First Brigade Trail 10/09/09

Steve on the First Brigade Trail:
“Fall is the time to do this hike. Notorious for ticks in the Summer, and with the Fall foliage, best to stick to alpine areas and reserve this for when the snow levels encroach. Whether I was out of shape or the stats were off, for some reason it seemed higher and steeper than I expected. In fact, I was questioning the popularity of this trail until we hit the forest fire remnants. This was what makes this hike unique – the open area in the midst of the former burn and foliage that is sprouting up as a result. To our surprise, where this trail meets the 1858 Trail (to Gate Mountain), there was an outhouse and picnic table! What else was really unique about this hike is that it is a loop of sorts allowing you to walk one ridge on the way out, and a different ridge on the way back (the lower half is common though). Views themselves on this trail are unique, but mediocre. We hit no snow, but there was evidence it was coming, What we did see a lot of was blowdown near the higher elevations, but it was easily stepped over and looks as if some recent cleanup efforts had been made. We went for “I Fly for Pie” for post-hike eats”