South Fork: Circling Murphy

Shasta-Trinity National Forest

(purple line for day 5, click for map)

DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5

I hadn't got hiking water the day before and figured I could just get it at the first good stream crossed on the way out. It wouldn't be far. It put an end to any prospect of doing the higher, longer trails of Saint Jacques Trail and Snow Gap Trail since those have no water.

Starting out on a section with plenty of very burned trees.

Where does this mushroom find the moisture?

However, when I got to the junction: "Well, I will want to try to put this trail in the right place on the map later," thought I. "It's always better to have a little bit of track at least." So I started up Saint Jacques Trail. Just a little bit. On the very good track. "A little more is better." Why not? It is a gentle slope.

Trail work that has definitely happened since the August Complex in 2020. Promising.

The trail looked so fine, I got to thinking that if the big crease up ahead actually does have water, I could keep on going this way. Two miles more isn't so much.

That crease in the land does have water. A strong stream of it with plenty of easy collection opportunity.

Finding water, I set to gathering and filtering and then wondering at the numerous banana slugs that seemed to be converging on my backpack while I was distracted with water bags and filters.

Stalked by a banana slug!

Or maybe they were just trying to get near the water as the day's heat started to rise and humidity plummet. The trail continued to be in great shape as I climbed. It was also surrounded by burned trees except for a quarter mile or so above Murphy Gulch.

A steep prairie allows a view of South Fork Mountain and its extensive trees, many waiting to fall.

Green trees! Green trees!

As the trail rounds the top of Murphy Gulch, it hits some small tributaries that look like they've been subject to a little extra erosion recently. The trail gets rough. It's still obvious and cleared of most trees right up to the end. Unfortunately, there's a tree that was just a little bit too big right at the trailhead. They cut a slightly shorter walk around and someone had started cutting out a tunnel through it, but something ran out and it was not finished.

Plenty of log cuts and tread and the back of the sign for the trail on the far side of the really big blocking thing.

The start of the tunnel cut on the road side.

The sign looks in excellent shape. Its new timbers suggest it was replaced. There's not much parking at this trailhead, but technically the road is closed to the public at the Y above. The only discouragement to driving it appears to be a sign a little further along pointing out it only goes to private property and there's no turn around. I turned to climb to that Y above.

Getting higher and higher.

A short road walk is required to connect these trails.

I found the Y and, expecting another mile of walking nearly unused road, turned to find they are a little more serious about this closed road. Just around the corner is a trailhead sign and a tank trap. Some road has been left for parking, but it hasn't been widened to allow for a little lot of sorts.

Finding trail a little sooner than expected. This sign looks new too.

Past the tank trap, which didn't have much thought put to allowing someone to walk comfortably past, I found a dense forest of often living trees. There were also plenty of dead trees, many of them reclining in a position that would block every inch of the former road. A lot actually looked like recent downings, but there were a few that seemed longer. Absolutely none of it had any cuts. It was disheartening.

Just a little pine down among some big madrones. It gets so much worse.

Almost totally clear, for now.

I passed a single huge log with a cut through it only big enough for trail. There was at least one bit of work since it was closed off. I passed some blue flags waving on the fuel break, but the map said follow the road still. Where it indicated the road turns into trail, a stand of little trees, some getting taller than me, were sprouting out of the bed, but there was bulge to indicate it was the end once. A little further, pink flags wave to the right for a route much different from the map line, but it was the only one so I headed down it.

A spring fed pool that probably sees a bear or two wallowing.

It didn't get all that much worse as I followed a trail down the road, over and under a few bigger trees, that was probably most traveled by bear. This bit of road wasn't placed on the map even as a closed segment, but the bed is still good under all those trees. It arrived, as I gradually became more sure it would, at the "end" of another closed road they did bother to map.

A bulge at the end of another closed road. It is covered in trees too.

I had a suspicion and walked a little further off the end of the turn around to find more wide, but tree covered, road heading downward. I know something at the bottom of that ridge for it to connect to, there about a mile up along Smoky Creek. Finding out was mildly tempting, but I wanted to walk Snow Gap Trail more. I turned around and laboriously climbed over, under, around a lot of trees to the turn above and then cut cross country up to the ridge line above.

Not just trail on the ridge, but recently worked trail.

Not just trail up there, but trail showing recent trail work. What? I definitely went wrong turning at the pink flags. Since there was no other route, I must have gone wrong at the blue flags. Did I actually miss the trail entirely back at the signed trailhead? Whatever, I was back on it and getting back to known trail was becoming shorter with each step.

Cut in tread as it hits the hill.

I was actually seeing what looked like an old steep trail with a new, much nicer set of switchbacks cutting across it. Sometimes the gentle curves went too far and started feeling like they were built for mountain bike. Unfortunately, in spite of the recent work, there were plenty of trees down on it, sometimes obscuring important bits of the trail. At one point as trail vanished under my feet, the digital map showed I was inside the Murphy Place area. Heading back to where trail should be, I passed some short, rusted segments of barbed wire sticking out of the tree that ate it at the property line.

A bit of private Murphy Place. There's a spring around there to keep that grass green.

Ah, green on trees.

Wait... what?

Things got wetter and better as I went down, although I did hit one spot where trail seemed to split without any real reason to choose one over the other. I went left, but it looks like the map went right.

A little view through the thinner trees.

Coming into a rocky oak savannah. The trail splits by the rock.

Down beside the oak savannah slope.

It is hot enough in the shade to be glad I went left instead of out into all that sun.

Water is heard flowing well beside the trail when almost back to South Fork Trinity River Trail.

A blue curl called "turpentine weed" tortured by life on the trail.

"Oh, good grief," said I aloud as I arrived at a much better traveled trail. I had clearly made a wrong turn somewhere. Again. Then realized I'd been there before. I was back on the South Fork National Recreation Trail. Or South Fork Trinity River Trail. Either way, I could relax. There was a short way to crossing Smoky Creek and on to the rest of known trail. The only worries I had left were the high sections that felt mildly suited for a mountain goat on the first pass and my oversized estimate of the miles back based on a GPS track with excursions.

You look like a wet foot crossing from here, but I know better, Smoky Creek.

And back beside South Fork Trinity River.

Even higher above South Fork Trinity River.

A study of treetops on either side of the river.

Could a plain land there? There's an airport mapped at Silver Flat.

The scary bits of trail just weren't that scary on the second pass. Maybe this is just the less worrisome direction for it.

An impressive tree beside the trail as it gets around the Devils Elbow.

But it is still very high up as one rounds the largely bare, steep slopes across from Hoffman Flat.

I was about to go dry and picked up water from Peyton Creek beside Stockton Flat. I paused again when a small bear popped up from below. It wasn't the least bit concerned about me. "Where's your mama?" I asked and a second small bear popped up. I got to moving again. She didn't show up before I got out of there.

Little black bear just doing its thing.

Everything is in shadow on the way back across the sturdy bridge.

Walking back on the road, I found vehicle tracks and a couple footprints that partly obscured my own. They were the only evidence I'd shared the trail with anyone the whole time.

Just another deep pool along the river.

One last bridge. Also, take off the lens hood for flash photography.

I made it back as the light failed. A long day, but at least I didn't have to go far to find camping with a campground surrounding the trailhead. Oh, and the miles downhill were shorter than those uphill. (The difference is probably the excursions.)

No proof about how uncomfortably hot it was because the temperature logger and flashlight didn't make the transfer from my day pack. I lamented the loss of data every time I passed a cool cleft with a stream.

*photo album*




©2024 Valerie Norton
Written 24 Oct 2024