Monday we had a great turnout of 16 hikers once we all came together at the Greenstone TH. The first surprise was the huge pile of gravel from years past had been removed to make room for a large parking area.😄

It was a great day with blue skies and mild weather that would move up into the 60s.

We had a new hiker, a returning veteran, and some members who hadn’t experienced this wonderful hike.

The hike starts with a rocky climb up the Greenstone Trail (named for the green serpentine rocks) which had some patchy snow in the shade. Then the trail starts switching up into the forest as it gains elevation to meet Anderson Ridge at 4,900′. Near the top of the forest trail, there was some snow and deadfall across the path, but everyone got through without too much difficulty.

As we came out of the shaded forest there were lots of oohs! & aahs! as we broke into the sunlight and saw the snow-covered Siskiyous across the Little Applegate Valley. After taking it all in with time for snapshots we headed to the right to visit the valley overlook.

Linda found lots of new wildflowers to photograph starting with the Grass Widows on the overlook.

After some wardrobe changes, we headed east for 1+ miles along the ridge under the bright sun to our lunch spot next to Anderson Butte Road. Another surprise was hearing a car door close as we approached the lunch spot; and another new parking area that wasn’t there before. While visiting with the couple in the van we learned there is another new parking area up at Anderson Butte Summit. Progress!

Randy took our group picture while we stood in the new parking area and skillfully inserted the Siskiyous in the background.

Also a surprise, we didn’t hear any gunfire reports all day, so perhaps the moratorium on shooting is holding for now.

While the group took a leisurely lunch and enjoyed the warmth of the sun, some of us crossed the road to explore a decommissioned dirt road that may be used as a continuation of the Jack Ash Trail towards Wagner Butte. We went less than a half mile on the rocky road and did find two grassy hillsides that would serve as good lunch spots.

Done exploring, we headed back to join the rest of the group and after a few head counts we started the 3.2 mile trek down to the Greenstone TH. Greenstone to lunch is 6.4 miles RT with 1,000′ of gain…7.0 miles for the explorers.

Back at TH parking, it was high fives and handshakes for a hike well done, and then our five carloads headed out with some stopping at Boomtown for refreshments and conversation.

Hike Leader: Rich Stickle

Photos By: Linda, Randy