Today we took a 10 mile outing to visit Comet Falls, up into Van Trump Park, and then continued down and over to Mildred Point, before heading back along the Comet Falls Trail.
The trail up to Comet Falls was nice and shaded in the morning (and quite cool and refreshing beside the spray of the falls), but we quickly felt the heat of the sun as we broke out into the open park spaces. The unmaintained trail into Van Trump Park was a pretty good shape, too, aside from a few rutted spots in the steeper sections. The route is easy to follow, and we went up to about the 6,550’ level.
Heading down and over to Mildred Point, we were excited to check that out because we hadn’t hiked up there before. The sign at the Van Trump Trail junction was slightly misleading, as it says “Mildred Point 1.0,” but it’s really 1mi to the next junction with the Mildred Point Trail, which is another .5mi to Mildred Point itself. So a 3mi round trip excursion, as opposed to 2mi—so not a huge deal, but worth noting.
The hike up to Mildred Point itself was pretty, although a few steep, sandy sections. But Mildred Point itself really takes your breath away, as it feels like the whole mountain opens up in front of you. Well worth the extra effort, even on a hot day!
We then retraced our steps down to Comet Falls (and one more opportunity to cool off beside the spray), before making our way back to the parking lot. Our total ascent was about 3,300’ over the 10+ miles.
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