Stagnant Air Still at Pisgah

The below freezing temperatures may be over for now in the valley, but the stagnant air remains – at least until a rain scours it out. I left home after breakfast knowing that sunshine would be scarce if any and left the car-full North TH around 10:45.

With the air conditions and valley people still burning wood for heat, all the smoke just sat in the valley to both the east and west. Looking to the east and Diamond Peak, we should NOT be able to see rocks – that peak should be totally snow-covered. A great view into the terrible OR snow pack so far in 2026.

To the east …

To the west … a couple of hours later and the ocean clouds (rain!) coming in the valley

Due to the irrational number of dogs off leash, the coyote, deer and other mammals were no where to be seen. Song birds were out more than the colder hikes last week, and slightly larger birds, too. The flicker is easy to miss unless you see it fly first. I heard a pileated woodpecker on earlier trip, but this is first visual – pretty stretched distance for my 150mm lens.

As I rounded the Swing Hill on the way to close the loop at North TH, the clouds had totally covered the valley, but to the east a bit different. This is after 2:30pm.

The Route

Started at North TH and then circled around Tr 3 and 4 all the way to Tr 2, then went to the top. From the top, down to Tr 3 and then back around on Tr 4 to Tr 3 and back to car. Only 1x to the top.

Trail conditions were better than last week after the frost melted – still some sticky mud on Tr 3 but less so. Human traffic was higher than anticipated but almost exclusively around North TH and the summit trail (Tr 1).

People and dogs off leash are leaving the trails and will eventually cause problem – either the coyote will get blamed for something and then killed, or somebody’s dog will get killed. People! … letting your dog go off leash where there are wild animals that will kill your dog is not ‘loving’ your pet.

Coyote poo was more frequent than horse poo … why coyotes love to poop in middle of trail is anybody’s guess 🙂

Data Geek Cellar

• Shoes: Altra Lone TIMP
• Pack: Gossamer Gear GRIT (Full day hike kit)
• Upper Layers: tech base layer, SkyGOAT fleece, and heavy tech layer
• Upper shell: none
• Trekking Poles: Gossamer Gear
• Approximate Times: 10:45 – 2:45
• Carbon ratio: 2.5 hours (1.5 hours driving: 4 hours hiking); YTD = 16.0 hours banked
• Miles hiked YTD: 66.30
• Notes:
  • Photos: low
  • Speed: moderate
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Weather: 40-50 muted grey low clouds – no sun

All Trails data delta as usual