Grouse Ridge Trail — Friday, Aug. 22, 2025

Glacier Creek Road (the first 7ish miles) which is “paved” has a lot of segments where the paving is very bad. Fortunately, these segments are not too long and can be driven with care. Road 36 (the last 5ish miles) from the Heliotrope Trailhead to the Grouse Ridge Trailhead is in pretty good shape, except for the last quarter mile or so, which is borderline high clearance due to about five dips in the road and scrub growing in the center. My car is not high clearance and this was its 4^th successful trip to the trailhead. This little known, little used trail is starting to be somewhat overgrown in stretches of the lower elevations. The trail has numerous blow downs, all but one is pretty easy over, under or around. Inbound, I detoured right around the base of a new, big blow down and then found the trail about twenty feet ahead. (On the return, I noticed it was possible to crawl under it closer to the trail, which was easier and quicker.) The ridge top is an enormous expanse of meadows of lichens, grasses, flowers and some very low sprouting, ripe blueberries. I try to avoid using poles whenever possible, but I think poles are probably mandatory for the descent as there are stretches (some very long) of very steep downgrades. The forest north and west of the ridge is completely unprotected which is a shame. Currently, almost no clear cuts are visible in any of the views, but, I fear with the changing government priorities, the area may have much more clear cutting in the future. No bug issues, just some bees, butterflies and tiny flies going about their business, no stinging or biting. The air was very clear (at least for this time of year) - Mount Rainier was visible to the south as were the Golden Ears and peaks deeper into Canada to the north. The morning views of the Twin Sister Mountain, which seems so close to the ridge, are a highlight.