Lowest: South Fork

Six Rivers National Forest

(red for day 1, click for map)

DAY 1  |  DAY 2

Back to South Fork Trinity River, but this time on a familiar trail. I hiked this trail in spring of 2020. That was a day hike determined to get as far as the ford. This time I was determined I would cross that ford and see the rest of it. The plan, assuming all is well with the trail, was to hike to the road at the far end, about 9 miles, then return to some camping area. Grouse Creek looked promising for that camp. To that end, I packed for the overnight.

Great big parking area at the end of some decidedly one lane road.

I stopped by an information board containing only the most generic messages. I agree, my campfire should be dead out and everything I pack in should come back out with me. Turn around and start down the unsigned trail. There's a trail number and an arrow further down the road, if signs are required.

Trail with a couple trees down. There aren't many overall.

The trail has quite a lot of leaves on it, but is not obscured. The spur off to Surprise Creek is still obvious too. A couple trees have come down on the main trail, but they don't look like they've been there long. The mosses aren't particularly scraped off. The trail follows the long way around shown on the Forest Service map and there's not much to view at first.

There's a lot of trees everywhere.

Coon Creek is not as perennial as mapped, but there is a small spring just past it.

Coon Creek along a mini oak savannah.

One more freshly downed tree presented a bit of difficulty as the limbs required some bobbing and weaving to get past. It's the last of the trouble on the trail except a bit that has been shortcutted by trail workers long ago.

A lions mane mushroom on some wood beside the trail.

Passing a second spring with a little more flow and a lot of giant chain ferns.

It felt like a long time to get up to where the trail perches high over the waters of the rushing river fork. The trail seems utterly unchanged from when I walked it before. I was even compelled to go looking for a certain Lewisia plant I had photographed then, but of course that is gone, or at least died back.

Out into the exposure of trail high above the river fork.

The river fork stretching away toward the main river.

Long, sharp fin of land that separates Hells Half Acre Creek from the river.

A lot fewer than there were in spring, but there are flowers for the fall. Here is a redwood Keckiella.

Hells Half Acre Creek from the point of view of a messy crossing with a slight search to find the other side.

Hells Half Acre Creek from the point of view of a shady little series of pools.

After the crossing, the trail climbs high again. I pondered the water thinking it looks highly fordable. All whitish but not too whitish. Surely that's not too deep and not too fast? Looks great from way up there.

Upstream view on South Fork Trinity River.

Faded signs mark the junction for the ford. I kept going to stand at the bridge for the viewpoint. I did not continue on to the camping spots past it this time.

Overlooking the ford area. Quite a bit of green down there.

There should be a bridge here.

I took a few minutes to study the ford area. There is not enough trail existing down to the river to suggest a specific spot. It looks like just about anywhere between where it deepens into grand pools is about as good as another. Right at the lower end of the pool under the ripped bridge looks like it would be the shallower but faster crossing. Down from there, it is less fast with no white water. All of it suffers from a deep channel close to this side. Fords can benefit from maintenance too and this one gets none.

Studying the problem of the ford. Some of the deeper channel is just above the cliff edge.

Then I wound my way down. The trail seems to split into possible camps and maybe ford route. It takes careful route selection just to get down to the river without needing hands. Once down to the river, I found the problem looked a whole lot more overwhelming than it had from above. I very much want my pack to stay out of the water as I go and I couldn't be sure of that at all. I balked.

The nearly hidden waterfall as Gary Creek drops to the river on the far side of the ford.

I decided to dump the pack and have nothing that couldn't be dunked to test the depth of the ford. If it was good enough, I could take the pack after all. I grabbed the dirty water bag. If it wasn't good enough, I could have some water to camp from the waterfall over there. Yummy waterfall water.

With my poles for probing and steadying, I started out, wrapping around the lower edge of the biggest rock, which would often be a low spot but wasn't. I got to the far side only getting my legs wet, but those completely. I waded along the far edge upstream to get to a good landing spot.

Then it was time to explore. I stayed high on the beach and checking for a way up. It's thick vegetation until near the bridge support. A few winds climb steeply to the trail above and that seems to just be passing on the way to somewhere further. Once on the trail, I could see a distinct tread with a lot less use than the one on the other side. I couldn't say if it gets used or if this is just a well preserved piece. I followed it upstream briefly, then followed it downstream. It seems to go a long way downstream, crossing the creek and into a tiny flat.

Then I headed down off the trail and tried out the ford just below the pool. It is great right up until it gets deep and fast and dangerous feeling. That route is a giant nope! Most the way across, I reversed course and got back on the far land. I then walked along the old bridge cables on the beach. They look completely ripped from their anchor, but have gotten trapped under a boulder. They stretch out long and straight from that point. Some of it is still shiny.

I stopped by the waterfall. I almost slipped as I went to stuff my bag under its flow. It was the only stumble in the whole process. It's got a lot of water for something marked as seasonal. Then I headed back down and across, generally repeating my route except going upstream of the big rock. It was deeper there, but not by much.

A look along the edge of the river with its steep slopes and cliffs.

Okay, plan B. I would chuck out everything to camp, then cross with just day hiking gear. I wouldn't get to the end, but I'd get to see a few miles. I set it up, shouldered my pack, and this huge dread churned itself up in my guts. I really didn't want to cross it with my electronics. All evidence was that I could cross without even wetting my pack which would stay an inch or two over the water. The bottom is full of these rounded boulders over a foot in size and not evenly placed, but none of that had produced the slightest slip. There's absolutely no reason not to go for it, but I couldn't find the motivation to overpower the dread of the crossing.

Tempting to want to try in the rocky reaches below the next pool, but there's a lot of steep slope or deep water to get upstream from there.

There's another waterfall on the far side of the grand pool. I could hear it although it is also marked as seasonal.

So I balked completely. And I hadn't bothered to walk much up the trail because I would just be back with my pack, too. So I wandered the area, recording a few plants I probably would have ignored and reading and thinking that I really should just go and take on that ford. John Muir tried to kill himself at fords no less than twice in the course of A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf. Just tossed himself at them, swimming if needed, and dried out himself and his samples on the far side. Here I was worried my military grade GPS and hardened camera and phone might be only mostly protected if I hit the water with them, which I almost certainly wouldn't. At least I think that had I brought a waterproof bag for them, the worry would have gone enough. Maybe.

There is a spot with the right angle to see a little water falling at the second waterfall.

I had a chance. When I'd finished on the Lower South Fork River Trail and driven toward Hyampom, I could have turned the other way and gone to the far end and not been dependent on crossing the ford to get to the new part of the trail. Maybe then I'd have remembered about the Wintoon Flat Trail, too.

There's a California fuchsia still blooming.

And when it was nearing dark, I cooked up my supper beside a massive campfire ring and then stretched out on a flat spot. I did get the thing forded, but the goal had been a little more than that.

Same trip, next day ⇒

*photo album*




©2024 Valerie Norton
Written 23 Nov 2024