After a couple trail work and reconnaissance trips to the trail network I decided that the 4th of July with the full moon would be a stellar option! I timed it so that I would hit the moonset from the top and see it from the tower. Alas, the haze was too thick and on the hike up the Big Eddy I got to watch the moon set/disappear slowly into the haze. :( However, the ridge was still phenomenal in the early morning sun and my pup and I enjoyed ourselves thoroughly on this section. Coming down Napolean was MUCH clearer than it had been but there were still a lot of sneaky roots and rocks, this trail is technical to be sure and it needs more traffic to help expose the hidden treasures that like to capture feet! The same could be said for up Star after the first section of tree hopping that I had to do. I’m hopeful the trail group in the area will pick up where my group left off and finish the trail clearing and do some brushing!
Water was still running up high on Napolean Gulch and the same on Star. I still think going down Napolean is the way if it’s hot since that is ultra exposed since the burn. We saw one fresh pile of bear poo and the huckle and thimble berries were out in force so we went ahead and made plenty of noise thrashing through the brush down low and I sang some songs to my pup higher up to keep the bears moving away. I didn’t hear any of them though so they were either watching me or not in the immediate area... Definitely bring your bear spray on this one, every time I am on these trails I see another pile and some of them are MASSIVE!
I will try to report back on here if I can get up to Star and know it's cleared better than it was when I did it cause I would love to see some of the local fast girls smoke this route!! (and for some of the local runners to start using it as a training loop so that it stays more open!)