It turns out this last recent storm was a lot less than advertised. There was very little snow. We brought our snowshoes but managed to summit the peak with just hiking boot.
Finding the trailhead can be a little tricky. The TH is on the left exactly 1.3 mile from the gate on Fordyce Road (this is the road you take to the historic “Land of the Giant Brookies”). The TH is exactly 1 mile from the bridge over Rattlesnake Creek. The TH is exactly 0.3 mile from the 1 mile marker on Fordyce Road. I want to be clear because somebody may want to bag this peak in heavy snow so I hope to give good directions. The trail is an old 4X4 road that is blocked by a big boulder at the trailhead. The TH is marked with red flags tied to trees. Here is a picture of the TH. The boulder is behind the Ridgeline.
Once on the trail the hike is pretty straight forward, unless you make the wrong turn. There is a fork in the road about ¼ mile up the trail. Please veer to the right. Go between these two big trees.
The trail up is a series of switchbacks.
Eventually you see the Signal House. This house was used for over 50 years to “Signal” CPRR trains of track hazards. This is how the mountain got the name. You can do an internet search for more information about this rock structure.
We even saw a forest fire east of the peak.
The Signal House is not on the peak proper. We still had a little jaunt to reach the towers on the peak.
Sadly, this is the deepest snow we found all day.
Thanks for reading our post, and please pray for snow!
-Russ
