Have been trying to explore the individual sections of the CCC road trail.  Today I started about 9:30 at the Blowout Creek trailhead, followed the Bessemer Road to where it meets the CCC trail, and turned left (west).  I followed the CCC trail as far as the turnoff onto the Green Mountain trail and then took that trail uphill until I reached the "Absolute Last Promontory" lookout.

The road section was pleasant enough, and if you looked back downhill there were some nice views across to the mountains on the opposite side of the valley, especially Russian Butte. It was gently uphill until the intersection, and partly in the open sun. Once on the CCC trail the path was in the forest shade and mostly level.  The trail was lined with those yellow violets for much of the way, with some pink salmon berries blossoms on the sides.  The trail slowly gains a bit of elevation and further in bleeding hearts became more common.  The trail encountered numerous stream crossings of various sizes, but none that were difficult to manage, with many having stones strategically placed to help you across.  I slipped a little on one crossing and got a bit wet, but fortunate to have worn waterproof boots and with the pleasant weather was soon dry again.  There were also a bunch of rock faces along the trail to add interest and some peek-a-boo views between the trees across the valley.  One nice thing about this trail is that there were no outside noises, just the sounds of the streams as you approached them and the birds in the forest.

The turn off for the Green Mountain trail is easily apparent at a little over 4 miles from the trailhead.  At that point I considered turning around, especially when the map showed more than 2 miles and another 1500 feet of gain to the viewpoint, but decided to give it a go.  That trail is consistently uphill and includes several blowdowns to step over or pass under.  Nothing too exciting, though, until I reached the promontory where I was treated to an amazing panoramic view across the valley from the Pratt River Valley in the east to the Granite Creek Valley to the west.  A perfect place for a long rest and lunch.  I took a set of pictures which I stitched together to recreate the panoramic view for this report (below).

Totals (per Alltrails) were 13.8 miles and 2300 feet of gain.  

General Notes:  Parked at the Oxbow Lake parking area and walked back to the trailhead on the opposite side of the road.  This added about a quarter mile (round trip) to the hike. The toilet facilities at the Oxbow Lake trail were clean and stocked, although one of the doors did not close far enough to actually lock.  I noticed some mosquitos early, especially when I stopped to take off layers, but they didn't bother me when I was moving and weren't a problem at the lunch spot.  

We hiked to the viewpoints on Green Mountain today via the CCC Trail, starting at the Bessemer Road. Our group had four people and one dog. This was a fairly long route (over 13 miles), but it's on nice trail and the miles go quickly, especially on the CCC Trail part.

TRAILHEAD: We parked at the small lot just beyond the blue gate on the Bessemer Road. We could have parked at the gate too, there were no other cars when we arrived. Bathrooms are around the corner at the large lot, this is another option if the smaller spots are full. Discover Pass required at all of them!

No issues walking up the Bessemer Road to the CCC Trail junction. This is a pretty road to walk down in the afternoon when the sun is lighting up Russian Butte right in front of you.

CCC TRAIL: The CCC Trail between Bessemer Road / Big Blowout Creek and the Green Mountain Trail is very nice. Not quite as mossy and forested as the more eastern sections of the CCC. It has some nice sections with big rock outcroppings, and actually quite a few sections with really nice views across the Middle Fork to Preacher Mountain, Russian Butte, Mailbox Peak, Web Mountain, etc. I would recommend going soon before the maple and alder trees have leafed out, as those will obstruct some of the views. There is some elevation gain, mostly heading west, but generally it's a fairly level trail. Lots of small water crossings, and maybe 5 or 6 pretty big ones, two with bridges. All the un-bridged water crossings have rocks in the middle that can be stepped on, but they're usually slippery, so you may find poles helpful. I was able to get across all of them in my trail runners without getting my feet wet.

GREEN MOUNTAIN TRAIL: The first 1/2 mile is a cutoff trail built between the CCC Trail and the old road bed going up Green Mountain. It's more trail-like here, but the forest is pretty dense and lifeless. You can marvel at the massive stumps from trees that were cut close to 100 years ago in the valley. Once you join the old road bed at the foot of the mountain, you start the long, switchbacking climb. This is a steady upward grade. We knocked a lot of small branches off the trail, but there were only a small handful of actual logs across the trail, none posing a problem. There is not much water on this section, but the huge bridge over Brawling Creek at 2400' has good access to water and an impressive slabby waterfall below the bridge.

