Reached the Goat Peak trailhead off Hwy 410 at 11am, without any roadwork-related delays, and just as the previous hiker was getting ready to leave.

Headed up the Goat Peak Trail. Steady climb at a reasonable grade, no obstacles, but some narrow and exposed spots. Passed several good viewpoints on the way up.

To push the hiking-to-driving ratio over 1.0, I took the long way down, as described in this recent report. The trails were all well-signed and obvious, but there were quite a few blowdowns, especially on the trail between the summit and the turnoff to the Pleasant Valley Lake Trail. The lower part of the Pleasant Valley Lake Trail appeared to have been cleared out, at the cost of being a bit dusty from horse use. This was also the only part of the trail that crossed into (partially) burnt forest.

No issues with the Pleasant Valley Loop Trail. One or two easy to step over blowdowns, one easy stream crossing, and a few muddy spots.

Encountered only one party on the trail, almost back at the car, and two pairs of Navy jets. No bugs, or other wildlife.

Dirt Grub and I hiked about 2.4 miles up the American Ridge Trail from the TH near the junction with 410 to a nice high point (4598' on the USGS maps). After this the trail leaves the ridge (to avoid some cliffs) and dives into the forest. There were 9 logs across the trail to this point and flowers the whole way; mostly Lupine but a few other nice ones here and there. The trail is steep and in good condition. Lots of nice vistas.

<3 the Bill Doug Wilderness!

American Ridge Trail (#958) backpacking report—conditions as of August 9-10, 2017.  

I’ve written up this  long report because I’ve hiked and backpacked the American Ridge trail and its side trails for decades and am saddened by the deterioration of the ridge trail. Sections of it are hazardous and I want hikers and backpackers, as well as the Forest Service, to be aware of its condition. This isn’t a safe trail for novices, or even intermediate hikers. I hope other hikers who love this area also report on this trail and appeal to the Forest Service to allocate some resources to the trail before more of it is lost, or someone gets hurt or goes missing on it.

Before I begin, I’ll first mention an interesting experience on it last week when there was a heavy BC fire haze over WA. On the evening of August 16th, yet a couple of miles from Kettle Lake, darkness was setting in fast and my friend and I were short of water. Trudging along, at intervals we heard three cracks of thunder ahead of us, not very far away. Eventually we had to dry camp on the trail and wait to get to the lake the following morning because of the bad trail condition. That evening we whiffed smoke—smoke more like campfire smoke than haze smoke. The next dawn, yet more smoke smell. After about an hour of hiking, my friend spotted a fire about half a mile away. Fortunately, I had a phone signal and could call in the coordinates. Two hours later helicopters were in the air and could be heard most of the day. It turned out that lightning had started three fires in the vicinity, and a number more throughout the area.

But back to the report. I’ve backpacked or hiked the American Ridge Trail a several times over the years and have done some of its side trails many times. There is only bad news about the Ridge Trail itself, despite its magnificent viewpoints. This has always been a very tough trail and not one that would be enjoyed by inexperienced or out of shape hikers. The trail has lots of elevation gain and drop. The grades are also steep in many places and there’s little water along the ridge, so it’s necessary to lug along lots of water. Much of the trail hasn’t been maintained in years so it has accumulated lots of blowdowns and some of the trees have a hefty sized trunk. One reason there are so many obstacles is that the forest hasn’t had a cleansing by fire in a long, long time. So, many trees are sickly and come down easily. Perhaps an even bigger hazard on the trail now is the sections of trail traversing the sides of steep slopes. Hiking poles are essential here because the trail is no longer gouged into the slope and can be treacherous. These sections badly need to be grubbed out. Yet another problem is the lack of signs. More than half the trail signs are missing, and one trail name, I seem to remember, is wrong. 

The downed trees require lots of detouring, or scrambling over and under. The section my friend and I covered, from the trailhead near the junction of Hwy 410 to Kettle Lake, then down to Pleasant Valley Campground via the Kettle Creek Trail had at least a couple hundred trees across it. The Kettle Creek Trail, used by horses in the past, is particularly bad. Another problem is that in places sections of the trail are gone entirely. There isn’t a trace. I’m a hiker with a good nose for faint trails and decades of NW trail experience, but I still lost the trail at least a dozen times. My friend and I spent a lot of time and energy searching for a trail continuation. A GPS app and a good detailed map on our devices were indispensable in helping us relocate the trail. The many minor elk trails throughout the ridge don’t make it any easier!

Approaching Kettle Lake from the east, we completely lost the trail and could not locate the switchbacks to take us down the steep slope. In hindsight we should have backtracked further instead of following the ridgetop trail, which is not a trail on the map. We ended up bushwhacking down this very steep, loose slope, then eventually picked up the trail again at the bottom near the Lake. If you take the Kettle Lake Trail (#957) down to Pleasant Valley here, be aware that the Green Trails map , and the maps on our GPS devices were wrong as to where the trail leaves the lake. Apparently the first mile of the trail was rerouted years ago and the switchbacks heading west no longer exist. There is a Kettle Creek Trail sign half hidden on a tree at the N end of the lake pointing you N in the right direction. We spent an hour bushwhacking and trying to follow the overgrown old trail before turning around.

