Pablo noted that there was going to be a Mazama hike doing this very loop on the 31st so I signed up & along with Andy, Jen, Sheri & hike leader Kirby we set out from the John B Yeon State Park trail head around 8:30 on a cloudy & misty morning.
As we approached McCord Falls & could see how much water was coming over we had some concern about crossing the creek. For comparison I've borrowed Pablo's photo from his thread so you can see what a difference a couple weeks makes!
Pablo's photo from earlier in the month:
We continued on past the Falls to just after the fallen tree that crosses the trail, there the creek is a little wider and flat & provided for an easy if cold fording of the creek.
The climb begins immediately after crossing the creek but there is minimal brush and quite a few game trails heading in the right direction!
In some places you would swear a trail was once here but it's all natural.
We gained the ridge line but there was still plenty of climbing to do! In fact one of the trickiest bits is shortly after gaining the ridge.
We soon reached a more open area that Pablo has labeled as the Wauneka Gap on his GPS map. This was my favorite part of the climb & the lone trees growing on the edge of the ridge in the mist looked very cool.
From here we returned into the trees & continued our climb towards Wauneka Point. There is one other lookout point along the way that gives you a good view of the McCord Creek drainage.
The weather continued to improve & by the time we arrived at the foot of Wauneka Point the Sun was out!
As others have said the Indian workings on Wauneka are well worth the trip & the best ones I've seen in the Gorge by far.
We had lunch on top in the Sun then set off on the lovely & little used Wauneka Point trail.
Then the Moffet Creek Trail over to the Nesmith Point Road. This was all new territory for me, we had our second crossing of McCord Creek & this time there was a bridge
!
Andy said he hadn't been to Nesmith Point before so rather than head straight down the Nesmith Point trail we went up to Nesmith Point on the road then off trail again down the North side to intersect the trail a little ways up from it's junction with the Nesmith Ridge Trail. There are a couple of other Viewpoints just below Nesmith Point, here is one of Beacon Rock.
Kirby did a Masterful job of bringing us out just to the East side of the thicker brush. Then it was just a quick march back down the trail.
Thanks Kirby for leading us on a great hike, & to Sheri, Jen & Andy for the company & conversation. I think I'm going to agree with Peder on this one re difficulty level, I'd say this hike is a harder hike than Ruckel Ridge, Rock of Ages & Nesmith Ridge but well worth it.
More photos of the day here.
