Steep Mountain
August 6th, 2009
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After settling into our cabin, Sandy and I decided to take an early evening hike up Steep Mountain from Hollowell Park. There is an easy flat trail from the parking area that passes near the base of the mountain. There is no trail on the mountain itself. Once you're close to the base, you strike out on whatever route looks easiest. It looked pretty much the same everywhere so we headed up and around the right side of the aspen grove that's centered below the saddle of the two summits. As the name implies, the mountain is steep. When you leave the trail, it will be about 3/4 of a mile to the summit. The elevation gain is just about 1000 ft. It was fairly warm that evening, fortunately the sun was far enough west that the front of the mountain was in the shade.
The summit is pretty nice for views and for scrambling around and exploring. It's another great place to gain perspective on the layout of the east side of the park. Just behind the summit, to the west, is a little bald hump that could be reached in just a few minutes. And Mt Wuh is not too far away for those who'd like to extent the hike with a couple of miles, round trip, of bushwhacking. We spent about an hour and a half hiking and enjoying the summit before heading back to the cabin for the night.
I'd recommend this climb as a good acclimation hike, or just for a short day when you're looking for some nice views and fun scrambling off trail.
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