Green Mountain

On May 2, 2012,  the three month anniversary of Chris' back surgery,  we summitted Green Mountain. He had done the climb before, but it was a first for me. Gold Creek Trail is 5 miles round trip, with an elevation gain of 1000 feet.   The summit of Green Mountain is 1639 feet, so while not very tall compared to the neighboring Olympics, it is a good hike that is very close to home! Located off Seabeck Highway and Holly Road on the Kitsap Peninsula, Green and Gold mountains are practically in our backyard.  The trails in this area, and there are many, are very popular not only with hikers, but with mountain bikers and motorcycles alike.  We have found the best time to go is mid-week, when the motorized vehicles are less likely to be seen and heard. 

Early on the trail you find Gold Creek and can amble down a fairly steep trail to get to the water.

A bridge on the trail crosses over and that's the last time you'll see the creek.  The trail winds up the mountain and can be steep at times. There are several other trails and old forest roads that branch off, but to get to the summit you have to stay on either Gold Creek or the slightly longer Plummer Trail. As you climb, you begin to see a few peak-a-views from the trees and get an idea of how amazing the summit will be.

 In the Northwest,  winters are gray and catching a sunny day in the Spring (hell, anytime of year) is a treat for the soul.

At the summit there are picnic tables, outhouses, and of course, even on a cloudy day, amazing views of the Puget Sound and Seattle.  On a clear day you also get stunning views of the Olympics and Mount Rainier.

Unfortunately, some of the views include clear-cut areas in this DNR managed land. But the summit is still beautiful. As we sat and ate lunch we could hear and eventually saw a hawk flying about.

On this day we had the summit all to ourselves, only saw two motorbikes and one other couple hiking.  We saw a lot of birds, a lot of slugs, and a couple snakes! And there were some beautiful, tiny blue butterflies that swarmed all around Cricket for a few seconds before moving on - it was magical! This hike is a good workout,  rated three of five on the difficulty scale in our guidebooks.  It was a great achievement for Chris post-surgery and on the road to recovery.  We are very spoiled to have such amazing trails practically in our back yard.