0.5, Wolf Ridge 6.3, Gregory Bald 1.2, Long Hungry Ridge 4.6, Twentymile 2.6

The Aug. 3l hike was changed to Sep. 2 because of storm damage in the Park. The descriptor received by the coordinator: WOLF RIDGE / LONG HUNGRY RIDGE --From the Twenty Mile Ranger Station, Twenty Mile Trail to Wolf Ridge Trail, across Gregory's Bald and down Long Hungry Ridge and Twenty Mile trails to the starting point. This is a strenuous hike.

I picked up BZ Lane at the start of the Foothills Parkway ~8:00; we then picked up Ellie Doughty at Look Rock. The Foothills Parkway is truly a lovely road; however, the next link we took is the section of US 129 called “The Dragon”. (The latter is very popular with motorcyclists; hardly a week goes by without a biker being killed or severely injured.)

We left the Twentymile Ranger Station at ~9:00 (Mike Miller and Barbara left fairly close to 7:00.) After 0.5 mi. we hit Wolf Ridge Trail (6.3 mi) and then Gregory Bald Trail (1.2 mi). From trail head to this bald is ~3,200 ft increase in elevation; it was nice to reach the top. Gregory Bald is almost devoid of trees but very heavy with “burly” weeds; you could hardly see the trail in one section. Mike and Barbara were waiting and we ate lunch there.

The next section was the Long Hungary Ridge Trail (4.6 mi); for the last section of the hike (Twenty Mile Trail—2.6 mi) Ellie and I cruised. We got to my car at 4:30; BZ arrived ~15 min. later; he’s a strong hiker but wanted to ensure that the other two had no problems (the others arrived ~10 min. later).

Back to the Dragon; only one pair of motorcyclists passed me crossing the yellow line; at about every scenic curve there were 2-6 bikers taking a break. After dropping off Ellie and BZ, I called Meredith and met her for dinner at Up the Creek.