Tuesday, July 04, 2006
It's the End of the World As I Know it...West Cady Ridge
Well, we're really moving and leaving Washington. Headed to the east coast and the wonderful metropolis of Worcester, Massachusetts. Between reunion, house-hunting in Worcester, and packing for the move our hiking time ran way too short. So many places yet to explore in Washington and the northwest. I should probably make a list in case we ever return, but doing so would probably depress me and make me cry. Sigh.
Fortunately we were able to make time for a July 4th hike up West Cady Ridge, one of those hikes I've wanted to do for several years. The trailhead is near the Blanca Lake trailhead (one of my favorite hikes that I wanted to do again). The West Cady trail is a typical Cascades trail in that it climbs and climbs. It was pretty warm, so Bella was happy to reach a couple of snow patches which she promptly ate and peed on. The trail eventually plateaus in a large meadow, which we dubbed the frisbee field. We had lunch here and then headed back. If we had had more time and conditioning we could have followed the trail along the ridge all the way to Benchmark Mountain,a roundtrip distance of 16 miles.
Distance: 8 miles
Elevation gain: 3000 feet?
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