Chainsaw. I would not consider this route again without one.

Bill, Chip, Nancy and Gary left the valley and met George at the Bushnell Tanks Exit. Both vehicles headed north. We left SR87 at the first break in the white line. About a mile down the road Bill dropped off three hikers at the route start point. George and Bill returned after leaving George’s car and special treats at the gate to Tom’s trailer.

At 8:45 we were walking. It was cool and brisk under clear skies. Bushwhacking is just another word for off trail. And that it was. After two hundred vertical feet Gary decided to bail out. Bill left him a radio and the Jeep key with instructions where to leave it if he choose to have a friend come get him.

The route up to “E52” was the same one Bill took in May 2014 with Michael. The scrub oak was knee high to waist high.

Yay! We found a cairn!

To our surprise we found a cairn at “C”. It was the only cairn we would find all day. From here we could see a road. We would have to cross the dip, gully, or ravine, whatever you would want to call it. It had to be crossed.

Where? We continued uphill past “E58”. Just below a solitaire pine we started our descent.

It was thick. Thousands of brown leafless shrub like trees. No path. No palace to weave around. It was slow. It was steep. Branches would get stuck between your legs leaving your feet dangling in the air. I had visions of tripping and getting stuck upside down. I found myself continually unwrapping branches that surrounded my waist. Where is that chainsaw? However, maybe the negative attitude was wrong. Maybe the bushes were just happy to see us and showered us in full body hugs. We finally reached the bottom of the crack.

Normal bushwhacking returned as we headed toward the road at “RS”. It seemed like a highway. We left the road at “RE” and continued up to our destination. Little Mount Ord “6114 “ It was a great lunch spot with splendid views.

Somewhere between lunch and “W52” George lost his GPS. Bummers. Vegetation lessened as we continued down the ridgeline. So easy was the walking that Bill overshot waypoint “W46”.

After crawling under one more fence we were in Tom’s back yard. He was home. Bill introduced the hikers to Tom before jogging to George’s car at the gate. He retuned with the cooler full of wine and subs. We learned a little more about Tom as we shared the food and drink.

His grandfather bought 100 acres for 50¢/acre in 1898. Tom has lived here steady for the last 22 years.

Tom lives off the grid. [photo by Chip]

However, he has solar collectors with enough amps to drive two refrigerators. His hydraulic pump pulls 150 gallons from the spring to his storage tank each day. His 10 cats keep the mice population down ... food source for snakes. Tom turns 60 tomorrow.

We wished him a Happy Birthday as we parted. Odds are we will not find Tom at any Black Friday sales. When we reached the Jeep, Gary was still there. Bill offered to return the $3 but Gary refused.

As we drove back to the valley we assured Gary that not all Trailblazer hikes are like this.