The views on this hike were spectacular. Starting with the first ridge rise we got an excellent ahh haa view of Mt. Adams. Later as you climb higher, St. Helens comes into view and at the top you see all the nearby volcanoes as well as the many prominent peaks in the Dark Divide Roadless Area.
Wildflowers were in abundance too. The hiker-only #262A was particularly beautiful with flowers far outnumbering the few trees along the open sunny ridge. Nearing the rocky summit the route skirts a cliff and is not for the faint of heart!
The last bit to the summit is protected by a handrail and is short scramble beside a dizzying cliff drop. Lola stayed strapped in my backpack clutching her stuffed monkey and blankey and she got really quiet. The top is a small platform with the remnant anchors from the fire lookout as the only reminders of its past. Curiously we were swarmed by flies that were all over the summit like they were having a convention. We quickly retreated to take a snack break back down among the trees.
The deep ruts in the trail caused by a combination of poor trail design and motorcycle use were really hard for Lola to walk in so she spent the entire hike riding in my pack. There are some sections where the trail is flat or a shallow grade and then is great walking - no ruts at all. But steeper pitches are deeply incised; even the hiker only path is a deep rut - its simply too steep and runs to close to the fall-line.
Walking in the ruts is physically challenging and when the vegetation is thick it is hard to step out of the rut to the side. On the Juniper Ridge Trail we encountered some motorbike riders and they were friendly. In all we saw one group of riders and three groups of hikers. I'm guessing that there are other access points that the motorized users prefer to use as the sounds of motorcycles made it obvious that there were more along Juniper Ridge.
Despite the ruts, this is an incredible hike due to the constantly changing views, wildflowers and relatively short mileage. Road 2324 was in surprisingly good shape and the short spur to the summit was doable in my little 2 wheel drive Toyota pickup. But next time I won't subject Lola to staying in the backpack the entire time, she had much more fun hiking around Takhlakh Lake.
