Buffalo Peak

We left the parking lot at 7:05am with eighteen fresh legs. The trail immediately set the tone with steep climbs and ify footing. As if to intentionally prove me a liar when I claimed this trail would be "less challenging", it tested the mettle of all eighteen legs. The eight shortest handled the trail without even a whimper. The group, Mel, Kristine, Allen (Kristine's husband), Mark U, Mike, Chewy and Kona made steady progress despite the trail's non-less challenging nature.

Eventually the trail claimed its first victim when Kristine begged us to leave her behind to be eaten by the mountain lions. She said she should at least make the pride stronger, Eskimo-style. Though I took a solemn pledge to never leave a man behind, women occupy a tricky gray area. We sprinkled her with seasoning and garnished with a sprig of parsley and then kept going.

There was discussion about which peak in front of us was our goal just as we rounded the hill guarding the north side of the very top of Canyon Creek canyon [Little Rock Canyon as the locals refer to it]. From a height over 100 feet higher than Squaw Peak, the summit of Buffalo Peak stared down upon us. When we got to the large fire ring at the very back of the canyon we could hear the sounds of vehicle traffic on the Squaw Peak Rd where it neared the trail. We continued on walking in the shadow of Cascade Mountain until we broke into the sun about 8:30am.

We made the peak at about 8:50am and enjoyed the somewhat hazy view. Granola Bars were eaten, pictures were taken, stories were told and dogs were watered. After about 15 min we headed back down the trail.



Mel left the group to head back in time to host a breakfast for friends while Mark and I played with a reluctant snake. We encountered a lot of wildlife including this lizard and this fuzzy caterpillar. As the saying goes, haste make waste. Mel took a wrong turn and ended up rejoining the group from behind and arrived back at the trail head with the rest of us at about 10:20am

GPS Tracks: kml gpx