike up here, at the western location where the IAT crosses Loop Road. Then we went up to Copper Lake Avenue and parked at the end of the segment. 1:30 pm, 72 degrees. Ready... GO!
Immediately on the trail the first thing you come to is a boardwalk bridge, and it's obvious that in wetter weather there is a lot more water to cross. Today, there was only some damp mud. Having studied the maps and walked the southern end of the segment, we knew what we were up against. The trail went steadily uphill for a bit and cut sharply west, following a long ridge with minimal ups and downs for about a half-mile or so. The trail condition was excellent, and trail markings were plentiful, though getting old.
I'm going to take a moment and comment on the blazes. There are a lot of them, which is good because there are crisscrossing bike trails, horse trails, snowmobile trails and other trails as you go. Unfortunately, in some places the placement of the blazes is poor, arrows point in dubious directions, and more than once I saw blazes that could easily be misinterpreted, sending you down the wrong path for I know not how far. Worse, there are one or two places where you go from having blazes every 50 to 100 feet, and suddenly you go for 100 yards or more with nothing to tell you you're going the right way. Hikers are well-served to pay close attention as you walk, because it would be easy to go astray. I remember one spot in particular where there is a boardwalk going down into a ravine, and another one going back up the other side. Problem is at the bottom of the ravine, the trail turns 90 degrees to the right, and a tired hiker could easily just keep going on the well-used horse trail having missed the turn entirely.
But I will also say that because I am not personally going along marking the trail with yellow paint, I will try not to feel too disgruntled at those who did so in order to make it possible for us to follow along behind them. Trees grow, trees fall down, trees get cut, paint washes off, new trails get cut, reroutes take place - it's tough to keep those little yellow blazes looking clean and perfect. I'll cut them some slack and just say it's time to rethink or refresh a few of those blazes.
After a while hiking along the top of this lovely ridge we came to a Leopold bench just above the eastern crossing of Loop Road. We sat there for a while and enjoyed the view, before descending a sharp switchback and finally crossing Loop Road. This is one place I remember where you might accidentally follow the wrong trail, but you wouldn't get lost for long if you do, and might not even recognize it, since you would quickly reach the road, look to the right, and have to travel only 50 feet or so along the road to an obviously yellow-topped post.
On the other side we hiked up and along a gradual incline. One of the first things we encountered was the old foundation from Mr. Underdown's original homestead on this land. A mean ten by twelve foot hole represented the entire footprint for his living space, which was doubtlessly topped by a single room not much larger than my bathroom. I have no idea what it would have been like living in this space.
From here, we started down the moonshine trail (there's a story there I'm not party to), headed generally south, then up a second incline near the top of the tallest hill on the segment. The trail never goes to the tippy-top, but the last ten feet or so doesn't diminish the view. Then down a long slope, across a saddle, and back up again another 50+ foot climb to the top of the last big hill of the day, a horseshoe-shaped dominant feature of the landscape. One final rapid descent, and a gentle level walk to the end along a troad to the waiting car. It was 4:30 pm, and the temperature had dropped to 69 degrees.
What I most vividly remember from today's hike was pleasant footing, only one tree in the way, lots of blackberries to eat, reasonable grades as we hiked up and down the hills, and places where I had to stop and look for blazes to make sure I was going the right way. There were a few erratics along the path, but nothing too large or special. The signature feature of this section seemed to be the hills themselves, and the old homestead.
Running total: 268 miles of trail covered; 29.2 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking.
Location 2:
1.2 miles of trail covered
Nothing to say here, really. We took the vehicle with the bikes to the southern part of the Alta Junction segment, avoided all the poison ivy so we could touch the sign, then biked our way south for a half-mile on paved County J, then west for 0.7 miles along gravel Copper Lake Ave. One hill on each leg. Took about 15 minutes. Done.
2.3 miles of trail covered
Today we slept late, and had no plans to hike. Except that the weather was really nice, and we were all geared up for it. The packs were out, we had travel food available - and there was the last third of the Underdown Segment nagging at us from a couple days earlier. We decided to just toss away the rest of the weekend and go get this last piece of Underdown finished, and see what else there was time and energy for.
