For-rest & Flowers Hike!

The For-rest and Flowers hike is a nature retreat walk on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). It is the Mount Ashland Meadows section, 7 1/2 miles round trip with 600 feet of elevation gain.

After meeting at the Rite Aid in Ashland at 9am, we will carpool south on Interstate 5 to Exit 6, the Mt. Ashland exit.

We'll make our way to the Mt. Ashland Ski Road and take it for 7.2 miles. At 7 miles is a large paved pullout on the right. Go a little further, and you'll see a smaller dirt/gravel pullout on the right. We'll park here. You'll see a trail on the otherside of the road. There is also a large PCT sign on a tree.

Once on the PCT, the ascents are gradual for the most part with some descents too. The trail is basically a foot path. Only in a few places walking poles may prove helpful.

The walk is a series of transitions between forests and meadows. The flowers are in bloom. We'll see Mt. Ashland on the right with its white doppler radar dome. At 1.6 miles is a gravel road. Cross the road, stay on the PCT for another 1.8 miles.

At 3.4 miles, we'll turn left onto a gravel road. There is a sign there that says Grouse Gap.

We'll walk a short distance to the end of the road to the Grouse Gap shelter. There is a picnic table and a restroom. The Grouse Gap shelter is visible from the PCT. We'll have a good look at our turn around point well before we get there.

Bring water and food. We'll plan on a lunch stop at Grouse Gap. We'll return the way we came.