Grizzly Peak Trail

Since we both had a weekday off and the sun was out, it seemed only fitting that we should spend it hiking one of our favorite trails in the area - Grizzly Peak.

After a phone call to the BLM to check on the conditions of roads and trail, we set off to hike the Grizzly Peak trail just outside Ashland.  It has been over 19 months since we last hiked this trail and after pulling into the parking area at the trailhead, we already noticed changes.  The trailhead sign and an information board about the 2003 Antelope Fire were gone and in their place was a new pit toilet restroom.  Guess that's a fair trade-off,  although Glenn thinks they should have posted the Antelope Fire info on the inside of the bathroom door for reading material.

The old trailhead sign back in 2011........

....and the East Antelope fire info board back in 2011.......

...now replaced by a pit toilet restroom.

The first 1.2 miles of the trail take you up the hill, zig-zagging back and forth with a steady but easy upward climb.  Easy that is, if the trail did not have stretches of mud due to runoff and snow melt.  This made the start of the hike rather interesting as we carefully made our way through each muddy stretch, trying to avoid the skid marks of those who went before us.

One of the uphill muddy segments of the trail

A muddy, but level segment of the trail with some snow.

Once we arrived at the top of Grizzly Peak, the trail forms a 3-mile loop which can be hiked in either direction.  The sign at the loop had also been replaced since our last hike, as the previous sign had two bullet holes in it.  We decided to hike the loop in the counter-clockwise direction which would  provide us with views of Mt McLoughlin, Mt Ashland and Mt Shasta in that order.

The old loop sign complete with bullet holes........

...and the new and improved loop sign.

The first portion of the loop featured the forest section of the peak.  We encountered our first fallen tree across the trail and saw many small meadow areas still covered by snow that in Spring and Summer will feature various wildflowers.  We also caught glimpses of snow covered Mt McLoughlin.

One of many meadow areas at the top of Grizzly Peak still covered in snow

Immediately after the forest segment you enter the Antelope Fire burn area.  Although the trees are all burned, it is still a beautiful area and provided us a chance to take a break, sit back and listen to the silence of the area.  It was interesting to hear the wind without the sound of trees.  Since the trees are all burned in this area, many of them had fallen across the trail due to winter storms and we began our practice for the U.S. hurdle team.  Portions of this area also had water runoff which covered the trail and made for an interesting segment of adventurous outdoor hiking.

View of the Antelope Fire burn area

After finishing our hurdle practice we began hiking uphill to the rocky and most desert-like section on Grizzly Peak.  This area provided great panoramic views and we could easily see Mt Ashland and Mt Shasta today.  The trail headed back into the forest area before completing the 3-mile loop.  It was here that we came across the worst tree blockage of the hike.  It looked like one of those interstate highway pile ups on the nightly news.  We had to work our way around the trees and eventually managed to get back on the trail a short time later.

Yup, that is the trail -- somewhere in that mess.

But our adventure was not over yet.  If you think hiking uphill on a muddy trail is fun, then hiking downhill on a muddy trail is heaven (or the other place depending on your view).  We are happy to report that neither of us fell on the trail, but our hiking boots and the legs of our pants were quite the sight when we finished.  That didn't stop us though from driving to The Great American Pizza Company in Ashland and treating ourselves to some great pizza afterwards.  It put the finishing touch on a great day of hiking!!!!!

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol