Hike Log

Dirty Girls Conquer Black Crater

Trailhead:

Black Crater Trail

Type of Hike:

Day hike

Trail Conditions:

Minor obstacles posing few problems

ROAD:

Road suitable for all vehicles

Bugs:

No bugs

Snow:

Snowfields to cross – could be difficult

Yet another adventure day working our way through this 6 Pack of Peaks Challenge. Dont be deceived by thos short hike: it can kick your butt (as well as make you fall on it)!

My challenge buddy, Julia, and I started out Wednesday morning, hiking along through the foreat remains of the Milli Fire of 2017. This area is burned but beautiful, loaded with mushrooms, and multicolored, twisted tree remains.  Wished several times I'd  brought my handy-dandy mushroom photo guide…. Experiencing this burned area also brought thoughts of my son, who is now serving in the army, as he was a wildland firefighter for the past 5 summers, working so hard to prevent and arrest the devastation of fires.

Well about 2 1/2 miles in we hit a pretty solid stretch of snow. I was glad I had read some reviews from others who had hiked this trail recently as they mentioned wearing yak-trax or micro-spikes. Needless to say those spikes amd our trekking poles got us to the top (and back down) with minimal injuries and lots of laughs. Sprinkle in a few “what the ‘bleeps'” and  ” we are so lucky to get to do this/be here” and you get the flavor of our day. We lost the trail at a few points, so having gps on the phone came in handy, especially on the way down. It was awesome to see so many peaks, including Hood in the distance. It was quite windy at the top, but Julia found a little sheltered place in the rocks where we ate a little snack.

The best memories of the day, for me, are Julia's comments on how dirty my legs, and later my backside, were and our laughing as we slipslided our qay down the snow….

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  1. Awesome job, Joanna! The views from Black Crater are pretty amazing, and the varied terrain (snags, forest, snow fields and cinder) keep it interesting. Looking forward to hiking this one again soon!

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