Mt. Troy

Our route to the top of Mt. Troy: follow Treadwell Ditch to the base of Mt. Troy. Turn left, go up the mountain sans trail. Reach top of mountain, traverse treacherous terrain. Continue, looking for exit. Find safe route, turn left, go down to Dan Moeller trail. Turn left, continue and veer right (return to car). (And click for a larger version)

On Friday, Pat & I went hunting.

I should explain that I’m not really a hunter. Unless you consider fishing to be some type of “hunt”, I’ve only been hunting one other time, and that was a glorified walk in the woods with a gun. I was much younger then.

This was the same.

We had a great time, of course. The weather was fantastic as it has been for the last week or more, and it was nice to be able to have the option to take the day off of work to go out into the wilderness. I took my camera and Pat had the gun.

As we approached Douglas island, we decided to go up Mt. Troy, which is immediately to the right of the Dan Moeller cabin/trail. But rather than accessing it through the meadows at the cabin, we decided to follow the Treadwell ditch trail to the ridgeline, and hike it all the way up to the top.

There is a bit of game-trail interspersed throughout the mountain, so at times we were following trails, but, for the most part, it was simply taking the path of least resistance (and least Devil’s Club).

We did see one deer, a bambi, which was small enough to let it go. I had reservations about taking it, because while deer can traverse nearly any terrain, I wasn’t so sure that I could… There’s something mighty nerve wracking about crossing an area with ferns and grasses, at maybe a 60˚ mostly smooth slope, without much of anything that would slow a fall from a slipped footing. Regardless, we did make it, and were glad to see things level off on top where we could follow trails along a mostly flat terrain.

The next goal was really just to get back to the car. We had planned to summit, and then continue around to the Dan Moeller bowl so we could simply take the trail out, but as we had reached the top, we realized just how far away the backside meadows would be. It would require more climbing, more traversing, and more time whereas we wanted to be back at the car by dark. We scoped out a couple spots to drop into, and decided to follow the old rock fall area down to the trail. It was mostly easy going except that I was overcome by a lack of blood sugar, and was essentially useless for a few minutes while I had some gorp and water to refuel. With sugar in my system and spirits rising, we were able to finish strong, but not without some sore legs and a great experience.

I didn’t really take many scenic shots, I had grand designs to collect images for a panorama of Gastineau Channel, but it was a bit hazy and there was never really a clear spot to take the images from. So, instead, you get to see some of the wildlife photos. Cool thing about hiking through the woods without trails: when you come upon wildlife, their escape is simply up a tree rather than off the beaten trail. I had the chance to get up-close and personal with a couple of young porcupines. Such cute animals. Take a look.

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