I woke up with a bit less to do than had originally been in the plan, and even that plan wouldn't have inspired hurry. I let the sun get up a bit before heading out.
The lower swimming hole in the morning.
A green water, both within and in reflection.
The waterfall on Gary Creek gets sunlight early.
Pondering the ford once more. To be done near that tallest of rocks left of center.
While packing up, I decided to actually try the bear can in a vertical orientation instead of horizontal. Rather than being too awkward to use with my water bag, it worked great and I didn't have to wonder what to do with all the room left under it on a short hike. So I managed to achieve something. A little color offered by poison oak. Much of it is still green, but this patch has shed almost all its leaves.
A bit of the trail dug into the rocky hillside.
Still some deep morning shadow on the canyon side behind.
I found that Lewisia I was looking for. No flowers, but the leaf undersides are nice and colorful.
Trail following along Hells Half Acre. This is where to find the Lewisia.
Looking across to a scary looking bit of trail, but that bit is not worrisome when on it.
A look up toward the top of Hells Half Acre Creek.
The cardinal catchfly still blooms.
I stopped at Hells Half Acre Creek to get a little more water since I had only gotten enough to camp the day before. I took the time to look around a bit including hunting for salamanders!
Monster! No, wait, a half eaten pine cone under the water.
Just found another one of those vulnerable foothill yellow-legged frogs instead of a secure salamander.
When ready to face the heat again, I headed out and up along the thin but solid trail.
A rod wirelettuce offers a non-red flower.
It's hard not to focus on the hard rock fin between Hells Half Acre Creek and South Fork Trinity River.
Grey pines source the vicious monster pine cones of the area.
Can't be that hot. There's a thin cooling layer up there.
Just a little bit further.
Then I lost the views but got some shade.
A softer trail as it turns into the trees.
Where a trail crew decided to shortcut a switchback instead of clear the big trees on it.
The white cobblestone road of dry Coon Creek
The bigleaf maple is thinking of turning colors.
One last stretch of trail.
I hadn't walked nearly far enough, so I took the short spur to Surprise Creek.
Surprise Creek flowing nicely. I knew it would be.
Then I was back to the car and ready to leave, done with hiking around Trinity County just in time for the weather to break and stop being 10-20 F° warmer than normal.
Little River State Beach, Trinidad State Beach, Sue-meg State Park, Humboldt Lagoons State Park Redwood National Park, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park Introduction The California Coastal Trail (CCT) is approximately 1200 miles of interconnected public trail following the coast from Mexico to Oregon. Or at least that's the dream. Currently, the trail is about 60% complete. In more populous areas, it often takes the form of boardwalks and multi-use paths marked by the swirl of blue wave crest. In rural areas, it may be pushed to the beach when that is usable, or to the nearest public route when that is not. The crest for the CCT marks a coastal access trail at the Lost Coast Headlands. There are thoughts of a route beside the ocean, but the primary route is substantially inland along Mattole Road for now. The beach becomes impassible in several places south of here and above the high tide mark is private property. The hiking trail rout
Six Rivers National Forest DAY 1 | DAY 2 (map link) Bluff Creek Historic Trail gets my attention as I zoom by because it is clearly signed to be visible from the road and the trail is obviously used and in good shape. Also, why is "Historic" stuck in there? (Besides the obvious, the Forest Service simply says, "Gateway to Bigfoot Country" , which doesn't seem particularly unique along the Bigfoot Scenic Byway.) It doesn't get my attention when I'm looking at a map because it just offers about 1.5 miles of connecting the highway to Slate Creek Road, a paved road that leaves the highway a short distance northeast of the trail. However, further along in the same direction and connected by an unimproved road is "Wright Place (site)" which sits next to Bluff Creek. The trail is numbered, the road is not. While it is tempting to think that an old road is bigger and therefore more likely to be passable, it doesn't really work out that wa
Kings Canyon National Park Sequoia National Forest Giant Sequoia National Monument Click for map. DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 It was another mild night, but the mosquitoes very nearly vanished early on into it. The sun comes quickly here and the morning golden hour is really quite something. I enjoy it with breakfast and happily the mosquitoes seem to be slow to wake up. Our northerly view from near camp: the morning sun as it hits Ball Dome. Morning over Ranger Lake. We head out to the trail again and wander gently downward, still high above the valley bottom. The air seems a lot clearer today and the snow on the far mountains is much more defined. The snowy distances.
Loleta Community Park ( map link ) I've seen that this hike is detailed in a couple news articles and blog posts and YouTube videos and Hiking Humboldt volume 2 and that it even has a geocache along it. It was seeing that the last barrier to the Great Redwood Trail has fallen and the right-of-way is now property of the Great Redwood Trail Agency (GRTA) that got me thinking more about it. It was seeing trucks marked "CCC" out on the rails clearing vegetation from the Humboldt Bay Trail , which is part of the Great Redwood Trail, that got me to come out and do it. On the drive here, I even spotted a sign claiming that the Humboldt Bay Trail - South was now under construction just south of the industrial park at Bracut. The north part of the trail currently ends at a missing bridge just north of Bracut. It all served to embolden me about this other little piece of the same right-of-way. The start of the trail in Loleta. In the newspaper articles, which are only a c
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