Mount Jupiter — Friday, Jul. 6, 2018

I ran solo to the summit; As noted in other trip reports, the gate is closed, and has been closed since I last went out in Oct ‘17, due to active timber harvest.

2.4 miles from the gate, you’ll come to a junction, continue straight for .10, and not to the right, the road is becoming grassy and over grown; and there you’ll find the proper trailhead, to the right of the sign. You’ll go about a mile or two up the trail before it disappears into a new logging road, continue up the road by following the pink ribbons, and the new entrance to the main trail will be on the left. I was pretty devastated to the point of tears to see this mass destruction of the trees. I know it’ll all grow back, but that’s a long time away. 

Anyways, there were only about 5-6 ‘major’ trees to amble over en route to the summit. Didn’t see any wildlife or any other hikers. Beautiful clear day, and very warm. It’s super important to make sure you have plenty of water, because there are no water sources on this trail! Off the summit, there are a couple of way trails that I suppose if you were desperate, and was carrying along a water filter, you could refill from the recent snowmelt, and perhaps melt some of the snow currently sitting below the summit. 

Bugs at the summit becoming annoying, and got me up and going again after a brief 15min break, and then I ran back down to the car. It took me just a little under 4hrs with 19 miles total.