Bell's Mountain Trail 06/25-26/2010

Bells Mountain Trail is a relatively new trail. It serves as a link between the trails in Moulton Falls County Park and the network of trails around Silver Star Mountain.

Ben and I hiked it in two days. We did four miles the first day and five the next.

The first two miles of this hike are very steep. We pulled up out of a valley, right up to the top of Bells Mountain. We were passed only by a father and his two young sons on this stretch, and by an older lady who alone trailed behind us for a while. We lost site of her and she never passed us. She must have summited and then went back down, instead of hiking through like Ben and I did.

I really enjoyed this hike. It was short but sweet. Some trails around Oregon/Washington can be like highways with so many people on them. But I think because Bells Mountain Trail (BMT) is fairly new, perhaps not many people know about it.

I am kind of a freak. I sort of like the torture of a long upgrade. I personally like climbing up a trail more than going down one. So, for the first couple of miles I tied my bright orange bandanna around my forehead and sweat my way to the top.

Once on top, we walked through a couple of clear cuts that gave us an unbelievable view of Mt. Saint Helen's off to the North West of where we stood.

Ben and I both tried to imagine how massive that mountain would have been before it blew it's top off in 1980. Mt. Saint Helen's is a really fat mountain. You can only appreciate that when you view it from another mountain close by.

There doesn't seem to be any over night camping spots anywhere along the BMT. It was getting close to six in the evening, and we still hadn't come across anywhere to pitch our tents for the night. I don't like to hike after six if I can help it. After six in the evening many animals come out to hunt...and I don't want to be what they hunt. At six fifteen we came across a strong bridge that spanned a pretty large rushing creek. On one side, right next to the trail, someone had at one time had a camp fire. We looked around to where they might have pitched a tent, but there was no place that we could see. This spot was very slanted. I was not excited about slowly sliding down toward the creek all night while I tried to sleep. We dropped our packs and Ben ran on up the trail to look for other possibilities.

Ben had been gone for a good 20 minutes. While I was sitting by the water, waiting for him to come back to report what he found. While I sat there alone I couldn't help wondering what I would do if he didn't come back.

It would be dark in an hour or so. I started to get a little worried. I sent out my 'are you ok?' signal. This is two very loud blasts that I can do when I stick two fingers into my mouth. I don't know what I expected to hear back. Ben had dropped his pack near where I was sitting, and the emergency whistle that he carries was on his pack was hanging there. He is not as talented as his old Mom, and can't stick his fingers in his mouth and raise the dead like I can, so again, I wasn't sure what I expected to hear back when I whistled down toward the direction he had gone.

I let about five more minutes go by until I blasted off another whistle, but just as it was rocketing off the trees, here came Ben walking toward me. "Man does your whistle carry!!!!!" he yelled out over the sound of the creek rushing between us. "I heard you and I was w-a-y down the trail!"

He told me that he had seen three possible places to camp. We buckled on our packs and hustled back the way he had just come.

We went about a mile (me expecting to come across a hungry black bear any second) when we crossed a nice flowing stream. Just beyond this water was a little wider spot in the trail where we figured we could pitch both our tents end to end. It wasn't ideal, but this is what backpacking is all about: you have to be willing, and able to make do.

It only took us a few minutes to have our gear set up, dinner cooked, and cleaned up. I was in my sleeping bag just as the darkness came full on.

One of my main goals when I climb into my sleeping bag is to not get up to pee in the night.

Usually I am so dehydrated from walking all day that I don't, but this night I had to. I must still have been half asleep when I stepped out into the darkness. After finishing my business I stood up and lost my balance, falling over and crushing my poor little tent underneath me. As I went down I was thinking, "OH NO! I WILL SNAP THE POLES!!" But nope. When I stood up it snapped right up back into position. Side note: This is a Marmont EOS 1 person tent. I highly recommend it if you are planning on falling on your tent.

The next morning I thought for sure we would see someone come by but no one did. We broke camp, and than traveled through several clear cuts that gave us outstanding views of Silver Star Mountain. In past years I have hiked to the top, and spent the night, on Silver Star three times.

As we walked on we were in and out of the forest most of the day. After a while we dropped down and hiked upsteam by Cedar Creek for about two miles. I could tell that we were getting close to the end of our hike when we past a couple of people, and than four people who were on horse back.

The last mile and a half we jumped on the end of the Tarbell Trail, which we had hiked last year. This took us to Rock Creek campground, where Jim sat waiting for us with cold drinks, a fresh Chicken Cesar salad for each of us, and a ride home.

It rocks to be us!

The End....of this hike.

Leaving next Wednesday for the next one!!!!!!!!!