South Fork: Downhill All the Way

Shasta-Trinity National Forest

(blue line for day 4, click for map)

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

The logical end point for the day would be Smoky Creek, which did have another camping area that I hadn't used that didn't look too bad. But you know what? I don' wanna, I don' wanna, I don' wanna, and you can't make me. Plus, spending three out of four nights within a mile of each other? Massive eye roll. I decided to only go as far as Saint Jacques Place. It leaves a long day for the finish, but not too long. It would give me a chance to poke around a little. I would be set up for trying the alternate trails, but that looked like two extra miles. Based on my performance so far, it was too long, so I certainly wouldn't be doing that.

The unsigned start of the South Fork Trinity River Trail as it leaves the dispersed camping road (which was signed).

My shoes were still moist from the previous day's fording, but that wouldn't last long.

Banana slugs out in force at the first crossing of a thin layer of water.

They may be faded, melted, singed, and squirrel chewed, but the whole trail is marked with National Recreation Trail crests no matter what the Forest says about the current status of half the trail.

There's lots of patches of common madia flowering.

Some even with pollinators working hard.

Another look at the grassy areas with dark rock outcrops.

Dogwood putting on some seasonal color.

My first excursion wasn't much. I simply had the sense of a possibility of a flat spot enough to camp up the little stream just east of Soap Creek. This is near where a saddle crossing offers possible camping, but is oppressively surrounded by blackened, dead trees. Closer to the water, the trees fared better.

The stream crossing and the sense of flat space above the trail, if only a little.

Verdict: in a pinch, it could be camp. The first glance around at the trees didn't cause worry. There's enough flat space for one, maybe two, to lie down. And just enough water to gather flowing past.

Much more water in nearby Soap Creek.

Passing by Bramlet Place again.

Past Bramlet Place, the river gets into a rocky canyon. I got to wondering what it would be like to float it. It looks like it would be quite a nice spot to have a look from river height. There's loads of big swimming holes along the way. Right now, there's loads of spots that would require walking a raft, too.

Trail closing in on Dog Gulch.

A bit of river with walking spots below the trail.

Snowberries along the trail.

Perhaps Dog Gulch Trail did have a sign once.

Almost straight down to the river below.

My next excursion was on an unnamed point much like Rattlesnake Point, but a little more inviting. I was a little beyond when I doubled back and took the idea of a trail out through first pines surrounded by sticks, then down a drop and through short oaks surrounded by grass. Another drop leads to gravel and the river.

Looking out of the cluttered pine forest as it transitions into oak savannah.

A couple more pines at the edge as the level drops again to the gravel bar of the river.

I wandered the gravel a little. There's a shady swimming hole, then the turn and shallow running water down two channels to sunny river reaches.

The river after rounding the corner on its way to the sunlight.

I wandered back up from the gravel and a little further around the point finding an established camping area, or at least the fire ring people have used, on the west side of the point. There's no water but the river here.

The oak savannah just above the river level.

The river comes back together just short of a deep green hole.

South Fork Trinity River as it finishes looping around this point of land. The camped area is the grass on the right edge.

Just taking in the tall trees on the far side of the river.

I followed the faint trail back after having my poke around. Back on trail, one is quickly into a more impressive bit of canyon. Surely one must make an effort to float down this.

Almost there.

A distinctly rocky, if small, canyon.

Deep pools in the rocky channel below.

The channel gets softer again.

A two tiered paper wasp nest has dropped to the ground, finished.

Soon enough I was rounding the long U to cross Red Mountain Creek and back at Saint Jacques Place.

The crossing of Red Mountain Creek.

Someone has flagged Saint Jacques Place.

I dropped my gear and backtracked to the crossing to get some water, but that's not the finish of the day.

There's the biggest excursion of all to do! Somewhere near the former building, the Wilcox Ridge Trail is supposed to break off to cross the river and climb up to a good road. Well, it's also a closed road (according to the MVUM) but it does happen to be the Wilcox Ridge Trailhead Road, which sounds promising for the existence of a trail too. That goes up to another good road (also closed) which goes to another good (but closed) road which gets to Wildwood-Mad River Road (FA 30, not closed). If all of those are really closed, it's a lot of good road you've got to walk. The trail is only about a mile and I thought I might just have a go at it.

Even though I had seen trail down where it should be on the way up the day before, it wasn't easy to find. The second (and last) flag wasn't much help. Routes people have used recently were half a help. The top is just too flat to hold an old, little used trail. However, a little way along, I found it cut into the hillside. Big trees grow up out of it and others lie down across it. One large tree cut for it is soft and misshapen from rot. I traveled below it on the grass, largely.

An old turtle shell sat on that old tread.

The old tread comes to an end.

There's a turn and the old tread comes to an eroded end. Some newer trail that was below it wraps around the downhill side of a knoll that becomes an island when the river runs higher. The little trail drops into the rocks and gravel of the river once past the sheltering knoll. The crossing is a little downstream of what the map indicates. It's also across a swimming hole, but one may stroll around the downstream side and then against the current (it shouldn't be hard) toward a spot on the far side where trail might be found.

Big swimming hole down by the river.

The possible trail on the far side of South Fork Trinity River.

Unfortunately, that's as far as my will carried me. I decided against having wet shoes again so I didn't try out that possible ford route and I didn't check to see if the trail I thought I could see hooked into something like trail climbing the slope.

To ford: cross on the right, continue upstream (left) just past rocky spot. With enough want, there might be a route through the umbrella plants and scrambling along the slope.

So I wandered along to the upstream side of the sometimes island and experienced the hopping things instead.

The upstream side of the sometimes island is much rougher.

One of the hopping things taking shelter among big-leaf maple leaves. A foothill yellow-legged one.

Another hidden underwater.

There were things about in the deeper pools too.

One of numerous invasive signal crayfish roaming the bottom. This one was making its way through shallow current rippling over the rocks.

I followed the bit of trail back around the sometimes island and then followed various thin use trails around the area closer to the river. There's more swimming holes.

A still sunny swimming hole.

A well used camp site across the river where that ford goes.

The upstream view at a further upstream swimming hole.

Looking down in the shallow water and only finding two more crayfish.

Eventually I got all the way back to the higher land near the trail and got about choosing a camp area. I didn't stay quite so close to trail as the built fire ring. There's plenty of flat spaces to chose from. With a little more afternoon, I had some time to just watch the clouds pass the changing oaks.

Those clouds rushing above the black oaks.

Same trip, next day ⇒

*photo album*




©2024 Valerie Norton
Written 23 Oct 2024