Elk River Trail, plus another Quest

Headwaters Forest Reserve

Click for map.

I need to get a hike with some length to it, so I started looking for things accessible via CA-36, then gave up and went out for another Redwood AdVentures Quest (link to interpretive trail brochure). It seemed a bit of a gamble, but it's close enough to just go for it. There would be no good parking if they closed the gates, but they have not and there are spaces available. Bathrooms are closed, but the trail is open. I'll hike the South Fork Elk River up to its little bit of old growth once again.

Just a bit of warning on entry. Plenty of parking. Most of it is on the other side of the trees, but some is to the right and by the pickup.

paved trail and signs — New signs include "pack it in, pack it out" on the garbage that isn't getting collected and "social distancing" requirements. This trail includes a mile that is wheelchair accessible.

First up, that Quest. It says to start at the Quest box a quarter mile along the trail.

Quest box to start the Quest — The Quest box is off to the side of the trail where there is a little dirt trail. It contains three gently used copies of the brochure today.

Then one is to take the gravel and dirt trail through the trees for the first few stops. It swings close to the river and around the remains of an old residence where the caretakers of the area once lived.

wood rat nest in the tree — First stop is the wood rat nest about 15 feet up. It doesn't have to be pretty to be educational.

Second stop for the river. It is not much of a river for the area, but it is only the South Fork Elk River, not the whole Elk River.

fern fronds folded and expanding — The subject of the stop is salmon, but I see none of them running. I do see new ferns expanding their fronds.

small structure — The shed is still standing, but a much larger structure is just a foundation now.

Back on the paving and continuing up the river, the barn is the next stop. It was moved and restored and now houses educational displays. Of course, it is closed. Further along, I am asked to pay attention to the stumps and how they sprout. There's actually quite a lot of them. I think this is common because fire prone areas tend to have the plants that do this, but it is actually rare. That indicates it isn't normally an advantage. I wonder why that is.

sprouting stump — Here is an old stump looking half decayed where the sprout has been cut down and itself has sprouted.

Old bits of train trestle still exist, so that is a stop. What appears to be the broken pieces of an old truck is not a stop. I keep thinking I can see old level from a road bed above the current one. Apparently that is because there was one there. I wonder why they didn't use that old bed for the current one. The final stop is Falk, but there is not much of the town to see now. The area is closed to entry.

wood falling down — Trestle to carry the trains across the river 100 years ago.

flowers of purple in the sun — Found some flowers in the sun.

scrap metal in the shade — Bits of old truck rusting in the shade.

I've got my answer (again), so it is time to leave the paving for mile 2, as marked by a sign. The trail is still wide and gravel, except where land slide has adjusted it. I'd forgotten about the landslide completely, so the sign that the trail is closed in a half a mile makes me worry.

blue flowers with a little red in the new ones — I like a flower with a bit of bold structure to it.

purple honeysuckle — A flower typical of plantings around old cabins below a spur road. The reserve is only a narrow strip in this section.

fork in the trail — Trail closed, says the sign, as it points upward.

So the trail has been closed, but the bypass is not. That's how I interpret the sign with an arrow upward saying only "trail closed", anyway. The trail looks nice from here while the bypass goes uphill on slick mud that threatens to help me to the ground with each step. I have poles, but there are very few marks in it from others with poles. There are plenty of slipping footprints. It doesn't quite get up out of the slide, but a ribbon marking the reserve boundary flutters not far above it. Getting across is not so bad, but down the other side takes a bit of care. It's nice to be back on the gravel on the far side.

flat, wide gravel trail — Back on the trail again.

red leaves — The fluttering red undersides of some redwood sorrel growing on the roots exposed by the creation of the road (now trail).

horsetails with spore generating thingies — Even some of the non-flowering plants appear to be in bloom. Horsetails have such a unique look to everything they do.

