sleeping bear
New member
With all of bushwhack talk going on here lately, Jessbee and I decided we needed to get in on a little of the sans-trail action.
After discussing a few routes we opted for Flat Top mountain, Hawthorne Falls and then up to Garfield. On my not-so-accurate computer map program it looked like 12 miles total and about 2 off trail. Not too bad.
We started up the trail and then headed into the brush seeking out the stream we would follow. The brush was thick, but we didn't even have to try and find our way because someone had left pink ribbons every 10 feet to mark the route, even though we could practically see the river
. We took care of those though....
Once we found the stream it was easiest to rock hop, avoiding the steep banks and nasty brush. Then I proceeded to slip and land sqarely on my shin, which I watched swell to golf ball size within a few seconds. It took me a while to bandage it up and gain my composure, and stop shaking! It f-ing hurt.
So much for the rock hopping, back into the woods. A map I had seen showed a pair of slides going up Flat Top, so I was hoping to find them. Just above a small waterfall we spotted a slide. After careful scouring of the map here at home I've decided that it wasn't either of the ones marked. The slide was very interesting and fun to climb, but unfortunately all good things come to an end. At the top was the thickest, most painful crap I've even encountered. Each movement had to be carefully calculated so as not to impale ourselves on sharp branches. I kept thinking of a kid I knew who got a stick through his eyeball on a bushwhack. One hour and about 100 feet later we came to a rock outcropping that was sufficient enough for us to call "the top" and start figuring out how to get down and still have some skin left.
We picked our way diagonally back down to the stream, staying with the path of least resistance. At times we were walking along the trunks of downed trees calling out- "hey, do you see the ground anywhere?".
Back at the stream we found both banks lined with pockets of snow, no way to escape them. So we post holed on. Not too much further up we came to the elusive Hawthorne falls. They were pretty well hidden with not much of a viewing platform below and tangly cliffs on the sides. Pretty cool.
After a quick snack we continued up stream to find the trail. The stream split a few times forcing us to choose which one to follow. At least at this point the woods weren't quite as dense. I guess the snow and post holing made up for it.
Not far from the top the sky turned darker and the light dimmed. As neither of us had a watch and the sun now gone, we had no idea what time it was. A few minutes later made it out onto the trail. We stopped to snap a few "post bushwhack" photos, me with my torn t-shirt and Jess with her thrashed arms.
Just a few minutes down the trail and it started raining. Jess forgot her rain coat so I gave her a garbage bag, which she fashioned into some sort of space aged dress looking thing.
On top of Garfield we hoped to relax and sip the beer I had brought along, but the wind and rain would have none of it. We stayed long enough to take two photos. Oh, and the fog made sure we weren't going to any views either.
Having made 3 for 3 of our destinations for the day we booked it back down the 5 miles to the car.
We saw tons of moose sign (scat, eaten bark, tracks and hair), weasel scat, porqupine scat, and fox(?) scat. The Hobblebush is just starting to bloom and makes the walk down low very pretty.
Overall, it was an excellent day, and took about 10 hours, making it out well before sunset. A few photos are here.
okay, back to trails now...
After discussing a few routes we opted for Flat Top mountain, Hawthorne Falls and then up to Garfield. On my not-so-accurate computer map program it looked like 12 miles total and about 2 off trail. Not too bad.
We started up the trail and then headed into the brush seeking out the stream we would follow. The brush was thick, but we didn't even have to try and find our way because someone had left pink ribbons every 10 feet to mark the route, even though we could practically see the river
. We took care of those though.... Once we found the stream it was easiest to rock hop, avoiding the steep banks and nasty brush. Then I proceeded to slip and land sqarely on my shin, which I watched swell to golf ball size within a few seconds. It took me a while to bandage it up and gain my composure, and stop shaking! It f-ing hurt.
So much for the rock hopping, back into the woods. A map I had seen showed a pair of slides going up Flat Top, so I was hoping to find them. Just above a small waterfall we spotted a slide. After careful scouring of the map here at home I've decided that it wasn't either of the ones marked. The slide was very interesting and fun to climb, but unfortunately all good things come to an end. At the top was the thickest, most painful crap I've even encountered. Each movement had to be carefully calculated so as not to impale ourselves on sharp branches. I kept thinking of a kid I knew who got a stick through his eyeball on a bushwhack.
One hour and about 100 feet later we came to a rock outcropping that was sufficient enough for us to call "the top" and start figuring out how to get down and still have some skin left. We picked our way diagonally back down to the stream, staying with the path of least resistance. At times we were walking along the trunks of downed trees calling out- "hey, do you see the ground anywhere?".
Back at the stream we found both banks lined with pockets of snow, no way to escape them. So we post holed on. Not too much further up we came to the elusive Hawthorne falls. They were pretty well hidden with not much of a viewing platform below and tangly cliffs on the sides. Pretty cool.
After a quick snack we continued up stream to find the trail. The stream split a few times forcing us to choose which one to follow. At least at this point the woods weren't quite as dense. I guess the snow and post holing made up for it.
Not far from the top the sky turned darker and the light dimmed. As neither of us had a watch and the sun now gone, we had no idea what time it was. A few minutes later made it out onto the trail. We stopped to snap a few "post bushwhack" photos, me with my torn t-shirt and Jess with her thrashed arms.
Just a few minutes down the trail and it started raining. Jess forgot her rain coat so I gave her a garbage bag, which she fashioned into some sort of space aged dress looking thing.
On top of Garfield we hoped to relax and sip the beer I had brought along, but the wind and rain would have none of it. We stayed long enough to take two photos. Oh, and the fog made sure we weren't going to any views either.
Having made 3 for 3 of our destinations for the day we booked it back down the 5 miles to the car.
We saw tons of moose sign (scat, eaten bark, tracks and hair), weasel scat, porqupine scat, and fox(?) scat. The Hobblebush is just starting to bloom and makes the walk down low very pretty.
Overall, it was an excellent day, and took about 10 hours, making it out well before sunset. A few photos are here.
okay, back to trails now...
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