Tronsen Ridge — Wednesday, Jun. 14, 2023

This is my first trip report - even though I am so appreciative of the many I've consulted over the years I've never felt I had anything to add except today I wanted to give a little navigational tip for anyone looking for this trailhead: the place to turn in and park (for the south trailhead) is not signed but is 0.9 miles from the Ken Wilcox Horse Camp sign, according to my odometer. I missed it and ended up driving several miles down rough road before realizing my mistake so I wanted to save anyone else this mis-adventure! One other navigational note: the official signage for the trail mentioned in the hike description seems to be missing (the small kiosk is there but there isn't anything on it) - the actual trail heads off down the hill to the right from that empty sign. Oh and yes, there are many, many, blowdowns to scramble over in the first mile or so, but I didn't mind that too much - it added to the adventure!

Besides that I will say that this was a stunningly beautiful place to hike, and I think this must be one of the best times of the year to do so - the sun was shining but the air temperature was still cool, and the variety of flowering plants was truly amazing. Besides the beautiful Tweedy's lewisia already mentioned, I think my favorite flower of the day was a Clematis, I think Clematis occidentalis - it was one of many flowers I have never seen before as I have hiked mostly on the west side of the Cascades.