Quiet Alpine Trail to Tire Mt Trail
After Tuesday’s jaunt up King Castle in the McKenzie valley, Thursday’s hike was up Alpine Trail to Tire Mt in Willamette valley. I had hiked up Alpine not this far earlier, and the difference in trail conditions were striking – leave it to MTB riders to clean up their trails first! All the blowdowns were cleaned away and the trail was in perfect condition – MTB trails best hiked weekdays, and early – not weekends in summer.
I arrived at the wonderful covered bridge trailhead in Westfir just before 6:00 to start at first light. The moonset, Venus and an errant jet plane marked the start
The Route
I started close to 6:00 and just went right up Westfir Tie trail to Alpine and then continued up to Tire Mountain trail … then the reverse. If one is looking for wonderful vista’s either up the valley toward the central cascades or down valley to the west, very little will be see. There are really 2 ‘openings’ until Tire Mt and only 1 larger enough for a trailside picnic (not this one)
Navigation isn’t difficult – straight up, straight down
If a quiet solitary walk through the woods is your ticket, this is a wonderful trip – there are some older trees hiding along the way too. The entire first 12 miles or so, not another human; in the last 3 miles or so – 2 humans and a very friendly dog.
Flowers
Wildflowers on forest floor were popping all over and easy to miss being so small …
Data Geek Corner
- Shoes: Altra Lone Peak low mesh uppers
- Pack: Gossamer Fast Kumo 36
- Upper Layers: 2 (base layer, Patagonia mid-weight)
- Upper shell: none
- Trekking Poles: Yes – Gossamer Gear
- Approximate Times: 06:15 to 13:00
- Carbon ratio: 4.5 driving karma, 6.75 actual hiking time – 86.1 hours banked YTD
- Notes:
- Photos: medium
- Speed: medium
- Difficulty: easy
