Stats: 8.1 km / 309m gain / 394m high
There's a network of trails that you can pick and choose all over Vedder Mt. These trails were along the west side of Cultus Lake. The forest is full of beautiful old-growth Douglas-fir, Western Red Cedar and Engelmann Spruce.
A culturally modified cedar. The First Nations people used the outer bark for roofing and floors and the fibrous inner bark was pounded soft and used for clothes, bags and mats.
Vinkas & Triliums. The time for Trilliums is coming to an end. They're starting to look rather done.
Ahh the smell of fresh cut cedar.
These ramps looked pretty challenging.
We drove up Parmenter Rd and parked by the Notorizer Trail on the left side (no sign). After hiking about 20 minutes we crossing the road and got onto Delima Trail, then Ditch Chicken Trail, after crossing the road a second time and then we took Femur to complete the loop. This is about a third of the distance along the west side of the lake.
Stats: 10.66 km / 400m gain / 4 hours MT / 578m high
Later in the week we came back to hike the southern section of the trails on the east side of Vedder Mt.
The smaller loop we did earlier in the week was basically up and then down. But with this one we drove quite a ways in, parking at the top of the Muddy Trail, and then dropped down before climbing back up.
It was a bit confusing finding the Slide Trail. On the maps it shows it beginning a bit farther up the road from the Muddy Trail. Not so. We started out on the Muddy Trail and then turned right on the Slide Trail.
Merging with the forest.
We weren't on the Slide Trail too long before we got to a junction by these falls where we stayed left and were then on the F100 Trail. Remains of the fender of a dirt bike along the trail.
Unlike the smaller loop we did on Thursday, this area did not have any old-growth trees in it.
A few lingering Trilliums. A lone Bleeding Heart. Hookers Fairy Bells. Star-flowered False Salmon Seal.
International Ridge. We could see Cultus Lake through the trees.
The F100 trail turned east and became the Lakeland Trail which was now no longer descending but cutting across on a fairly level grade.
After a lunch break that was cut short because it started to hail and therefore we started to get cold, we came to the 3-way junction. We chose the middle trail: the Ray trail. Left was Gas Can Trail which was more on a deactivated FSR (like the Lakeland Trail was). Right would've dropped down further.
From the Ray Trail we turned left onto the TT trail for just a bit and then left again onto the Slideshow Bob trail. There was no sign at this junction.
Many of the trails here were deeply cut into the forest because of the dirt bikes using them. On this Sunday it was a busy place up there.
The Slideshow Bob Trail turned into the Muddy Trail. And muddy it was indeed. Here it started to hail again.
We had to walk just 10 minutes on the Vedder Mt. FSR to get back to our vehicles.
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