Moments in Dirt and Ink

Shasta-Trinity National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 Blue line for day 2. Click for interactive map My muscles felt abused from the day before, or perhaps from the insufficient activity over the week or two before that. Or maybe there's a little age creeping in. I've passed another 100th birthday! This one was base 7. Preemptive naproxin sodium seemed to have helped it not all be so bad and this day would be comparatively relaxing. Depending on trail state. A little bit of sunrise on Cabin Peak. New River (East Fork) over the local trash pile. We packed all of ours out because we know better. We didn't see the closer connection to the Morrison Gulch Trail the day before and while looking closely, we only saw a candidate for where it used to be. We continued on to the obvious further junction instead. Unsigned but distinct quicky became difficult to find as it passes along the bowl of land between the two ridges. Following gently upward gets aro...

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest (blue line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 Prior to wandering out to the sky islands of Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in 2017, I procured a bunch of maps from the USGS store, mostly covering the Ely District. This resulted in owning maps I have never hiked. That's not right! I was despairing of the idea of fixing this for the Mount Moriah Wilderness map due to the roughness of the access roads around the wilderness when my neighbors at Eagle Peak Campsites expressed the opinion that surely I could get to Hendrys Creek since the mine was up and running again and, well, that's how roads get maintained in Nevada. It'll be good all the way there. This is almost true. There's generally a bit of "the last mile" which goes to the trailhead instead of the mine that remains in a poor state. In the case of Hendrys Creek it literally is just a mile and, if one stops short of the trailhead, it's mostly Bureau of Land...

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest ( map link ) Parking at the trailhead for the Main Fork Bear River Trail at UT-150 does not currently require a Mirror Lake Highway Recreation Corridor permit, but it does require high clearance. I parked in a turnout across the highway on nearby Gold Hill Road. There's no signs on the highway for these. You need to already know where they are to get to them. I wasn't sure what to expect of the trail. The Forest Service topo indicates it crosses from Hayden Fork to Main Fork, where a road almost reaches the trail. The trail then continues upward to Hell Hole Lake. OpenStreetMap has the very different idea that it connects with a road and more trail continues after about 2 miles from the last river crossing. I would see. My plan was to get to the Main Fork, at least, and check out the leaves on the way. Forks of Bear River. The near crease is Hayden Fork and the far crease over the ridge is the Main Fork. I easily rock hopped across...

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Ashley National Forest (orange line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4 My start was slow because it was a short day anyway. Foolish human. It was a short day because the second half of it was expected to be stormy. Don't waste the bright, sunny bits! And it was bright and sunny, at least to the north. There were two trails across Lower Red Castle Lake. I took the upper one the day before. I decided to backtrack slightly so I could take the lower one back. My deep suspicion that it would be muddier was confirmed. Some of it even has creeks flowing down it. I saw a lot more people. Apparently everyone I'd seen coming up the trail were camped down along this lower route. They were the last people I saw. A smaller two toed ungulate: mule deer . The watery trail to Lower Red Castle Lake. Rather cloudy to the south past Red Castle. Lower Red Castle Lake.

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest (red line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4 All I had to do was get back to Battle Pass and I was already much closer than my first night's camp. I wanted to add on Red Mountain, but that could only add a mile extra. I expected a lovely day of it, so had a relaxed morning. I even did something I almost never do. I photographed the setup! Camp, set up. Nemo Hunker 2 (AKA "little roof"), Mountain Hardwear Conduit SL (AKA "bivy"), Exped Ultra 5R, Tyvek, Komperdell aluminum poles with shock absorbers. Not visible is the deep purple MYOG summer quilt. Then I packed it all up and got moving. There's a peak to bag! First up, the wilderness high point. I chose a point, pondered it from a different angle, and became very sure it was the exact same point I'd chosen before. If you've hiked this trail and claim the Huston Park Wilderness high point done, I fully support that. I took in the views fr...

Uncompahgre National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2 (map link) I had trouble getting up until I decided I didn't really want to go back up to the upper lake and then up the pass. Then the morning just seemed to flow as it should. It got me tucked in under my kitchen roof just before the rain started again. I ate breakfast to a soundtrack of thunder, which settled things nicely against going up at all. It cleared up after that, but based on the weather report I'd gotten the afternoon before, it would be a good idea to finish by noon when the heavy rain would start. Camp site view as the mountain gets some sunshine during a light rain. I tried to dry things out a little before packing up, but it is always a ridiculous attempt. The wetter things are, the wetter they are all around. The sun is weak in the morning. The time to dry things is out in the open under the noon day sun. Morning under the trees really doesn't work. I shook things out and stuffed them away and then...

Jacoby Creek Land Trust has four areas that might be visited by the public , all along Jacoby Creek if you can believe it. As far as I know, this is the last of the little local hikes in the area, however I'm suspicious that McKinleyville has a few hidden away. When I thought to hike this one, it was quite flooded with the creek running high. It's a lot drier now. I made an attempt to visit all the locations. Kokte Trail Click for map. Kokte Trail is on the Kokte Ranch that is the headquarters for the land trust and is the easiest to find. It has an address and a sign and parking and a kiosk with information and brochures. Just slip the chain off the gate and head out across the grass to the side of the creek. The trail starts beside the kiosk a few feet down the driveway. The land trust headquarters are around behind the barn. Or at the barn. Once by the creek, take a left and travel between the trees and brambles. A piece of the trail. Those alder trees...

Redwood National Park DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4     Following the blue line. Click for map. I decided (correctly this time) I had plenty of time to while away and didn't get started until 10AM. I guess my ability to delay starting is dependent on how sunny it is and the morning was less sunny than the previous one. My electronic map said I was camped practically on top of another tributary to Redwood Creek, so I went exploring for it. I eventually found it, at least I could hear it. There is a pool at the bottom, which is the only place it was accessible for water collection. It wasn't all that attractive because there was also toilet paper left on the ground about 20 feet away. It rather confirmed a suspicion that it is sufficiently difficult to get up into the forest away from the creek that at least a few people won't bother. The sun is filtered by a lot of clouds and maybe a little smoke. When I did get going, I stopp...

San Juan National Forest Rio Grande National Forest Click for map. I was thinking I might do a loop of Treasure Mountain Trail, some gravel road, Silver Creek Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail backpacking, but decided against. But I can still do Treasure Mountain. The starting point is up on Wolf Creek Pass as the CDT follows along the Continental Divide. Treasure Mountain Trail drops off the side after about 2 miles. It doesn't actually go up the mountain, but I can fix that with a little bit of cross country. There is an interpretive site at the pass to tell about the divide, the road, and the trail. It gets a surprising amount of business. The trail is off to the left. The trail going south seems a lot more defined than the one headed north. It crosses a meadow and then a creek with a bridge. Talk about luxury. Then up through the beetle killed trees where it needs a lot of maintenance. It has gotten a lot, too, but there is more work now. These beetles ...