I decided to head on up to Henninger Flats along the toll road this
evening. I need to walk more, after all. Just past the two mile
marker, I saw a nice tree full of flowers and sketched it.
A flowering tree along the road.
From
there, I continued up to Henninger and a little bit further. There
were three deer in the campground and another one just outside it. I
went on up to where a road heads off to the west, quickly splitting into
a numbered route and a road to a helicopter pad. By then the sun was
set. I'd driven up to the start, hiked about three miles uphill, and
got a sketch done in just a little more than two hours.
I took a
good look around because it was still time for colors in the sky and
I'd not been up that far and the road had just reached the edge of a
ridge with the far side having a little different character from the
side I'd been up. Then I hiked back down. It was shortly after 9PM
when I got back to the gate, locked sunset to sunrise. It really was
locked, so I had to backtrack to the other side of the bridge and follow
the trail along the creek a little way before crossing and climbing out
to my usual parking space along Altadena then hike back up the roads to
the car. It worked out and I got to lead a fellow who hadn't believed
the sign along the shorter way back than going all the way down to the lot that is nearly to New York.
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Liked this? Interesting? Click the three bars at the top left for the menu to read more or subscribe!
Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest ( map link ) I had a big day planned and got up in the early cold. That first dim, dawn light played in a band across the western peaks of Lamoille Canyon. The edge of it diffused downward into the rest of the canyon and then the band was repeated, this time with the first light of sunrise. It took a lot longer for the edge of this light to travel down into the bottom of the canyon and I was long on the trail by the time it did. Trailhead at the end of the road. Detailed signs about possible destinations are a short way down the trail on the left. Looking behind to a long canyon of shadow A pleading to stay on the trail in this fragile environment There are two trails to choose from for going up. The hiker trail travels the east side of the canyon, so would be cold longer, but would look across to the lit part of the canyon, which I hoped would make for better photographs. The stock trail climbs the other side and I could see it sitting...
Uncompahgre National Forest (map link) The Forest Service seems to be uncertain if it is Lake Hope or Hope Lake, but more certain that it is the Hope Lake Trail. It consistently marks the road up to the trailhead as a 4x4 road, so I parked in a turnout at the bottom and started up, getting increasingly grumpy about how it is a rather good road with a loose rock here or there. I chatted with some campers about how it was probably great all the way up, but they'd gotten to their rather brilliantly picturesque site and been sufficiently mesmerized by it not to continue on. Talking with them got me sufficiently emboldened to actually stick out my thumb at the truck that came by as I finished the chat. When you're going 5 MPH anyway, it's easy to stop, and he did. Greg was going for the hike too and actually wouldn't mind having a buddy. The road promptly turned to something it wouldn't be wise to try the Scion on. With good judgement, I probably could make it, but...
Apache National Forest Click for map. What struck my fancy to hike while at Quemado Lake was Escondido Mountain, although I'm not sure how one can get away with calling a 1800 foot prominence peak "hidden" is beyond me. It has no trails up it, so I have to determine my own route. Escondido Trail caught my eye first, but it really doesn't go high up the mountain and it doesn't do it on one of the steeper slopes. The road it starts from looks like a better bet, follow it up as far as it goes then grab the ridge tot the right. The easiest way up, though, looks like a 4WD road that starts further south on the (should be) Scion friendly Baca Road #13D. This one climbs high up to a saddle west of the peak leaving less than a mile of ridge walking to the top. Although it means a couple miles road walking on something I can drive, I think I'll combine the two into a loop. I just have to find parking near the intersection of 13D and 4018J, which is pretty eas...
Six Rivers National Forest DAY 1 | DAY 2 (map link) Bluff Creek Historic Trail gets my attention as I zoom by because it is clearly signed to be visible from the road and the trail is obviously used and in good shape. Also, why is "Historic" stuck in there? (Besides the obvious, the Forest Service simply says, "Gateway to Bigfoot Country" , which doesn't seem particularly unique along the Bigfoot Scenic Byway.) It doesn't get my attention when I'm looking at a map because it just offers about 1.5 miles of connecting the highway to Slate Creek Road, a paved road that leaves the highway a short distance northeast of the trail. However, further along in the same direction and connected by an unimproved road is "Wright Place (site)" which sits next to Bluff Creek. The trail is numbered, the road is not. While it is tempting to think that an old road is bigger and therefore more likely to be passable, it doesn't really work out that wa...
Comments