Greenwood Lake — Thursday, Sep. 3, 2020

Greenwood Lake Trail No. 253
This trail, which is starting at the same location (Towhead Gap) as the popular High Rock Trail No. 256, is a less frequented trail in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest south of Ashford.  We had hiked there several times, and often braved the pothole-scarred NF84 to drive to the trailhead.  This year NF84 is in the best surface condition we have ever seen it.  The junction with NF8440 is at 6.8 miles from NF52 (Skate Creek Road), leading to the trailhead in another 2.6 miles. NF8440 is currently in good shape.  The first few hundred yards of Trail No. 253 is a smelly disgrace, an outhouse trail littered with used toilet tissue.  In response to the overuse of the High Rock trail, the Forest Service has parked a portable toilet on a trailer at the trail head, but the TP pollution persists.  The main difficulty with the Greenwood Lake-Cougar Gap trail is that it is an upside down trail, losing 600 ft. before climbing back up to Cougar Gap.  On this hike, one has to conserve reserve energy for the return to the parked car at the trail head at the end of the day. At Cougar Gap one has the choice of hiking Allen Mountain (Trail No. 269) or continuing toward Greenwood Lake on either the official trail or an motorcycle track (blocked by a few rocks) up the ridge (which we took). The steep motorcycle track ends at a logging road (Spur 653?) on top of the ridge with great views of Mt. Rainier, High Rock, Allen Mtn., and Mt. Adams.  This was the high point of our trip today.  We did not go all the way to the lake.  For the return, it is easier to take the "official" trail down, a very narrow trail on a steep hillside.  At its junction with the logging road, there once was a sign nailed to a tree (now illegible) and there is a cairn, barely visible in the tall grass.  Trail No. 253 is open to mountain bikes and motorcycles, but except for a short stretch near Cougar Gap, there is no indication that it has recently been used by motorcycles.  The trail is so narrow, but in good shape for hiking. One wonders why the Forest Service would even consider opening it for wheeled vehicles.  While the High Rock trail today was crowded with at least 15 vehicles parked at the trailhead, we did not encounter any hikers on the Greenwood Lake trail.