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| Backpack | 17.50 Miles |
3,800 AEG |
| | Backpack | 17.50 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| 3,800 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | This was my first hike in the Blue Range. Fantastic isolation. We only saw other people at the end of our three day trip.
Started out on trail 315. Very slow going. Downed trees every few yards. Hot, hot sun. Pretty miserable. The wind sounded extremely eerie as it whipped through the tops of the burned out trees. We stayed to the right to merge onto trail 73. Very similar condition. There was water in Steeple Creek as we continued downhill. The next trail junction was with 74. We took it up to Moonshine Park for our first night's camp. There is water in Grant Creek which is a quick 20 minute round trip(for te-wa). This is definitely a wildlife hot-spot. Elk and deer showed up to chomp on the delicious meadow plant-life.
The next morning, we backtracked to the junction with 73 and continued on to an easy to miss creek crossing (look for the large dead alligator juniper). 73 climbs gradually up to the junction with 70, which gains and loses elevation as it crosses several drainages before dropping down to KP Creek. Just before getting to the creek there are nice views down into the canyon. 70 crosses KP Creek several times. Most crossings have ways to get across without getting your feet wet. We chose to camp in a spot off the trail after a few crossings. The closer you get to the North Fork trail, the more established the campsites become. The creek was flowing nicely and there were lots of very small trout. On the way out I got to practice log creek crossings.  Naw, it wasn't that bad.
The final leg of the loop was on trail 93 which gradually, and then not so gradually, brought us back out of the canyon. So much for cool temperatures at high elevations. I think that the KP Creek segment was almost worth the whole bruise-filled trip. Next time, I might just take the North Fork trail down to the creek and explore the tempting side canyons from there. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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| In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. ~John Muir |
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