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This was a hike in the woods. Not like a hike in the green ways with roads and housing developments nearby, but a real hike in the woods. I should have probably worn hiking boots rather then the beat up sneakers... but... I don't know. The hike was pretty easy on my feet
Juli an I have a trail code, much like those you find in trail books. Typically the trails are rated with stars or hikers. The Obstruction Point hike that Juli and I did some years back was rated 5 hikers. We've added our own caveat to the rating system. Juli said the obstruction Point hike may have been 5 hikers, but 3 of those hikers were getting grumpy.
I'd give this trail 3 hikers. It's okay and the pay off is a little light. So on the Keith/Juli scale I'd have to say not only are all three hikers grumpy, but one of them is sitting on a log flipping me off. Juli would not have enjoyed this one.
The first half of the hike, the one to the top of the mountain along the Gold Creek Trail, was through the woods, with all the glorious bits that you would expect in a hike through the woods. Green, lush, cathedral, lats of filtered sunlight. Lot's of Up-ness though.
At the Summit there are spectacular views of the Olympic Mountains to the West and Seattle and Puget Sound to the East. I stayed long enough to get some pictures and to lend my photo assistance to other hikers at the top. I'm surprised and delighted at how -Not- alone I was. I'm heartened by how much the trail is being used.
The return route was down the Plumber Trail. This was the payout of this volksmarch the the Down-ness was a little more intense. A large portion of the trail levels out through an old recovering clear cut. Dusty, sunlit shrubs and a few trees here and there. But it was the spectacular views of the Olympics with the clouds racing over them and the shadows flickering over the snow fields that made this hike all worth while.
