I think it's a route you told me about? The purple track in attached map...Eric Peterson wrote:Backcountry down off the ridge where?
FYI: there used to be another user-trail that headed directly south down Hardy Ridge. To find the upper end: start where the official WTA trail crosses the ridge. If you look carefully this is actually a 4-way junction: the main trail crosses the ridge here, one trail north to Phlox, but there's another trail going south from here too. The first bit is easy to follow: drop down past a small rock outcrop and then the trail swings east and drops down to meet the official east-side trail (main trail was rerouted in recent years). Just before the trail drops off the ridge look to the south carefully for the start of the user-trail that heads off south along the ridge. I haven't hiked it in ages, but the trail was flagged (discretely) with marking tape a few years back. A lot of the south ridge is brushy, so it's possible it may be a little overgrown this point. I remember it initially stayed on the west side of the ridge before climbing back up on top. The southern end opened up a bit into some small grassy meadow areas with some very nice views of Beacon Rock -- good lunch spot. Descend on down and the route entered the old rock quarry at the foot of the ridge, swing left and to rejoin the road and complete the loop.Eric Peterson wrote:Backcountry down off the ridge where?
