Monday’s hike would be overlooking Little Applegate valley on the second part of the Jack-Ash Trail opened in 2018.
We left from Rite Aid at 8:30 and stopped at Ray’s in Phoenix to pick up Lisa and transfer two guys into Michael’s SUV. Then followed a drive to the outskirts of Jacksonville and then out Griffin Lane and up into the mountains. Five miles up, we turned off on an old BLM road for another mile to the TH parking and met with Diana, our newest AHG member.
The weather was sunny and mild at the start with a temperature of 67 and less smoky haze at 4,500’ than in the valley.
We crossed the old road and started our ascent up Greenstone Trail, named for all the Serpentine rocks on the path.
There were early signs of approaching Fall on Greenstone with some Maple Leafs turning from green to yellow.
At the marker sign with the Jackass, we turned right and started up the switchbacks into the shady forest until we broke out into sunlight and the start of the Anderson Ridge Trail. The view across the valley of the Siskiyou Range peaks was not as clear with the haze, but still breathtaking for a hiker seeing it for the first time.
The hike on the ridge does not have much gain but still plenty of ups and down for 2 miles out to lunch. We found a shady spot across Anderson Butte Road for lunch, while listening to and watching a backhoe move boulders. There was also a grader spreading gravel on the road.
Our lunch spot was actually near where the Jack-Ash Trail will someday traverse over the hilltops towards Wagner Butte and then down FS2060 and into Lithia Park.
Monday’s hike covered 6.62 miles RT with 1,038’ of elevation gain.
Happy Trails
Rich
-
Group
-
image001
-
image002
-
image003
-
image004
-
image005
-
image006
-
image007
-
image008
-
image009
-
image010
-
image011
-
image012
-
image013
