Whiting Spring

Six Rivers National Forest

(Map link.)

I had two shorter trails in the plan for this day, but I was extremely certain that at least one wouldn't work out. I saw the sign for 5E41, stopped a bit past it, pondered, then turned back to risk my car a second time across a mile or so of FR-1 to attempt to park. (It is worth noting that while the road is entirely paved, it is so pitted with potholes, some large enough to eat a small car tire, that it requires constant vigilance to drive. This vigilance should not distract from watching for oncoming traffic on narrow curves. Also watch for fallen rocks and trees.) As this is actually a short Jeep road, there isn't actually any parking near it. I only managed to get halfway off the pavement, but well out of the lane of travel, so declared it good enough. It's not a very high traffic area and on a long straight section anyway. I had other reasons to be pretty sure no one would come down the road in their vehicle to join me at the spring.

The start of the Jeep road down to Whiting Spring is well marked, but blocked by trees fallen on it and those cleared from the main road.

Evidence of recent burn was everywhere, but the trees up by the road are largely still living and thriving. That changes rather drastically below the Jeep trail. I was paying more attention to the flowers, many coming right up in the middle of the road, but the transition to mostly dead trees was something I couldn't quite ignore.

The irises are showy now, but the strawberries will be of more interest when they start to fruit.

American vetch laces through the green.

An area where the Route Fire in 2015 was a bit more devastating.

A bit of the road that had been cleared before the burn, but now some has slipped. There's plenty of new stuff down and I ended up crawling under something twice.

Spiders like flowers, too, just not for the same reasons. This one found breakfast on a red larkspur.

I couldn't see evidence that people are wandering down the trail often, but toward the bottom, there is clear evidence of bear. I stepped in the bear steps and wandered through the debris much as the bear goes.

There seem to be a couple different blackberries, a particularly showy one and this one with sparse petals.

Bear "prints" in the greenery. Stepping in the same place each time leaves a line of holes in the growth.

Lovely little Menzies' baby blue eyes.

I got a bit engrossed in following the bear and didn't notice the road drop away as I got into a flat area. The bear scrambled down and I did too, shortly after noticing that road below.

Small pool where the land was flattened for a road once.

A really good trail went out the other side and the road seemed to continue, so I explored a little. It didn't continue for very long and the trail on it faded almost as quickly. I returned and noticed that I hadn't so much got too distracted to follow the road, but the road had split. There was even a third piece below. I got to looking for the actual spring, since the pool isn't the source.

Much fuller petals on a blackberry. The leaves certainly look similar.

A clearer version of a bear print in the mud by the pool.

There is flow above which seeps out of the soggy ground, so does not have a specific spot that is the source, just an area.

It's a pleasant spot, but I headed up after not too long.

The dogwood was hiding behind a maple, but I spotted it on the way up.

The big petals aren't petals at all, but do help signal where to find the tiny flowers at the center.

Some places have set up stations where people can engage in citizen science by contributing photographs of an area through time. If this is one such effort, it is distinctly missing any means to find the collection and add to it.

An ant crawls on a likely invasive dock.

*photo album*




©2021 Valerie Norton
Written 10 Jun 2021