New signs going up in the Teanaway Community Forest!
The various fascinating rock formations in the Teanaway Community Forest are mostly sandstone with wind erosion holes. The surface of the rock looks like it should be smooth and soft to the touch but feels like coarse sandpaper when tested with a finger or the palm of the hand. We hiked to Cheese Rock in October 2023. [To see that report, put Cheese Rock in the blog search box.]
This time we went with good friends who had not been here before. It is a 3.5-mile RT with ups and downs, some quite steep. Total elevation gains about 400 feet that feels like more than that in a couple of places due to the steepness. There is one double outhouse and a brand new additional single outhouse in the enlarged trailhead parking area. There are two approaches to Cheese Rock, one goes up the Vesper Rock slab, the other is on an old logging road for most of the way, branching off to the left on a rutted wide path up to the rock. Both times we have been to Cheese Rock we have used the old logging road.
Charlie checking out the llama’s packs
Dot and Peggy
Dot has longer legs and a wider body than Peggy but both are Ccaras llamas, a special breed used as pack animals.
Last time we were here we saw llamas on an exercise route and their handlers. Imagine the delighted surprise when I saw the llamas again. This time the animals were wearing packs and getting used to carrying extra weight before the official hiking and camping season begins about a month from now. We talked with Charlie, the handler, and found out that he has 6 of these llamas on a ranch/farm close to the community forest. It makes a convenient and ideal place to exercise and train the llamas.
Jack the horse and rider
This is wild turkey hunting season. We encountered a total of 4 hunters, dressed in camo gear, with shot guns, and two of them had plastic turkey decoys strapped on their backpacks. They had not seen any turkeys; however, and were on their way out back to the trail head. Shortly after talking with the second group of two hunters, we met a woman who was riding a horse. She told us the horse was named Jack. She asked where we were headed and we said Cheese Rock and she raised two thumbs up. She said she had been riding all over the forest trails that day. She smiled and said she had seen turkeys but didn’t tell the hunters.
We made it to Cheese Rock
Ron and Bob smiling in front of Cheese Rock
We had no rain, only high clouds, peek-a-boo sunshine, and 15 to 20 mph winds at the top by Cheese Rock. The temperature stayed around 55 degrees F. From the top we could see down the rock slab route up to where we were. Someone was going down.
Someone going back down the slab route
When I took this picture, we could not tell if the person was male or female, only that they were walking down the rock slab. Later when we reached the main trail back to the parking area, we met the woman who turned out be the one in this picture. She was hiking by herself and had taken the alternate route up the slab then got about this far when she thought it was not safe to continue up and turned around. She then went back down a bit, took another trail, and ended up going up to Split Rock instead. While we had encountered other people on our hike, we were the first people she had seen all day.
View looking toward Mt. Stuart from Cheese Rock
Bonus for the day was meeting and talking with a volunteer on a bike who was posting signage all along several of the trails. He provided some historical information as well as answering our questions, then letting us know that a new section of the forest would be open beginning in June.
Spring is a good time to look for and admire the wildflowers. What did we find along the way?
Ballhead Waterleaf
Arnica
Arrowleaf Balsam Root
Glacier Lilies
Larkspur
White Lomatium and Ponderosa Pine Cones
Spring Beauty
White Rhododendron, Alba Albiflorum
This rhododendron is found in the Cascade Mountains of Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia, Canada. Here it is growing almost out of the rock on a windy high spot.
Pink Lupine
Purple/Dark Blue Lupine
The purple or blue lupine is more common. We had not seen a pink lupine in the wild before this. Commercial garden lupine can be almost any color.
Count for the day:
13 people, 5 dogs
RT 3.5 miles
Elevation gain: 400 feet
Discover Pass required
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