Blueberry Mountain

Submitted by Pat

Stats
Mountain: Blueberry Mountain
Date: October 1, 2016
Time: 3 hours and 20 minutes
Miles: 4.7
Elevation Gain: 1,067
Trail: Blueberry Mountain Trail

  • two hikers posing at teh trailhead
Blueberry mountain trailNancy and I decide to climb Blueberry Mountain on the Blueberry Mountain Trail end to end with a car spot. Getting to the first trailhead creates high anxiety for me — missing signs, a diarrhea attack that forces me off the road and into the woods, having to stop repeatedly to check the directions and look at the map. When I finally feel like I am on the right road and nearing a turn off for the trailhead who should appear coming from the opposite direction but Nancy in her pumpkin orange Jeep. Both of us are so stressed and so happy to be in the same place — the right trailhead…together. My stress shows itself as anger at first; Nancy’s shows as relief. We quickly decide not to go to the other trailhead but do an out and back instead. After I calm down and look more carefully at the map, I think we can easily find the other trailhead, especially with someone navigating. Nancy calms down too and agrees, since I sound so sure of myself. We move gear from one car to the other and drive to the other trailhead off Page Rd.

The sky is grey, a little mist in the air, and relatively dry. Off we go, the first mile is on a logging road until we find the yellow blazed trail heading off to our left. The trail starts gradually so we are able to talk with each other without the distress caused when we are sucking wind. Being together feels great and the climb is gentle, though I feel the usual pain in my knees on the way down. No patella knee pain this week. A blessing.

We aren’t sure when we reach the exact summit but guess it is where we saw the largest cairn. Once above tree line, the fall colors, reds and oranges and yellows, contrasted by grey, lichen-covered rocks and cleverly-built artistic cairns, fill us with amazement at how beautiful it is. The cloud deck is higher than the summit most of the time and we take some great pictures.