- Wilderness Boundary
- Tree ID: Oregon Oak (Quercus garryana)
Not the best example, but served well enough for post-hike identification. - Not the best example, but served well enough for post-hike identification. - Casey hiking among autumn foliage
- Unusual Fungus
It looked almost fuzzy. - It looked almost fuzzy, yet solid. - Tree ID: Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis): Needles
Key identifiers: yellow-green needles 1.5-2.5 inches long, 5 needles per bunch, and growing range. Needles from same tree as bark pictured. - Tree ID: Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis): Bark
Key identifiers: not distinctive, rather smooth, gray/whitish plates, and growing range. Bark from same tree as needles pictured. - Casey at one of the better (tree-free) spots of the trail.
Yeah, it was cold. - Yeah, it was cold. Yeah, there were a lot of downed trees. - The "Trail"
Note the many downed trees ahead. The beginning of serious trouble. - Note the many downed trees ahead. This was on trail 479 just before meeting trail 480. According to our map, trail 477 should have intersected around this point, but we never saw it. As soon as we passed the junction with trail 477A (Badger Creek Cutoff to Flag Point Trail 477), we encountered many downed trees. After passing the junction with trail 480 (to Gumjuac Saddle), the size and frequency of downed trees increased dramatically, along with the density of surrounding brush. We finally broke clear of downed trees about 3/4 of a mile from Badger Lake. So, that's between 2 and 3 miles of downed trees, with more time spent going around trees than traveling on-trail. - Morning Camp View
- Ice Growths
These ice growths surrounded the lake. - These ice growths surrounded the lake. - The Trail We Didn't Take
Hmm, going back over all those trees? No. - Hmm, going back over all those trees? No. - Alternate Route
The road to Badger Lake was tree-free. I'm normally opposed to hiking on roads, but I'm also not a masochist. - The road (140) to Badger Lake was tree-free. I'm normally opposed to hiking on roads, but I'm also not a masochist. Notice the density of downed trees beside the road. That's essentially what we hiked through the previous evening. - View of Lookout Mountain
Our original destination before the trees changed our plan on day 1. - Our original destination before the trees changed our plan on day 1. We would have been camping somewhere on the left ridge sloping down from the peak. - Discouraging Trailhead
This was our new trail (465) of choice. - This was our new trail (465) of choice. The bullet-hole riddled sign and the trees across the barely-visible trail didn't exactly provide us with the best of encouragement. However, the trail was remarkable tree-free and we only had difficulty in finding the trail once. - Stray Sign
Umm, yeah. I don't have a trailer on my backpack. - Umm, yeah. I don't have a trailer on my backpack. This was down the trail a bit after leaving the road.