This is a nice place to stop and take a rest. After a good rain this little stream opens up and further up a water fall forms. |
Having climbed Mt. LeConte via the Rainbow Falls /
Bullhead trail I found this hike to be a lot more comfortable as the elevation
gain is not as steep. For most of the hike I got that old forest feeling with
lush vegetation and big trees. The trail was wide and I was surprised to find
that quite a few people today had passed the falls and were heading up as well. The
Trillium Gap is the trail the lama train use to get supplies up to the lodge on
top of Mt. LeConte and on this particular day there must had been a supply
run. Quite a bit of lama scat was all over the trail so you had to be careful where
you stepped.
A tunnel of trees once you get on the Brushy Mountain trail. |
At a switch back some way up there was a nice rocky spot
covered in moss with a little stream that runs across the trail. This was the
perfect time for me to rest and eat a quick snack before finishing the climb. A little further up from this point you reach
the junction with Brushy Mountain. From here it is just 0.2 miles to where the
Brushy Mountain trail dead ends. This trail starts out very narrow and at some
points one could feel a little claustrophobic. At one point you are in a tunnel
of trees which then turns into walls of bushes. Once you get to the end the views are outstanding as you
can clearly see the summit of Mt. LeConte, the valley and mountains
beyond. The mountain lives up to its name as it is truly brushy at the top so
you do have to get on your toes to see some of the vista is places. All in all this was a
fantastic hike that is not too terribly physically demanding, and I would
definitely recommend this one.
The vista from the top of Brushy Mountain. |
Click the link to my Flickr album to view more pictures of the Trillium Gap and Brushy Mountain Trails. On Sunday October 11th Mary Ellen and I hike the trail again. There were some fall colors starting to pop, but it was pretty foggy. I have added those pictures Mary Ellen took to the Flickr album.