The rain that was forecast for today held off, so after lunch I grabbed the Hummer keys and headed out to a nearby mountain trail. I had recently heard, through a local 4x4 forum, that a branch road off a well known FSR was now open, after being gated for years. I got there about 2, and found the narrow road to be in pretty good condition, due to recent logging near the summit, but right from the start it was steep enough to be best climbed in low range. At about 2 km up, I saw a very scenic small waterfall, and stopped for the photo, of course. At km 3 the grade lessened to a more normal climb rate, and I continued all the way to the recent logging show at the end of a nice hanging valley at 800M el.(about 2500'). There were still patches of snow, but the road was bare, with a thin layer of mud from the snow melt, so I had my eyes peeled for tracks, but only saw lots of bear scat, probably from last fall, before the snows came.
After a break to stretch my legs and have a snack, while glassing the clearcut, and a talus slope at the foot of an impressive rock bluff, I headed back down the trail, exploring a couple of older deactivated branches along the way, and taking a few more scenic pics. Since the start of this route is only 40 minutes from my home, I was back in time for dinner at 6.