Mile 2 was marked by the last bridge across a tributary. Mile 3 is marked just before the trail crosses the river and starts to climb. I guess the trillium isn't feeling so bloomy around here because I have finally spotted the first one of the day. The trail leaves the bits of old road for other sections, so there are long sections of narrow trail here. Sometimes the hill is steep enough that stepping off the trail would not be an option. I seem to be the only one using it anyway.

mushrooms in the hillside — Looking down across mushrooms on the hillside. Would it be too much to ask that the central object be in focus?

trail with trillium at the sides — The trail found another bit of old road, but doesn't really expand across it. Found lots of trillium here.

more ferns and little trees — Getting to the ridge top and now there's more than one way down.

It is easy to characterize the trail as three miles of flat and two miles of climb, but once it gets up to a sort of ridge area, it really does more traveling across than climbing. It feels like quite a bit of travel.

nursery log with plenty of ground cover — A nursery log above the trail brings a new level of growth.

trillium being bold and white — There's not quite so many trillium along the trail today as yesterday.

yellow mushrooms with large gills — One of a collection of yellow mushrooms along the side of the trail.

thin trees with trail through them — Passing more and more thin, young trees.

I'm not looking for an end to the stumps scattered about before getting to the split for the little loop at the end. I remember how it just touches the old growth rather than being entirely within it.

trail splits beside stumps — Stumps beside the trail split just to rub it in that the length through old growth is shorter than the tiny loop.

I pass a few more stumps before finally coming to the reward for the miles.

black ripples of fruiting body — Taking in some of the fungus that is not so much a mushroom or bright.

burned and tortured tree — Now some big trees with character.

Then past one last stump, there they are. Big trees that have seen some years. Fire has carved its way along most so that every one has a very distinct look. There's still narrow trees. Someone has to be the big old trees standing tall when these fall in a few hundred years or more. They'll have developed character by then, too.

looking through you — One particularly tortured, but living, tree is a window to more.

burn halfway up — This tree seems to be burned high and rather completely, but there is still a lot of green at the top.

more trail and trees — It's not all trees tortured by fire. Some have done quite well in the fires.

Far too soon, I'm back to the stumps. I want to keep on going up. I looked at a map and much of the reserve is actually further along the way the trail was traveling. There's another strip of logged trees, then vast old growth up there. I want to spend more time among them. What is this nonsense of hiking many miles to see just a few before getting turned back? But the trail doesn't go there and travel without a trail is not allowed here.

stumps beside the trail — Back among stumps shortly before the loop finishes.

So back I go. I missed a few things on the way up. There's a stem with circling leaves that suggests to me that there might be some Humboldt lilies hanging across the trail in a few months. I saw a couple in Prairie Creek, too. My list of where to find them up here isn't very long yet. I take more note of what is actually blooming now on the way down.

many lots plants in a few feet — A spot that gets some sun is doing well for a competition for diversity of plants.

lots of little yetllow spots — The violets are still blooming strongly.

redwood eats — A freshly lost bit of bark shows where someone has been eating at a redwood stump.

I thought I heard voices up among the trees, but no one else was up there with me. No footsteps on mine in the muddy spots. Half the brain for processing sound is devoted to sorting out speech, so they say. It does tend to find more chatter than is really out there.

fungus of stringy white — More fungus fruiting bodies.

trail through the trees and ferns — About to drop off the ridge again.

spotty leaves with floppy stems and pods — Did these spotty plants already go right past flower to seed or are those thin three lobes at the end of the pod petals?

I also thought there wasn't any trillium until I started climbing, but there's plenty I just didn't notice while looking at other things.

purple trillium — Not just trillium, but some of a different color. This one hides under the bridge.

purple near the river — More purple trillium down by the river hanging out with some more violets in yellow.

There's other people again once I'm down across the river once again. There's a three mile marker as the trail climbs up to the old road bed following it. I noticed the four mile far up and it feels like that mile was a lot longer than the other ones. Except for the muddy bypass, it's all easy. I finish it with mud plastered down one side, but it was a really soft fall. So much for those poles. There's other muddy trousers on the way back. I'm not the only one who got too sloppy along the way.