10.5 miles of hiking • 3750' elevation gain •
Got a chance to play "tour guide" for a couple friends who'd never been up this iconic peak before. The day turned out so much better than any of us had hoped. Just perfect hiking weather, in every possible regard.
We pungled up the $5 to park at Bonneville Hot Springs, now that the owner of that resort has posted "No Trespassing" signs at the old Aldrich Butte trailhead (under the powerlines). Not too happy about that, but carpooling took a dent out of it.
Rather than follow the herd, we diverted towards Aldrich Butte on the way up, and then again on the ridgeline trail that roughly parallels the rutted and rocky road and provides a far superior experience. This led to the PCT, and then back to the main road; highly recommended.
When we got to the Heartbreak Ridge cutoff, there was a tangled mess of humanity already there, trying to suss out "which way do we go?" We told them, and about half ignored us, choosing instead to go where the other half didn't. Crowded day on the mountain!
Took something of a break near the Two Chiefs, just to have a little snack and enjoy the marvelous views. The winds were relatively calm, with bugs out and about, which meant there was an ongoing air show of swallows zooming about feasting on the little blood suckers.
Continuing on, we hit that most enjoyable section - the boulder scramble! As we went up, we crossed paths with another woman, and I happened to finish about the same time as her. She asked me a few questions, one thing led to another, and we realized we had been online friends for years! So fun to finally cement that friendship in real life!!!
When we hit the summit, there were at least twenty folks mingling about the sign post, admiring all the volcanoes in view. Clouds obscured the top of Mount Rainier, and many thought it to be Saint Helens. (I corrected that impression, and pointed them towards the north ridge which offers a very fine view of "our volcano.") Good news: someone fixed the busted up table on top of Table!
Enjoyed lunch with magnificent views atop the cliffs of Table Mountain. Wow... The views there never fail to amaze. And never, ever have I seen even a tiny fraction of the number of people up there that day. Maybe fifty or sixty total??? Yowsa. Good thing it's a huge summit!
After quite a bit of time looking south, we headed north to relative solitude and views every bit as good. Met some new friends, and directed them down the north ridge, as they weren't too keen on what Westway threatened to do to their knees. Our party, 2/3 of which had never been on Table, wanted to full experience, though. On to Westway it was!
Although the tread is just terrible, the views on Westway simply can't be beat. (Just don't look around while walking, eh!?) Took us some time to get down, but we did, then hooked a left on the PCT for the hike back to the trailhead. We'd hoped to come down Cedar Mountain instead, but had pretty much burned up the daylight by this point.
All in all, a great day on the mountain, spent with wonderful new trail friends!
