Old Vista Ridge Trail

Greg and I headed out on the Old Vista Ridge Trail on Sunday. This trail was abandoned by the Forest Service for many years, but volunteers cleaned it up in 2007 and it now makes for a great hike! The last time we were here in early October of 2009 it was miserably cold and we had to hike through snow because there had been a big dump the previous week. This time we had MUCH more pleasant conditions!

Fall is going strong up there. We saw lots of red leaves alongside the trail.

We stopped at Alki Point, but the view to the north isn’t so great with all the wildfire smoke.

Once past Alki Point the trail loses elevation. This section is also somewhat overgrown, although the trail is still easy to follow.

We hiked all the way out to the old trailhead, where the Red Hill Guard Station used to be. (I have no idea why the G.S. was named after a hill that is over a mile away.) Below is a picture of the place from 1954 and it had a very unusual fire lookout platform up on the roof. I’ve never seen anything like it.

All that’s left now is the foundation of the station.

And the foundation of some kind of garage or shed.

After that we hiked back up the way we came. We had skipped Owl Point before but visited it on our way out. The view, of course, was awesome.

Looking east.

Then we hiked back out to the car. We ran into seven other people on the trail plus a large family with their dog. Nice to see people hiking this great trail!

Of course on the way home we stopped at the informal roadside viewpoint for an evening view of our lovely mountain.