19 miles of hiking • 5500' elevation gain • 2 nights
Started in the heat of a very hot day on the Dark Meadow trail which begins with a refreshing wade across the E Fork of the Cispus River. This trail was okay, but many sections of it are deeply rutted by motorbikes- it was like tightrope walking in a tunnel. Camped in the Dark Meadow area and was relentlessly attacked by mosquitoes at dusk and dawn. Got a nice early start and headed up to Juniper Ridge which was well worth the entry price!!!
What a fantastic ridge. Smack dab in the middle of all the big cascade summits and the small inviting scramble peaks of the Gifford. Flowers and butterflies, and hardly any mosquitos. Had to melt snow for water. Fun scramble to the top of Jumbo Peak which the dirtbikes cant get to and came upon a bakers dozen herd o mountain goats. Life is good.
On the way home, I climbed Sleeping Beauty which is a great little hike too. It's on old fire lookout site with nice hand built rock walls along the final switchbacks, and boundless vistas. Has a resident goat herd as well, but I only saw one.
