The Sterling Mine Ditch trail is over 20 miles long and currently has 7 different trailheads. We have hiked sections of the SMDT from the Tunnel Ridge TH and the Bear Gulch TH, so today we decided to hike another portion of the trail starting from the Armstrong Gulch trailhead.
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| Time to get hiking! |
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| View along the very flat Sterling Mine Ditch trail |
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| Trail with the Sterling Mine Ditch to the right- hard to see in some sections. |
The first mile was mostly in the shade and featured lots of trees and even a few areas with large groupings of ferns. We then entered the more sun exposed segment of the trail which featured great views of the Applegate Valley and surrounding mountains, some of which were still covered wtih a little bit of snow from the last storm. No wildflowers were seen yet, but it is still early in the year. It was not however too early for those wonderful little friends of hikers known as ticks. Yup, they were out already, but we only collected (and discarded) a few.
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| View from the trail with some slightly snow covered mountains in the distance |
If you are interested in this trail, click here for the website which gives the history of the Sterling Mine Ditch and maps showing the various trailheads and hiking distance in miles.
Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol
