PPP HIKE
It’s been over a year since I hiked this trail and I was pleasantly surprised. Overall, I highly recommend this hike for someone that is looking for a hard, but shorter hike with a mix of hiking and scrambling - definitely a good workout! The beginning of the hike starts on the Ira Springs Trail that takes you to Mason Lake, Bandera Mountain and Mount Defiance and then continues onto a narrower trail when the Ira Springs Trail curves to the right. The trail is lush with vegetation and transitions to a beautiful forest canopy through mostly tall hemlock and cedar trees. While the trail is narrow, it is easy to follow and well marked at key points. It gets a little more challenging to see the trail at higher elevations and requires periodic navigation checks/route finding on the way up. The lower part of the trail is characterized by an abundance of sword ferns, Oregon grape, Salal, Moss, Vine Maple and lots of Red Huckleberry.

Bear Grass that is not yet flowering higher up. The hike becomes more of a scramble near the summit.

Until you get to the really steep section, the trail is nice and soft with lots of decayed vegetation, making it easy on the joints.

The trail is easier to follow coming down and is greatly facilitated with trekking poles.

At the summit, I found the summit register in a pvc canister that is currently missing the lid and a broken pencil so I refrained from signing it this time. Overall, the view from the summit is stunning along the ridge in both directions when clouds clear.