Deadhorse Creek, Skyline Trail Loop & Golden Gate — Saturday, Sep. 25, 2021

What a perfect day to hike at Paradise! We did hiked an altered version of the Skyline loop, attempting to hike some portions of trail we haven’t before. We started at the Visitors Center parking lot, going clockwise, taking a left at the stairs to go to the Deadhorse Creek Trail, to where it meets up with the Skyline Trail, from there we turned left at the Glacier Vista offshoot, then back to where it meets up with Skyline to Panorama Point and High Skyline. On the way down we took Golden Gate to get back to Myrtle Falls and then to the parking lot. There are so many trails that interconnect here, you can’t go wrong! The trails we hiked were nearly all in good condition, especially with as busy as these trails are, with some portions seeming to have had some recent work.

We started hiking at about 7:20AM, already plenty of cars in the lot at that point. Taking the Deadhorse Creek trail meant on our way uphill we were mostly alone (saw maybe 3 or 4 others?). When we could see many people on the Skyline trail when it was visible. As the day got later, the trails got much busier. Lots of people at Panorama Point by the time we arrived, and a line to use the toilet. 

We saw marmots, pika, lots of squirrels, mountain goats, and a black bear! Definitely a great day to have brought my telephoto lens with me. The black bear was off of the Golden Gate trail, pretty far off trail, seemed to be happy eating berries. 

It was definitely a busy day out on the trails. Would definitely encourage people to bring your patience and remember people hike at different paces if you’re hiking at a place like Paradise on a nice sunny day like yesterday was.