Quinn and I dragged ourselves out of bed well past 6:30 and we started our 2 hour drive shortly after. The logging roads off of rt 30 were in great condition. We made decent time and got to the trailhead at a leisurely 9:50am. We checked out the new-smelling privy and were on our way up by 10am.
The last time Sunny and I were here, a trail crew was working on the trail down to the stream from the trailhead. The new stone steps are awesome; flat and well-squared-off.
We found mud on this trail, starting off during the initial climb up from the stream. Quinn was excited to try out the new boots Mom bought him.
Quinn had to climb every rock as usual.
The forest was beautiful today. The air was cool and the sun was shining around happy, little scattered clouds. Quinn was in decent spirits, but I could tell he was still a bit tired from his big week. I was glad that I pivoted away from trying for the Triad today.
Quinn had fun scrambling up slabs as usual. He likes messing with me by pretending to get "stuck" on them.
Big rock!
Every rock. That's fine.
The big mud pit on the way to the summit has been officially rerouted.
There are about 3 significant blowdowns near the summit. Quinn made quick work of them.
Quinn worked on balancing on rocks and logs across mud pits.
We made the summit before 12:30. The tower on Pillsbury is very tall and it was windy today, so I got a bit nervous with Quinn as we climbed. I'm sorry to say I think it's possible I transferred some of that nervousness to him; he's usually completely unfazed by the upper reaches of a fire tower. Pillsbury was still locked up, so we stopped short of the cabin, then climbed down a couple of flights.
What a beautiful day.
And another thing!
We hung out at the summit for a while. Snacks. Sitting. Playing with cars in the puddles. An angry cloud spat some rain at us for a few minutes, but then the sun found us again shortly thereafter.
We left the summit shortly after 1pm and chewed up terrain on the way down.
I promised Quinn he could throw some rocks in the stream when we got to the bottom of the trail, but I had to reiterate again to keep it to a minimum and not touch the rocks on the trail or in the stream itself.
Okay, Dad. I'm all done now.
We were climbing up the lovely, new stairs by 2:40pm.
Quinn at the second stoplight.
Some kind of Vibernum (hobblebush) and some kind of Russula (do not eat)
Fox-and-cubs and the first Ghost Pipe of the year.
I was glad to spend another day in the woods with my buddy. He did a great job climbing his 6th fire tower. This has been a bit of a terse adventure report, but it was a short but sweet hike without incident. There's nothing wrong with that.
I have to admit it can sometimes feel a bit galling to drive 4 hours to hike 4 hours, but that comes with the territory; literally. If you want the views, you have to pay the wheel-time tax. We'll keep chipping away at these fire towers as time allows. We may do some in the Winter; I'll definitely be buying Quinn some snowshoes this year.
Afternoon hike at Pillsbury Mountain.gpx (249.93 KB)