Nineteen TrailBlazers under the command of Buffalo Bob headed up the Pig Trail Scenic Highway (Highway23) to Hike Hare Mountain. There were lots of beautiful green fields along the way because this area must have had more rain than some of us! Eventually we got on the rocky gravel road toward our destination. There were lots of people camped in clearings along the road obviously there to start off the hunting season. Only a few of us were wearing orange but we are so noisy that no self-respecting hunters or deer would want anything to do with us!
The road must have been a little damp because it wasn’t dusty at first. We finally reached the Morgan Fields Trailhead where we parked our vehicles. Initially the trail goes downhill but pretty soon we started to climb and sometimes were huffing and puffing, well maybe just some of us! There were glimpses of fall color to come here and there and also some scenic views. There is more vegetation along the trail than a few years ago so it is harder to take photo ops of distant views.
At the top of the mountain some of us went on to check out an old stone chimney and a well with a round lid. This water is supposedly potable but for the first time in our experience the well was dry! Hardy settlers must have lived there at one time but nobody is that hardy anymore! Some more modern people created a camp site complete with a fire ring, 3 stone chairs and a stone table. They may be descendents of Fred and Wilma Flintstone – oops, Yours Truly is dating herself!
After eating our lunch, we got back on the rocky road in search of the trailhead for the short hike to Spy Rock where there is a wonderful scenic view. It would have been a great place to eat but we weren’t sure we could find it on this road that is lacking in signage. Normally we reach this spur when we are hiking Redding Loop from Cass. We did luck out and find the trail so we enjoyed the view and had some great photo opps! By this time the road had dried and was pretty dusty.
We had a great hike and welcomed Pam, Jan and Grant on our hike.
If you plan to hike Pedestal Rocks next week, sign up on this site.
Pics are below. Click on any pic to enlarge, and then on the arrow at right to create a slide show.
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