Primrose Path: a course of action that is easy or tempting but hazardous.....
I hadn't been on the Primrose Path since August so thought I'd head up there to check on the condition of the trail and to do a gnome inventory. The Angel's Rest trail was muddier than last winter with lots of that thick, oozy, peanut butter consistency mud that adds about 10 lbs to your load with each step.
I missed the bottom of the Primrose Path on my first pass but fortunately I was carrying a copy of Jeff's (aircooled) GPX track and had only gone a 100 yards or so past it before recognizing my mistake.
The Primrose, for those who haven't taken it, is a VERY steep path that is closer to a scramble at times than it is to a hike. It might be considered a shortcut as it's only 0.8 miles long but there is a reason it was named the Primrose Path. As there were so many leaves and branches down I thought at times I had lost the trail. The next five pics are of the Primrose Path itself.
No summit, even Devil's Rest, can be conquered without at least one selfie being taken (although a young friend of mine tells me that technically, a selfie has to be taken with the camera in hand rather than using a timer. she also points out that I'm too old to even say the word selfie out loud, much less take one properly.)
As you can see from the photos below, something has happened to most of the gnomes that lived under the rocks at Devil's Rest although there was a new denizen I hadn't met before.
I ran into a couple very nice people on the trail that I regretted not taking a picture of. First I met Chip, a 19-year old going to school at OSU who kept referring to me as a veteran rather than an old guy. We had a nice discussion about air inversions and whether it was hot air trapping cooler air underneath or cooler air above trapping the warmer air underneath. In either case, we agreed it was quite spectacular to be on the mountain looking down at the fog!
Then I met Ben and his son Cedar who had the biggest blue eyes I've seen this year! What a treat to see someone being introduced to the forest at such a young age!
I always take a break at this trail intersection and I rarely pass this spot without taking yet another photo of the sign.
Wakheena Springs is probably my favorite watering hole in the area so I relaxed there for a bit before heading on back down the trail.
Happy Trails!
Severt
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