Wooley Creek: North Fork

Klamath National Forest

DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3

Lighter colors for day 2. Click for map.

I wasn't hurrying, but kept doing the next thing that needed done and found myself ready to go at a halfway reasonable time. The sun was still a while off, but the trail work is lacking after the cabin and the going a bit slower, so I started. The colors were a little better, but nicer still once there was some sunlight to brighten them.

big leaf maple showing shadows of the higher leaves — The spreading leaves of a big leaf maple.

thin smoke in the air — The smoke? Thin, but there.

black oak leaves all green and bright red — The black oaks are coming into a bright red.

yellows by a long flat section of land — Big rounds of moss covered rocks and scattered yellows on both sides of the creek.

burgandy — A valley oak offered the deepest reds of the day.

Besides a couple new trees, the trail was just as I remembered it.

nearly leafless trees — Through the nearly bare trees along the trail, there's a line of yellow visible marching up the near ridge.

yellows reflected in the water — A gentle reflection of the area yellows.

The yellow along the ridge was due to short oaks. These are directly above where I searched out what little is left of a cabin marked on the map on the first trip here.

madrones and the trail — The madrones add their color any day of the year.

madrone bark wrapping a tight spiral — Sometimes the madrones offer strange patterns in the way their bark peels.

drops making a waterfall — I took the tiny bit of old trail to see the dribbling waterfall, this time in sun, and was surprised to see it has almost as much water as before.

Wooley Creek surrounded with turning things — There's more places to watch Wooley Creek run past on this part of the trail.

tree overhanging the creek — This overhanging maple is just getting started with color.

I got to Bear Skull Camp and had a really good look for my misplaced toiletries bag. It wasn't there. I even tried to think where someone might have put it to be more visible and looked in all those spots. Maybe it wasn't ever there. I might have drawn the wrong conclusion from what few memory clues I have. It might have been picked up by bear or human or raccoon or wind. Although I had told myself not to expect it, being there is a low probability event, it took the wind out of my sails to not find it. I've found some geocaches where it was difficult to believe the thing had lasted the two years since the last finder. This little packet didn't make it, though. I still had a little trail left before it would ask me to get my feet wet and I was going to say "nope!" to see more colors, so I got moving once more.

red trees coming along the trail — The dogwoods can get a deeper red like these.

maple leaves with the light coming through — The overhead maple leaves are just that much better in the midday sun.

I didn't notice I'd taken the last turn away from the main creek to get to the crossing of North Fork until I was navigating the small but wide stream that happens to flow across the trail less than a quarter mile from the fork itself. A few more steps and I found myself on the bank.

North Fork Wooley Creek comes flowing down.

Wet feet? Nope! Having come as far as I would, I turned back.

creed with thin trees lining it — Flowing with the creek beside it on the trail.

tall tree among the pines — One of the taller trees giving colors in one of the flats where the trail is the messiest with logs.

I had got about half a mile back when my accidental nearly two week quarantine was broken. Up marched one of the fisheries guys to declare that we had met last year. Nah. Two ago? Three? More recently. Just four months ago. He had been trying to think who might be out here while coming up to change the same temperature gauge. This time he was with his wife because she enjoys hiking the canyon too. When I mentioned coming up for the fall colors, he mentioned the reds of the chinook salmon that can be seen in the slower moving gravel bottom areas of the creek. That's certainly an unusual thought for fall color. I think he might have settled into the right job.

a pool in the creek — Unfortunately, I could barely find the gravel areas, much less the getting rather rare salmon.

leaves in yellow and red — Colors beside a stream gully.

reflections and leaves reflected — Reflected colors on the water are certainly easier to find.

late afternoon light on the cabin — Returned to Fowler Cabin in the late afternoon light.

I got back to the cabin with very little sunlight left, but more than an hour of light. I gathered more water and read a Robert Frost that has been left in the cabin until there wasn't enough light to see the words on the page. The two returned in that light with a little left to go back to their camp. That's taking every bit of light for sure.

Continue on to the next day ⇒

Liked this? Interesting? Click the three bars at the top left for the menu to read more or subscribe!

Comments

Chris Valle-Riestra said…

Sure looks pleasant!

Can you describe the location of the "tiny bit of old trail to see the dribbling waterfall?" I'm thinking it's probably by where the trail climbs high and crosses a small creek that flows down a slippery sloping rock outcrop that you have to walk, about half way from Canyon Creek to Dead Horse Creek. If so, above or below where the trail crosses? Approach from the east or from the west? T.y.

"Wet feet? Nope!" It looks like you might even be able to rock hop the North Fork this time of year. A far cry from the raging torrent you'd find in May.

A question on the trail location at the North Fork. Your tracks show that you did a little switchback at the very end, descending to the stream. Is that where the main trail goes, or were you on a side path to the camp?

"When I mentioned coming up for the fall colors, he mentioned the reds of the chinook salmon that can be seen in the slower moving gravel bottom areas of the creek." Ah, he was referring to "redds," the nesting depressions that salmon hollow out of the gravel by swishing their tails.

Robert Frost seems very appropriate. What a nice find at a remote cabin!

22 November, 2020 17:21

Valerie Norton said…

That sounds like the right place for the dribble of a waterfall. It is very high and very vertical down to Wooley, which runs an impressive chute at that location. The old trail is on the east side below the current trail. It used to go right across the shelf below the waterfall and if you look really closely on the other side you can just barely make out where it continued. The water is not tasty. According to the geotag: 41.45045707, -123.32450033.

North Fork rock hop? Nope! I'm not brave enough to make that jump. For the boulders above, one might be able to, but you better stick the landing. For below, it's just hiding behind the rocks. There's still plenty of creek. The trail is partly washed out coming down to the creek and I went down at one spot, then looped back and dropped down a little downstream which was where I started the crossing on the last trip. I have no idea where the camp might be. On the way back, I tried what I thought would be trail to it, but that didn't go anywhere ultimately. There is a spot by the trail that could be used in a pinch. At this point, I don't believe in the North Fork Camp.

I asked Wikipedia if chinook are even red and it said a bit. I also saw that females should be up to lay their eggs and then guard them for a while throughout the fall. I didn't realize they lived much past laying, much less guarded. And, yes, he made a joke that sailed right over the top of my head.

22 November, 2020 21:25

Chris Valle-Riestra said…

Whoosh!

22 November, 2020 21:29

Search This Blog

Moments in Dirt and Ink