Tronsen Ridge — Saturday, May. 23, 2015

Central Cascades > Blewett Pass

Go soon, go now, go before the motorcycles are allowed on June 15. Fantastic wildflowers and views! Enjoy solitude. But see our comments on the road. Impressive displays of wildflowers - my first experience with Columbia Lewisia, such a delight! Lots of balsomroot, penstemen, and lupine, and a few paintbrush. Depending on the the exposure everything from glacier lilies (fading fast) and spring beauties to scarlet gilia, mariposa lilies, and bitteroot. Views of the Stuart Range, Glacier Peak, the drier mountains to the east, and even a glimpse of Rainier. We accessed via the 5 Mile Road (FR 7224) trailhead. This is a 3 mile long, one lane dirt road, it regains all the elevation you lost coming down 5 miles from Blewett Pass. Very few turnouts, and very narrow. Brush scratched our subaru outback. If you worry about your paint job, don't go this way. The road is in good shape, but not suitable for really low clearance. A few ruts, a couple steep parts, a few puddles, a few rocks in the road. We chickened out on a wide curve after about 2.5 miles from Hwy 97, but we should have continued up to the trail head, the road conditions remained about the same - but we got to smell the wild roses and admire the views in slow time. There were two cars at the trail head and we only saw one couple on the trail - enjoying it just as much as we were! We hiked to a little short of the junction with the Red Hill trail 1223, where there were large open vistas (including Mt Rainier), rock ridges, and a whole new set of wildflowers. Our ambling, including the road walk was 3 hours out and 1-1/4 hours back, maybe 6 miles total. The trail is well-graded, climbs gently, is mostly dirt and somewhat narrow and deep owing to motorcycle ruts. There is no water on the trail. The negative was the gunshots some yahoos were firing near the trail head on our return. Two trucks (neither was seen at the trail head) passed us on the road as we walked down. For a map to find the various trail heads check out the Devils Gulch Mission Ridge Tronsen Ridge ORV map at the link below: http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/okawen/recreation/horseriding-camping/recarea/?recid=59031&actid=104

More Information on this Trip Report

• http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/okawen/recreation/horseriding-camping/recarea/?recid=59031&actid=104