There were 7 cars upon arrival to the TH at 6:30a.
Although the trash can at the TH did not appear to be full, there was trash all over the ground in front of it. I vowed to pick up the trash when we returned from our hike (trash is at the top of my list of pet peeves).
The outhouse needed maintenance and had no TP.
Now to the hike. We've not hiked Dog during wildflower season since before the permit system. We are on an elevation challenge this year and had taken the day off so we decided it might be time to revisit dog.
The hike is a climb right out of the gate. We planned the early start for cooler temps and low traffic. Temps started in the upper 40s and we did not see anyone until just before Puppy Dog, when a young man passed us as he was heading down.
The flowers heading toward Puppy are great. A full balsamroot show. There is a little bit of lupine in bloom on the lower parts of the trail but really none to speak of beyond that. Past Puppy, the balsamroot is not as thick, and you can see there are more blooms to come. We imagine in a couple of weeks there may be lupine to go along with the balsamroot and the variety of smaller flowers.
On the final push to the summit, we passed a solo female hiker who was heading down. Then at the summit a solo male hiker came out of the trees and headed down as well. As we descended a trail runner and her two dogs approached the summit then quickly ran away. A second trail runner and her dog appeared shortly thereafter.
We returned via the Augspurger trail since it is a quieter and less steep option. We only saw 14 people all day despite returning to an overflowing parking lot at 10:30am.
Aside from a full dog-doo bag maybe quarter mile from the TH, a pile of eggshells at the summit, and an orange peel, we saw little to no trash on or about the trail.
As to the trailhead trash I vowed to pick up, it was gone by the time we got back. As we were getting into our car, we saw a Ranger driving his truck down the trail from the outhouse. We assume he picked it up before driving to the toilets to restock the TP.
Wildlife: one squirrel, a few birds and on the drive to the TH, a turkey along highway 14.
Another great day outside!
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