We did a figure-8 loop starting/end at the French cafe at Talus (see map below). Despite it being Saturday it was not too crowded on any of the trails we did.
The trails have drained surprisingly well from the recent downpours, having only the usual mud sections on Bear Ridge shortly below the West Tibb junction, on West Tibbett's itself, and a bit on Cougar Pass. However the vegetation has been super-charged by the recent rains - everything looks more lush than two weeks ago and a few sections feel much narrower with all the new branches pushing in on the trail. There are a lot of wildflowers out as well - the trilliums are done (at least I didn't see any) but there are a bunch of new small white and purple flowers throughout, and a few stretches with hundreds of buttercups.
The upper sections of this route have a lot of bugs right now. The whole area between the Tibbett's Marsh trail and the Coyote Creek trail is abuzz - when you stop hiking you can hear the buzzing quite loudly in the background. But the bugs are not too too bothersome as long as you keep moving.
Comments
GoodKarma on Bear Ridge, West Tibbett's Creek Trail (#COUGAR-E10) , Cougar Pass, By Pass Trail, Coyote Creek, Lost Beagle, Harvey Manning Trail, Protector Trail, Shangri La
Absolutely love that first picture. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by:
GoodKarma on Jun 04, 2022 06:47 PM
Cascade Yeti on Bear Ridge, West Tibbett's Creek Trail (#COUGAR-E10) , Cougar Pass, By Pass Trail, Coyote Creek, Lost Beagle, Harvey Manning Trail, Protector Trail, Shangri La
Glad you enjoyed it! The rains seem to have made all the greens extra vibrant these past few days.
Posted by:
Grey Cell Green on Jun 05, 2022 01:48 PM