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| Hiking | 9.91 Miles |
3,619 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.91 Miles | 9 Hrs 27 Mns | | 1.22 mph |
| 3,619 ft AEG | 1 Hour 20 Mns Break | 29 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I explored more of the Rock Creek Trail on Sunday. I followed the trail to its highest point, but turned back shortly after beginning the descent to the Mazatzal Divide Trail. The way got even rockier at this point, plus I needed to turn around at around that time anyway in order to make it back by dark.
The offical GPS track for this hike starts from the new trailhead, though the initial part of it follows forest road 442, turning left onto a doubletrack which is part of the old FR 442. It then joins the actual trail. There is a signed trail w/ cairns that starts from nearby the parking area. Simply go south out of the parking lot and then west along the road/driveway until you encounter a sign indicating the start of the trail. This trail continues west where it first crosses Center Creek and then connects with the doubletrack that used to be part of FR442.
If you attempt to drive to the (new) Rock Creek Trailhead using the coordinates (via Google or one of the other links) provided in the driving directions, these will (attempt to) lead you to the old Rock Creek Trailhead. I used my Android phone to help me drive there and ended up driving quite a ways past the new trailhead. The turnoff is 0.05 miles before the Center Creek crossing. If you've driven across Center Creek, you've gone too far.
As I mentioned at the start, I only went a short ways past the ridge which is the high point of this trail. Up until that point (beyond which I have no recent experience to relate) the trail is remarkably clear and is fairly easy to follow. It is steep in sections and goes pretty much uphill for much of the way. There are short sections where leafy brush overhangs the trail. I pushed my way through this stuff, and was thankful that I had worn long pants and a long sleeved shirt. I didn't encounter much of this type of bushwhacking though - I estimate that it was no more than a tenth of a mile total.
On my way up, there was a point where I went off trail to take some photos. On my return to what I thought was the trail, I somehow missed the path and ended up bushwhacking through manzanita. My GPS path showed that I was on the track, but it was miserable going. According to the track, I was in the midst of doing a short leg of a switchback. Since I was bushwhacking at that point, I decided to change course to a path that was pretty much orthogonal to the parallel legs of the switchbacks. That turned out to be a good move because I quickly reconnected with the trail and was happy again. On my way back down, I found the trail to be easy to follow and was mystified as to how I could have made such a mistake on my way up. One thing I've noticed on other hikes is that it's possible to hike the GPS track with the actual trail being only mere feet away and, due to vegetation, be unaware of the fact that there's a much easier path nearby. Perhaps that's what happened to me when I attempted to rejoin the trail after my pause for photography.
I had hiked the Rock Creek Trail back in 2002 as part of a loop which also included the Half Moon, Mazatzal Divide, Sandy Saddle, and Barnhardt Trails. I had a lot of fun on the Rock Creek Trail back then. My recollection of it is from back then is that it had a bit more scrambling, taking somewhat more direct paths than does the current version of this trail. I think the current incarnation of the trail is somewhat easier. That said, the current version isn't especially easy due to it being uphill for most of the way to the top. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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