We had climbed Crescent mountain from the south and spent the night on top. After the sun wore off some of the morning dew, we packed up our tent and sleeping bag. A breakfast of hot cereal and yesterdays huckleberries started the day on the right foot. There are some pretty good sized ant hills on the top of Crescent mountain. You might want to avoid walking over those on your morning constitutional. The trail is in pretty good shape. The descent toward the Old Cascade Crest Trail from the south is a wonderful 1100 m descent. Presently some areas are narrowed by brush, including rhododendron. But in the older forest, there is little brush and the trail delightful, swooping downhill. There are a few times where the slope steepens and there are a few switch backs. There is one bridge that is fatally collapsing. Be careful. If you're riding in August or September, there will come an elevation where the huckleberries are ripe. Water: You will cross several Pyramid streams at the lower elevations on this segment. The main Pyramid Creek is the last water for a very long time. The next water source that I know of past Gordon peak is to go off route, descend on Forest service Road 1161 about 1 km and lose 100 m of elevation. Otherwise it is dry well past Scar Mountain on the Old Cascade Crest trail. After fording Pyramid Creek and hiking the initial steep climb, the bike route splits from the hiking route. The hiking route takes a pass through wilderness to the west. The bike route follows a recovered Forest Road, mostly covered in moss and an easy ride uphill. Forest: from Pyramid Creek up to Gordon Peak, (and even beyond to Scar Mountain) there is a corridor of quite a bit of old growth timber. These massive and ancient trees always have me mesmerized. A few of them do lay across the trail, perhaps six over the course of the segment. Nurse logs are abundant. Our weather forecast was for sunny weather and we had thunderstorms, drenching rain and hail. A good remote place to be prepared for anything.