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

127 страница из 142

Views here are generally obstructed by trees, mostly short Douglas fir, grand fir, and western hemlock. As you climb, the sounds of rushing water from Grouse Creek in the canyon on your right gradually grow louder as the creek gets closer.

After a little more than 1 mile, the trail is joined by an unsigned motorbike track coming in from the left. But 0.2 mile later this track splits off again. Shortly after this, you pass an active beaver pond and large dam on your right. If you arrive here in the early morning, take some time to scan the pond for the busy builders of this impressive construction project.

Above the pond, you make a bridged crossing of Grouse Creek, loop back to the right, and traverse up the increasingly open hillside. When the trail tops a ridge, the views improve greatly, as most of the trees disappear and you stand in an open meadow. Bulky Silver Star Mountain lies to the northeast, but the best views look to the distant snow peaks of Oregon’s Mt. Hood and decapitated Mt. St. Helens in Washington. You can also see the region’s better known Larch Mountain, on the Oregon side of the Columbia River.