I was considering hiking out of VVR on the Bear Ridge Trail, instead of taking the ferry. I was wondering if anybody has any opinions about the relative aesthetic merits of the Bear Ridge Trail vs. the JMT up Bear Ridge. Any ideas would be welcomed. Thank you…
Quin
The climb out of Edison Lake on the JMT is nicely switchbacked, but it is one of the drier parts of the JMT - as I recall. You are in pine forest for a number of miles south of the ferry landing, with few views.
Since I haven’t walked the Bear Ridge Trail (yet), I can’t compare the two, but from my standpoint, you wouldn’t be missing a whole lot by taking an alternate route.
The highlight of that section for me was meeting a trail maintainer with llamas, meeting a nobo hiker who knew a colleague of mine back east, and seeing a Coopers Hawk soar just over my head in the forest.
Have a great hike!
JH
I hiked up Bear Creek last season because Edison lake was about 50’ low. It is a mile or so longer than Bear Ridge, but was recommended to me over the ridge trail because the ridge trail is primarily used for mule train resupply for trail workers, so it is not maintained. The VVR staff dropped me off at the wrong bear creek trailhead, but I still hooked up with the bear creek trail to head back up to the JMT. It was a nice climb along water the whole way. Lots of swimming pools. There were lots of tall knee busting steps, but it was still nice. Some slab walking towards the top.
weez
I’ve done Bear Ridge and the JMT route. I’d say the JMT route has some nicer views and is in better shape than Bear Ridge, but it’s not like it will be the highlight of your trip either way. So to avoid the ferry $$ and time constraint, taking Bear Ridge makes sense and i’d do it that way again.
Cuddles
Thanks everyone for the info. I guess I’ll figure out which way to go when I get there. The creekside trail does sound nice, though…
Quin
As weez mentionsed, I took the Bear Creek trail last season for the same reason - nice to have a creek to walk along and would of had a mile walk from the ferry landing last year back to the trailhead. I also wanted to get started earlier in the day than when the ferry leaves VVR (9a). You can either walk the length of the Lake Edison dam (about 1.5 miles) to the trailhead or yogi a ride from the VVR folks (I paid them the same fee as the ferry would be for their graciousness).
Yes I broke the JMT “pureness rule”, but walked about the same number of miles.
So Quin it is your call - the Bear Creak trail is nice and very pretty to walk along.
OregonBeerMan