We did a 8 mile loop hike from the Wilderness / Whittaker trailhead today. It was 38 degrees with overcast skies when we started hiking at 9:30. The Porta Pottie was stocked with supplies and the lot was full of cars when we hit the trail. Our route followed the Wilderness Creek trail up to Shy Bear Pass, Left on Shy Bear Trail, Right on Deceiver Trail , then Shy Bear to the New Wilderness Peak Trail and Gombu / Wilderness Cliff trail back down. The entire trail was wet but well drained. There were many sections where recent drainage work was evident. Thank You WTA Trail work volunteers. The wooden bridge in the first half mile up Wilderness Creek is very rickety and feels as if it could fall apart at any time. Two wooden posts on opposite banks have rotted and the bridge feels very tippy when crossing.
Temperature's never warmed up all day and we had sleet, snow, rain and sun breaks. Our lunch break along Shy Bear trail was short as we chilled down quickly. A large pileated woodpecker flew over and worked its way up a dead stump in the area. That was fun to see. We also saw a few juncos and towhees, that was it for wildlife. Wild flowers are on full display - trillium, yellow violets, bleeding hearts, Skunk cabbage, miners lettuce and more.
One of our hiker members, Susan, has worked numerous times with WTA volunteers on the Wilderness Peak reroute. It was fun to hear her stories and learn how much work goes into rerouting and building a new trail. THANK YOU ALL WTA TRAIL WORK VOLUNTEERS! We arrived back at the TH lot just before 2:30. It warmed up to a blazing 42 degrees and the lot was 3/4’s full. Another fantastic day to be out in nature with friends.
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