Читать книгу Afoot and Afield: Portland/Vancouver. A Comprehensive Hiking Guide онлайн

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Two switchbacks climb past the edge of a clear-cut and take you up to a crossing of a narrow gravel road. The small seam of sunlight created by this road is just enough for June-blooming iris to thrive. Continuing past this junction, you make a series of gentle climbs and level walks through dense foliage that creates a sort of living tunnel. In places horse hooves have churned the tread into a muddy mess, so wear boots rather than tennis shoes.

After topping a low rise, you turn east and cross a very isolated old road in the middle of an equally old clear-cut. Trailside thimbleberry and the enormous spreading fronds of bracken fern are racing to capture as much light as possible before the rapidly regrowing Douglas firs cover them with a shady canopy. Shortly after reentering an older forest, you cross a rarely used motorcycle track and then wander along the south side of low and rounded Klootchman Butte. Several openings in the forest provide room for flowers like vetch, iris, golden pea, dandelion, beargrass, and wild rose. There are also some partially obstructed views of Silver Star Mountain to the southeast and Larch Mountain to the south. The trail loses some elevation among the trees and crosses more partially forested slopes before making a long, looping contour into a densely forested valley on the northwest side of Silver Star Mountain.