Have been trying to explore the individual sections of the CCC road trail. Today I started about 9:30 at the Blowout Creek trailhead, followed the Bessemer Road to where it meets the CCC trail, and turned left (west). I followed the CCC trail as far as the turnoff onto the Green Mountain trail and then took that trail uphill until I reached the "Absolute Last Promontory" lookout.
The road section was pleasant enough, and if you looked back downhill there were some nice views across to the mountains on the opposite side of the valley, especially Russian Butte. It was gently uphill until the intersection, and partly in the open sun. Once on the CCC trail the path was in the forest shade and mostly level. The trail was lined with those yellow violets for much of the way, with some pink salmon berries blossoms on the sides. The trail slowly gains a bit of elevation and further in bleeding hearts became more common. The trail encountered numerous stream crossings of various sizes, but none that were difficult to manage, with many having stones strategically placed to help you across. I slipped a little on one crossing and got a bit wet, but fortunate to have worn waterproof boots and with the pleasant weather was soon dry again. There were also a bunch of rock faces along the trail to add interest and some peek-a-boo views between the trees across the valley. One nice thing about this trail is that there were no outside noises, just the sounds of the streams as you approached them and the birds in the forest.
The turn off for the Green Mountain trail is easily apparent at a little over 4 miles from the trailhead. At that point I considered turning around, especially when the map showed more than 2 miles and another 1500 feet of gain to the viewpoint, but decided to give it a go. That trail is consistently uphill and includes several blowdowns to step over or pass under. Nothing too exciting, though, until I reached the promontory where I was treated to an amazing panoramic view across the valley from the Pratt River Valley in the east to the Granite Creek Valley to the west. A perfect place for a long rest and lunch. I took a set of pictures which I stitched together to recreate the panoramic view for this report (below).
Totals (per Alltrails) were 13.8 miles and 2300 feet of gain.
General Notes: Parked at the Oxbow Lake parking area and walked back to the trailhead on the opposite side of the road. This added about a quarter mile (round trip) to the hike. The toilet facilities at the Oxbow Lake trail were clean and stocked, although one of the doors did not close far enough to actually lock. I noticed some mosquitos early, especially when I stopped to take off layers, but they didn't bother me when I was moving and weren't a problem at the lunch spot.
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