GUMJAWAC TRAILHEAD (BADGER CREEK WILDERNESS)

WHERE:     From Portland take Highway 26 west 1.5 miles past Government Camp to the Junction with highway 35.  Follow 35 south for roughly 10 miles to a trail sign on the right side of the highway.  There is no real trailhead park so get you car as far onto the highways shoulder as possible.  Due to parking constraints this trail is relatively unpopulated.

THE TRAIL:  The trail begins with a steep ascent for about 1.8 miles going from 3,500 feet elevation to 5,200 feet elevation.  This brings you to a rocky overcrop with a beautiful view of Mt. Hood.  Follow the trail for another relatively flat half mile past a spring to a junction on an old forest road.  The forest road basically marks the Wilderness boundary.  Going North will take you past a few Subalpine Meadows to Lookout Mountain with beautiful panaramic views:  Lookout Mountain is just over 6,500 feet elevation which is gained over 2.2 miles.  Going East will take you to the Badger Creek Recreation trail.  Two trails lead south.  One of the trails goes along Gunsight Butte ridge parralleling the forest road.  The other is Badger Lake trail which is inside the Wilderness.  You can follow the Badger Lake trail through subalpine forests of Mountain Hemlock, Engleman Spruce and Whitebark Pine to Badger lake.  You can then continue down the Badger Creek Recreation trail to a spur that loops back to Gumjawac.  This is a 7.5 mile loop.

Here I saw a family of Ruffed Grouse.  There was a mom with its hatchlings walking on the trail.  As they came into view the hatchlings scrambled into the brush while the mom flew onto a nearby branch to keep an eye on me and the babies.  The mom and the babies kept making noise so noone would get lost.