Tweet
Went up Wakely on Saturday with my father. We arrived at the trail head at about 10 am, and set off in a light drizzle at 10:30. The trail was very wet, but not muddy and overall in pretty good condition. The stream crossing right near the start was overflowing its banks and the trail pretty good, and crossing it without getting wet feet was a bit of a challenge. Past this point, the trail was pretty dry for the most part.
We continued on the old road to the lake, where the trail becomes much steeper. There was some water running down the trail on the steeper parts, but not much. We kicked open some water bars to allow the water to drain more quickly on our way up. The last mile of this trail is very steep, but not too difficult. There isn't much erosion on this trail. Some of the exposed rock surfaces were a bit slippery though.
The summit was socked in with cloud cover, and there was a pretty brisk wind hitting the fire tower. You could see (and feel) it moving in the wind. The observers cabin was unlocked, so we checked it out- it's in pretty good shape inside, no vandalism or anything. Hopefully it stays that way. The helicopter landing pad was in worse shape though- slats missing and exposed nails. It looked like there had been a clean up recently, as there were plenty of propane tanks and bags of garbage near the landing pad, piled up as if they were waiting for a helicopter to take them out.
We returned to the trailhead by 2 pm, so overall the hike took us less than 4 hours. We did see a few hunters, being that it was opening day of rifle season, but none of them had gotten a deer yet. Overall it was a good warm up for Sunday's hike, a traverse of the 33 mile Jack Rabbit Trail.
We continued on the old road to the lake, where the trail becomes much steeper. There was some water running down the trail on the steeper parts, but not much. We kicked open some water bars to allow the water to drain more quickly on our way up. The last mile of this trail is very steep, but not too difficult. There isn't much erosion on this trail. Some of the exposed rock surfaces were a bit slippery though.
The summit was socked in with cloud cover, and there was a pretty brisk wind hitting the fire tower. You could see (and feel) it moving in the wind. The observers cabin was unlocked, so we checked it out- it's in pretty good shape inside, no vandalism or anything. Hopefully it stays that way. The helicopter landing pad was in worse shape though- slats missing and exposed nails. It looked like there had been a clean up recently, as there were plenty of propane tanks and bags of garbage near the landing pad, piled up as if they were waiting for a helicopter to take them out.
We returned to the trailhead by 2 pm, so overall the hike took us less than 4 hours. We did see a few hunters, being that it was opening day of rifle season, but none of them had gotten a deer yet. Overall it was a good warm up for Sunday's hike, a traverse of the 33 mile Jack Rabbit Trail.