PROMONTORIES: You will reach a junction just above 3000'. The obvious main trail continues straight ahead, reaching Far Enough Promontory and then Absolute Last Promontory. Believe me when I say, if you have gone this far, DO NOT stop at Far Enough Promontory, LOL. Whoever named that spot was playing a joke, because the views at Absolute Last Promontory are 10 times better and it takes like 2 minutes more to get there. At ALP, there is a 180 degree view facing south, all the way from Preacher Mountain past Russian Butte to Granite Creek Basin, Mailbox Peak, over to Rattlesnake Mountain on the west. The top of Rainier is also visible.

It took us about 2:35 to reach ALP from the car at a moderate pace.

At ALP you can continue on the old road, though the trail beyond that point has more debris on it and obviously doesn't see as much use. According to my maps, this old road comes to a dead end in about a mile, but might be fun to explore if you're OK making a long hike even longer. It doesn't appear to have any more great views, though you can walk along it for a few minutes to get some peek-a-boo views toward the summit.

Speaking of the summit, the summit trail for Green Mountain starts right at ALP, there is a cairn marking it. We didn't do it today, but would like to return some time to check it out. It's about a mile each way with 1800' of climbing, and is reportedly a fairly rough route.

WEST VIEWPOINT: On the way down, we took the spur road over to the western viewpoint that was marked on our map. This spur sees a lot less use than the route over to ALP, so there are quite a few blowdowns and debris all over the trail. We cleared what we could, but I would recommend bringing a saw and some gloves if you want to improve this area. You have to cross over Brawling Creek without a bridge, but it wasn't hard.

Having said all that, the views at this west viewpoint are not very good. You can get peek-a-boo views of some peaks if you go far enough down the ridge, but never a big view like you get at ALP. This is an easy one to skip if you'd prefer a shorter hike.

SCRAMBLE: On the way down, we headed straight down the narrow ridge from the west viewpoint, intersecting with the trail again at about 2300'. The brush wasn't horrible, and the terrain was fine if we stayed close to the ridge, but lots of dead small trees and blowdowns made it a bit challenging and scratchy. I would only recommend this for die-hard scramblers.

We arrived just before noon and the parking at the gate and Oxbow overflow were full. We found one spot at the Oxbow proper lot and geared up. We walked along the 'shoulder' for the 0.2 back to Bessemer Road. Luckily people generally slow down through this area so it didn't feel unsafe.

I generally don't care for hiking up roads, but the 1.2 miles wasn't that bad. We noted the snow-laden peaks above us, many instances of huge stumps sprouting new growth, stands of red alder amongst the firs, and we greeted a single hiker and a group of four, plus one. Before we knew it, we were on the CCC.

Along the CCC, there were many easy creek crossings but no real muddy spots. We noticed a lot of trees with exposed roots on the hillsides above, taking hold in the shallow dirt and perhaps through the spaces in the rocks. They survived the recent storms, but debris remains on the trail from those that didn't. Berry vines are starting to make their way across the path and aren't a hassle yet.

Just about 4 miles to this point. Last time here 8 years ago, we took the Sitka Spruce Trail and it may have taken the same amount of time over that 1.2 miles as it was so overgrown.

We headed up the steeper and more primitive Green Mountain trail. As per a previous report, there is a lot more debris - small trunks and branches, plus berry vines all clamoring for your unkept laces and poles. There's a 'dry' feel to this section as footsteps are accompanied by a light crunchy sound. Didn't get to the Promontory - did just over a mile up to hit our 5.0 mile target, then headed back.

There were 2 cars when we returned to the gate, and one more coming in. As we drove out, the area was full again - apparently a popular spot.

A superb choice to dust off the ole overnight pack for some training to get the backpacking legs back in shape! I arrived to a deserted Oxbow Lake TH (where I normally park for Bessemer/Green Mountain) at 7 am this morning. I walked Bessemer Road to the junction of the CCC Trail, where I hiked the roughly 3 miles to the junction of the Green Mountain Trail. Up until this point, the trail was in excellent condition! No blowdowns and lovely, lush forest. Stream crossings doable, but care is required on some of them (rocks coated with slippery algae).

There is considerable debris from the wind storms on the ground once on the Green Mountain Trail. The trail is still easy to see, and conditions do improve. Quite a few trees down along the way up. (And it is up....the flatness of the CCC Trail is no more.) I was able to either go under or step over all of them without any issues though. I stopped at Absolute Last Promontory. Trail entirely snow-free. Lovely views! 

The descent was uneventful. I was pleasantly surprised by the solitude I found! I passed one person the whole day until back on Bessemer Road headed to the car. Quite a few people were just starting out around 12:30 pm today!