Jacksonville Woodlands (loop hike from Beekman House) 3-20-23

Photos by Bob and Randy

Track download by Randy: Jacksonville 3-20-23.gpx

Sixteen hikers met at historic Beekman House (circa 1873) for a 6 mile loop hike around Jacksonville.

The calendar marked the first day of Spring and right on cue the sun came out and the rain went away. 😎

We followed Randy's and Linda's advanced scouting track through the Woodlands with occasional side trips off the track.👍

At the higher points on the trail exposed to more sun Liz helped us spot some early sprouting wildflowers, including:
Hounds Tongue, Milkmaids and Henderson's Shooting Star. We read about Gentner's Fritillary (native to the Woodlands), but will have to return in May to see them blooming.

While scouting, Randy heard hundreds of frogs croaking in a pond so we took a side trail up to see, but they must have heard us coming so they went silent.🐸

Our next side trip was down to the French Gulch trail to see the hydro mining display including a long water slew and a water cannon. We had our group photo there, then took the steps up to see where the reservoir was to supply the gold mining operation.

Next we visited the open grave of an old Chevy truck, after coming down from the scenic White Oak Trail.

For our next side trip we hiked up to Panorama Point. Since the sun was out and the clouds were scattered we had good views of Roxyann Peak and the northside of Grizzly Peak, still covered with snow.

Our final side trip was to La Fiesta for lunch! When I told our host we had a party of 16 he said "give me a minute" and quickly proceeded to move tables and chairs so we could all sit together. We had a fun, relaxing lunch with good food and refreshments. After lunch we walked about half a mile back to parking at Beekman House.

We had covered 5.8 miles through the hilly Woodlands and gained 1000' in elevation.

It was a Great Day Hiking!
Rich