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Vent: Tried the 'official' trail around Lake Serene versus the old fire road route.
The fire road added 2 extra miles but saved my knees from 1,200 feet of brutal, unnecessary switchbacks on a wet Tuesday, and I'm never going back.
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sagecooper5mo ago
My buddy Mark got totally wrecked on the official Eagle Rock climb last fall. He found an old logging track on the map for the way down and said it was a total game changer. He swears by those old routes now for any descent in bad weather. Says his legs felt fine the next day instead of being useless.
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zarat385mo ago
Honestly, that "brutal, unnecessary switchbacks" line hits home. I did the official loop at Silver Falls last spring in the rain and my ankles were shot for a week. Tbh, I started checking the maps for those old service roads or even power line cuts when a trail looks too steep now. Saved my hike just last month when the main path was a straight up mud slide.
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the_fiona4mo ago
Used to be a TOTAL snob about sticking to official trails, thought anything else was cheating or something. Then I did the fire road shortcut at Rainier last fall and realized I was just making hiking miserable for myself for no good reason. Completely changed my mind after that.
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