Then, when we neared the Pleasant Valley Campground we followed the first sign we came to, pointing to the campground . There, we had to pass through heavy, heavy brush in order to get to the river, which we then forded. If you keep following that trail after it turns 90 degrees left, it will take you way past the campground. I seem to remember from several years ago that a better option is to pass by that first sign to the campground when coming down the Pleasant Valley Creek trail because a little further along is another trail to the campground, and there the river bank is much easier to approach.

Some more miscellaneous notes about this and related trails:

958 American Ridge Trail: The first 4 miles of the 7 or 8 miles from Am. Ridge Trail  taking you from the Highway 410/Bumping River Road trailhead has been cleared of blowdowns. There is a good flowing creek about 4 miles in, and a smaller one after that. From there on, no more water until Kettle Creek during late summer. When you reach the high point on the initial climb up from the trailhead, maybe ~2 miles in, and come to a razor sharp section of ridge, you’ve gone past where the trail veers to the S side of the slope and heads down and across a steep slope. Go back about 100 feet and look for a faint trail on the left. The trail is gone here in places so you have to constantly search for its continuation. Trail work here is sorely needed.

Unless things have changed recently, the section of American Ridge Trail between Kettle Lake and Big Basin is in very bad shape. Last year when my friend, my grandson, and I tried to backpack through from Bumping Lake via Swamp Lake, we lost the trail. After slogging up to the high point at 6900 feet (the section beyond Big Basin) under a hot sun and being unable to find the trail that allowed us to continue on to Kettle Lake, we had to turn around and go back because we ran out of water. We found water at Big Basin by going cross country down into the basin considerably below the trail. Note, it is impossible to bushwhack down to Bumping Lake by following the creek down. Believe me, don’t even think about it!

I hiked the section of trail between Big Basin and Kettle Lake several years earlier when I came down from Chinook Pass via Dewey Lake and Swamp Lake. I recall that even then that part of the trail was difficult to find and once I’d found it I, some distance beyond I encountered an enormous section of blowdown (I’m talking acres of trees) that I had to skirt around. Eventually I found the trail again. Because I haven’t been on that section since then, I don’t know if it’s been cleared, but strongly suspect it hasn’t. I thought at the time that rerouting around the area would be far easier for a trail crew.

957 Kettle Creek Trail: The first mile going up to the ridge (once you ford the American River at the Pleasant Valley Campground) has been recently cleared. The rest is impossible for horses and difficult for hikers because of the many, many downed trees. Sections of the trail are hard to follow because of the mess.

959 Goat Creek Trail: This trail from Cougar Flat Campground and the Bumping River Road has been cleared of trees but if you’re going on to Goat Peak, you’ll encounter a section of heavy blowdowns once on the American Ridge Trail.

975A Soda Springs Trail:  This loop trail just across the bridge from Soda Springs Campground on Bumping River Road was seriously hit at the same time that the hundred or two large blowdown trees destroyed Soda Springs Campground in the fall of 2015. As of June 2017 I found the very large blowdown along the Soda Springs section of the trail just across the Bumping River Bridge going W had been impressively cleared and the trail rerouted a bit. However, the clearing of the trail stopped at another massive blowdown some ½ to ¾ of a mile up the trail on the way to the top. Here, another massive blowdown of an acre or two still blocks the trail. It is a major effort to get through this.

I took a day hike up American Ridge Trail number 958 in the afternoon. Starting from the American ridge trailhead #958 across from cedar springs campground, 1 mile up NF – 1800 off hwy 410, you climb steeply and steadily to an open ridge, with some blowdowns and logs to cross. Along the way, there is an established campsite 1.5 miles in, and views open up starting around 2 miles for vistas south to old scab mountain, and north to the next valley. At 2.4 miles and around 1600 feet of elevation gain, the trail follows the open ridge on the south slope. Look for a wooden trail marker sign on a tree slightly downslope. At this point, the trail had a lot of loose rock, and looked like it wasn't well packed, so I turned back. It could use some boots to better establish the path.

Bumping Prairie trail #972 climbs steadily and gently to join the American Ridge trail #958 at the 6000' level. Many blow down have recently been removed and the trail is in good shape. As you climb the forest type changes from fir/pine to fir/hemlock then finally to pine/larch/alpine fir. The trail never really "opens up" but the varying forest type keeps your interest the entire way. At the junction with #958 turn left and continue on this trail and you will descend to Kettle Lake (at the junction with the Kettle Creek trail #957). Kettle Lake is a small shallow lake with several camp sites. However, the lake was not the highlight of this trip. Rather it was a small peak number 6310 on your Green Trail map. Just as you begin to descend to Kettle Lake there is a game trail to the left that leads to this small un imposing peak-don't pass up in this side trip. From the peak-Rainier, the Enchantments, Fife Peak, Goat Peak, Aix and Bismark, and so many more peaks. This was a fun day of exploring-13.9 miles and 3400' gain.