With both cars and two bikes, we were ready for anything. On the map, you'll see that Loop Road crosses the IAT twice, once to the west and once to the east. We dropped one car off at the place we ended the last hike up here, at the western location where the IAT crosses Loop Road. Then we went up to Copper Lake Avenue and parked at the end of the segment. 1:30 pm, 72 degrees. Ready... GO!Immediately on the trail the first thing you come to is a boardwalk bridge, and it's obvious that in wetter weather there is a lot more water to cross. Today, there was only some damp mud. Having studied the maps and walked the southern end of the segment, we knew what we were up against. The trail went steadily uphill for a bit and cut sharply west, following a long ridge with minimal ups and downs for about a half-mile or so. The trail condition was excellent, and trail markings were plentiful, though getting old.
 |
| Wooden planks down... Wooden planks up... IAT turns 90 degrees to the right. Don't miss it!! |
I'm going to take a moment and comment on the blazes. There are a lot of them, which is good because there are crisscrossing bike trails, horse trails, snowmobile trails and other trails as you go. Unfortunately, in some places the placement of the blazes is poor, arrows point in dubious directions, and more than once I saw blazes that could easily be misinterpreted, sending you down the wrong path for I know not how far. Worse, there are one or two places where you go from having blazes every 50 to 100 feet, and suddenly you go for 100 yards or more with nothing to tell you you're going the right way. Hikers are well-served to pay close attention as you walk, because it would be easy to go astray. I remember one spot in particular where there is a boardwalk going down into a ravine, and another one going back up the other side. Problem is at the bottom of the ravine, the trail turns 90 degrees to the right, and a tired hiker could easily just keep going on the well-used horse trail having missed the turn entirely.
But I will also say that because I am not personally going along marking the trail with yellow paint, I will try not to feel too disgruntled at those who did so in order to make it possible for us to follow along behind them. Trees grow, trees fall down, trees get cut, paint washes off, new trails get cut, reroutes take place - it's tough to keep those little yellow blazes looking clean and perfect. I'll cut them some slack and just say it's time to rethink or refresh a few of those blazes.
After a while hiking along the top of this lovely ridge we came to a Leopold bench just above the eastern crossing of Loop Road. We sat there for a while and enjoyed the view, before descending a sharp switchback and finally crossing Loop Road. This is one place I remember where you might accidentally follow the wrong trail, but you wouldn't get lost for long if you do, and might not even recognize it, since you would quickly reach the road, look to the right, and have to travel only 50 feet or so along the road to an obviously yellow-topped post.On the other side we hiked up and along a gradual incline. One of the first things we encountered was the old foundation from Mr. Underdown's original homestead on this land. A mean ten by twelve foot hole represented the entire footprint for his living space, which was doubtlessly topped by a single room not much larger than my bathroom. I have no idea what it would have been like living in this space.
From here, we started down the moonshine trail (there's a story there I'm not party to), headed generally south, then up a second incline near the top of the tallest hill on the segment. The trail never goes to the tippy-top, but the last ten feet or so doesn't diminish the view. Then down a long slope, across a saddle, and back up again another 50+ foot climb to the top of the last big hill of the day, a horseshoe-shaped dominant feature of the landscape. One final rapid descent, and a gentle level walk to the end along a troad to the waiting car. It was 4:30 pm, and the temperature had dropped to 69 degrees. 
What I most vividly remember from today's hike was pleasant footing, only one tree in the way, lots of blackberries to eat, reasonable grades as we hiked up and down the hills, and places where I had to stop and look for blazes to make sure I was going the right way. There were a few erratics along the path, but nothing too large or special. The signature feature of this section seemed to be the hills themselves, and the old homestead.
Running total: 268 miles of trail covered; 29.2 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking.
Location 2:
1.2 miles of trail covered
Nothing to say here, really. We took the vehicle with the bikes to the southern part of the Alta Junction segment, avoided all the poison ivy so we could touch the sign, then biked our way south for a half-mile on paved County J, then west for 0.7 miles along gravel Copper Lake Ave. One hill on each leg. Took about 15 minutes. Done.
Running total: 269.2 miles of trail covered; 29.2 miles ‘extra’ hiking/biking. End of Day 38.
No comments:
Post a Comment