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| Hiking | 19.25 Miles |
4,725 AEG |
| | Hiking | 19.25 Miles | 10 Hrs 20 Mns | | 2.51 mph |
| 4,725 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 40 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | What started out as a short hike to the lower part of Deer Creek ended up as an exploring marathon. Once we got to the Gowan grave site, my friend VM looked at my map and said, "Let's go a little farther," and then later, "why go back now?" and finally, "I've always wanted to know what was up here, and I might not get to come back," --and the next thing you know we were going for the full loop.
The cairns were huge, but even still the trail disappeared several times in the upper reaches where the flood damage was worst. That cost us a lot of time. By the time we got to the Peeley TH, we had hiked over 10 miles instead of the posted 8.8 miles.
The wildlife was plentiful and we saw, smelled, heard, or saw signs of deer, bald eagle, skunk, elk, bear, rabbit, coyote, frog, and even what I thought was a bobcat.
The scenery was very interesting. We took in the flowing and gurgling stream, the steep hills, and sadly the burned areas. We enjoyed the Windsor Camp, where VM pulled out a cook stove and had an old-school hot lunch. At the top along FR201 we noticed that the Sunflower Fire had only burned in uneven patches. The face of Mt Peeley looked pretty burned up.
I made a mental note of some good campsites: one just past the Gowan grave, one that was less than a mile upstream from that, Windsor Camp, and of course Camp Grasshopper.
The upper part of Gold Ridge Trail was wide and easy to follow. The lower part was very steep and I was glad we were taking it in the downhill direction. As we descended the frogs began to sing and the sunset was great. It got dark before we made it to the trailhead, but VM pulled out a headlamp while I used moonlight to make it back. |
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If you don't run, you rust.
-T. Petty |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
