West trail

Getting There

See main page for getting there instructions.

Route Description

The west trail starts off at 400 feet above sea level. The first 1/3 mile of the trail gains elevation steadily and is in a clearing with nice views to the north. You then go into old growth forest and the trail levels out slightly. There are a few offshoots through this area, but the trail you want to be on is pretty obvious. Just before you get to the clearing at the summit, there is a faint use trail on the left that will take you to the summit rocks. If you miss that (easy to do) there is a more obvious use trail right at the start of the clearing, but this option will require some easy scrambling up a grassy, rocky hillside. It will be pretty slick when wet, so be careful. Once you reach the top of the hillside, just walk south on the rigde to the true summit.
Total time for this hike should be anywhere from an hour and a half to 3 hours. 5 miles total with almost 1500 feet of elevation gain due to some ups and downs in the mid section of the trail.

You could do a traverse using both trails. I would recommend starting up the west trail and going down the south. This requires about 1.7 miles of road hiking, of which 1.3 miles is on Highway 101. The RT distance for this would be just under 6 miles.

Essential gear

Water, shoes or hiking boots with good traction. Rain gear is a good idea.

Images

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