Bald Peak For The First Time (Again)

Last Sunday, I got out fairly late (about 8:30 am) and headed out to Maple Springs Road. I was hoping to re-take photographs of the yellow Maples (having accidentally deleted them a couple of weeks back!). Upon arriving to the trailhead, I continued onto Maple Springs Road, driving the first 3.5 miles, just like I always do. At the end of the paved road, I backed into a space on the dirt over the dry creek. Getting situated in the spot just right, I accidentally pushed down the accelerator instead of the break (which was so weird) and I lurched forward up the road. And it was at that very instant that I decided not to park, but to keep on driving. On a whim, I drove up a little over four miles to a nice flat area called “Four Corners.”

Well, I arrived too late in the season to re-take pictures of the beautiful yellow maples. Their leaves had all dropped. But all was not lost. Maple Springs is still a beauty to the eyes no matter what season. The drive up was slow, and fun – I am probably too careful when it comes to off-roading (I don’t do it much). The wind was rough and cold at the top (the top being Four Corners where Harding Truck Trail, Maple Springs and The Main Divide meet). And when I opened my truck door it slammed against me. After that, I sat in my truck a bit to gather the nerve to face the wind and cold. I did so shooting a live Facebook video. Saying what I was going to do on live video, meant I had to do it (even if only one or two people watched).

Being that I saved so much time by driving up the mountain instead of hiking it, I decided to make another go at Bald Peak. A few months back, maybe weeks, I hiked to what I had thought was Bald Peak (again) and happened to turn on my phone gps. Lo and behold, I was not standing on Bald Peak. So, I have been wanting to find the real Bald Peak for quite some time now, being that it was already crossed off my peak list.

The actual Bald Peak was easy to find, having mapped it out previously. Had to do some scrambling to reach the top, and it was a bit scary hiking down due to its steepness. Thankfully, there was a sign posted at the peak to show me that I had indeed bagged the actual Bald Peak.

Some of the fire damage on The Main Divide:

Looking across at Maple Springs Road:

The climb up to Bald Peak: