MAILBOX - OLD TRAIL

For years I’ve been hearing dreaded tales of the old trail up Mailbox Peak.  When hiking I’ve heard comments along the lines of, “Well this is steep, but not like Mailbox”.  I’ve always been a little afraid of Mailbox and wondered “Could I do it?”.

Here’s a copy paste from the WTA website:

“The old route up Mailbox Peak holds a special place among the peaks along I-90. It has traditionally been a rough climber’s trail, an unrelentingly steep, rooted, rocky, muddy torture test, a crucible in which the summits of summer are forged. More than almost any other trail, it assaults gravity with single-minded determination, proceeding more or less due east straight up a ridge line to the summit, gaining some 3,800 feet in two and a half miles after an initial short jaunt up a DNR road. There is nary a switchback in sight.”

The result?  We made it to the top.  Difficult?  Yes, but it felt pretty good.  I was toast in the evening and went to bed early, but this morning I’m not really sore (that may hit later today or tomorrow).

For now, I have just one thought:  Gotta do that again…..