Senior Hiking # 358 - Gold Hill

48°  Rain


June 21, 2010…Gold Hill tr #3 and tr#2…
hike # 358 1st day of summer! HA!
by Betsy

Yes, once again, the weather forecast was for 100% rain…and the prediction came thru. So we picked one of our rainy day hikes...we have three or four…and chose Gold Hill. It is a steep climb and it is always hard to decide what to wear…you want to be protected from the wet and cold yet you know you will work up a sweat on the climb. I was glad I put the rain pants on at the trail head…the fast growing brush along the trail side was soaked with water and it did it’s best to get all over me!

There was no one at the trail head and we met no one all day…surprise, surprise. The trail is as pretty as ever, and now full of spring green. So many wildflowers already gone…but we saw sego lilies, wild roses and lot of the small white Queen’s Cup.

The normally great views of the south end of the lake were shrouded in fog today…and the wind was stiff at the top. We didn’t linger long, just long enough to snap a couple of pics for documentation. We continued on to the very top and did the extra 3 mile loop. We ate lunch and I huddled under some trees. Doing the loop makes this hike a good 11-12 miles. Our pedometers always read 12 miles instead of the 11 miles that the sign says. It always feels like 12 miles!!! We were rained on lightly all day and on the way down I got cold and put my sweatshirt jacket on.

There were just a few minor downed trees which caused no problems. It is mostly easy walking with just a few areas of slate…the trail being heavily laden with pine needles, making for a nice soft tread.

Short report…long and very wet hike…for the first day of summer…where the heck is summer???
Left home 10:30
Started up 11:00
Turned around 2:30
Got to truck 4:00
Total miles hiked 12 miles
Total hiking time 5 hours