I'm not a mountain biker (convert to the all hiking life now), and I hiked this trail a few years ago in late October. It snowed, rained, and shifted into sun throughout the hike, on and off. Loved the hike, even if the scenery wasn't as spectacular as other Mt Adams hikes. In my opinion, a hike like this is better done as a hike rather than a bike, anyways. The views are pretty great, especially at Gotchen Meadows (which makes a great campsite). Gotchen Creek Meadows has had cow problems in the recent past, though, where cows have crossed the broken down cattle fences and invaded the meadow. The whole meadows was eaten bare, and cow droppings everywhere. The fences NEED to be rebuilt to protect the meadows on Mt Adams, hopefully sooner than later. The lava flow is also quite interesting, and while the burned forest and charred trees look ugly for the most part, there's a stark beauty to them. And of course, they open up more views. In the early season, the beargrass wildflower display is amazing, and later on in the summer, the fireweed wildflower display is also quite fantastic. I'd recommend hiking during these blooms, preferably on a cooler day, as their is practically no shade or living trees until you get to Gotchen Creek Meadows or the Round the Mountain Trail.
Nice to see trail reviews of the Mt. Adams area. The Gotchen area was such an enchanted forest before the fire. There are still some good trails starting from the Mt. Adams Horse Camp/Buck Creek Trail Head. Its fun to climb to the Croften ridge trail head on the forest roads and then back down single track along Buck Creek. Watch out for roots on the trail along side the White Salmon; broke my arm in 2011 there.
I'm not a mountain biker (convert to the all hiking life now), and I hiked this trail a few years ago in late October. It snowed, rained, and shifted into sun throughout the hike, on and off. Loved the hike, even if the scenery wasn't as spectacular as other Mt Adams hikes.
In my opinion, a hike like this is better done as a hike rather than a bike, anyways. The views are pretty great, especially at Gotchen Meadows (which makes a great campsite). Gotchen Creek Meadows has had cow problems in the recent past, though, where cows have crossed the broken down cattle fences and invaded the meadow. The whole meadows was eaten bare, and cow droppings everywhere. The fences NEED to be rebuilt to protect the meadows on Mt Adams, hopefully sooner than later.
The lava flow is also quite interesting, and while the burned forest and charred trees look ugly for the most part, there's a stark beauty to them. And of course, they open up more views.
In the early season, the beargrass wildflower display is amazing, and later on in the summer, the fireweed wildflower display is also quite fantastic. I'd recommend hiking during these blooms, preferably on a cooler day, as their is practically no shade or living trees until you get to Gotchen Creek Meadows or the Round the Mountain Trail.
Nice to see trail reviews of the Mt. Adams area. The Gotchen area was such an enchanted forest before the fire. There are still some good trails starting from the Mt. Adams Horse Camp/Buck Creek Trail Head. Its fun to climb to the Croften ridge trail head on the forest roads and then back down single track along Buck Creek. Watch out for roots on the trail along side the White Salmon; broke my arm in 2011 there.
Thanks for reviewing all the trails, even the ones that are not entirely ready for prime time.
The part at 1:42 was great. Good vids as always!