{"id":4788,"date":"2023-08-05T15:39:49","date_gmt":"2023-08-05T15:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/?p=4788"},"modified":"2023-08-08T16:50:06","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T16:50:06","slug":"iron-mountain-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/2023\/08\/05\/iron-mountain-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Iron Mountain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sunday, July 2, 2023<\/p>\n<p>While staying at Bald Knob Lookout we did several hikes. Today we did Iron Mountain.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>We really didn&#8217;t know anything about this hike other than the short description on the Forest Service <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fs.usda.gov\/recarea\/rogue-siskiyou\/recreation\/recarea\/?recid=70054\">website<\/a>. Iron Mountain Trail #1265 spans several miles from its northern trailhead on Road 260 down its southern trailhead on Road 5325. We drove to the southern trailhead, not expecting to find anything except a trail disappearing into the woods. But there was actually a sign here describing the Iron Mountain Botanical Area:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084367458_c5812c37d8_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084366898_e1530d05d9_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We set off up the trail, which is actually an old decommissioned road:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084367068_b352a047ed_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s a berm here to keep people from driving the old road, but a berm never stopped a determined OHV driver:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084062929_76cb465644_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084062254_44fb23d186_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Where the old road forked there was an actual sign pointing the way! Shocking!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083303472_c27b181c93_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It was rough and rocky hiking:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083870971_b95e437a1f_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083301397_103dd079a4_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084275268_d374cb49ef_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We saw some iris:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083226937_21c6441c80_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And azaleas:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084278240_9089262a22_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And paintbrush:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083985374_1972afe518_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Just 0.7 miles from the trailhead we reached a sign that said &#8220;Iron Mountain Vista&#8221; and we turned right:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084274440_3a2a499e78_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In another 0.2 miles we were at the summit:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083863181_ef87c54c1f_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This is another former site of a fire lookout:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083295057_c9ab41e7ef_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084052674_38e443a40f_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083287482_9735da0f3b_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The views were great! Looking north with another hump of Iron Mountain&#8217;s long ridge on the right, and Barklow Mountain just left of that:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084356183_5df973d11e_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Looking west with the Pacific Ocean visible in the background:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084266020_a55c0eda45_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Looking northwest with Copper Mountain in the foreground and Barklow Mountain at far right:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083292517_63f7ca2490_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Distant view of Edson Butte Lookout:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083875186_b3e6960a0f_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Looking east to Bald Knob, the rounded forested butte in the middle ground:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083284322_ba70ceb90c_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You can just barely make out our lookout:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083306217_4250858e46_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Looking southwest:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083858686_2004f10455_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I think that distinctive formation is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peakbagger.com\/peak.aspx?pid=64193\">Sawtooth Rock<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084263590_25b8628b38_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Looking south. Lake of the Woods Lookout is on the ridge in the middle ground:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084048444_094f27eba8_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Looking northeast:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084046214_eca57100e7_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Greg spent much of our time up here photographing the tiny flowers:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084273830_ee31f6a7f5_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084070529_b836b5d1b1_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p>After spending awhile on the summit we headed down:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083284672_4c298927f5_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;d had the summit to ourselves the whole time, and our timing in leaving was good because we encountered other hikers heading up right as we were heading down. Cool lizard:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53083875176_8ac5080404_c.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Mountain Hike\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p>On the drive out we stopped to check out the darlingtonia patches along Road 5325:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084079124_175468807e_c.jpg\" alt=\"Darlingtonia\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084292765_56abed83ff_c.jpg\" alt=\"Darlingtonia\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084292260_3229b050ba_c.jpg\" alt=\"Darlingtonia\" width=\"533\" height=\"800\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084382158_1f92979221_c.jpg\" alt=\"Darlingtonia\" width=\"533\" height=\"800\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084478815_c23c3fd669_c.jpg\" alt=\"Darlingtonia\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53084566968_3dfe208ecb_c.jpg\" alt=\"Darlingtonia\" width=\"533\" height=\"800\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Short but rewarding hike! <\/p>\n<p>Gaia stats: 1.8 miles, 500&#8242; elevation gain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sunday, July 2, 2023 While staying at Bald Knob Lookout we did several hikes. Today we did Iron Mountain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4813,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[186],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4788"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4788"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4814,"href":"http:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4788\/revisions\/4814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cherylhill.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}