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| Volunteer | 7.00 Miles |
1,375 AEG |
| | Volunteer | 7.00 Miles | | | |
| 1,375 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Right now, the Reynolds Creek Trail is amazing! 
9 AM: We drove up Workman Creek Road Saturday to touch-up Monday's work, only to find the gate below Workman Falls locked. I guess the actual status of that area is "Closed," but it's been open for us the past couple of weekday trips. The closure prevented us from getting anywhere near the upper trailhead at Murphy's Ranch, but it turned out to be a good thing.
9:20 AM: We turned back and drove around to the lower trailhead off forest road #410, where we found a jeep already parked. The temperatures were low on Saturday, so in spite of our later than expected hike start time and lower elevation at the start, it was cool hiking!
10:49 AM: After the second creek crossing and into the wilderness, we climbed up to the second Center Mountain Trail #142 junction, where we found the sign blown over downhill, so we retrieved and re-planted it.
11:03 AM: Past the third creek crossing, we found a fairly large tree across the trail, and while it wasn't hard to get over, we double-cut a path through it.
NOON: We reached the first of Monday's leftover touch-up points. A large tree had fallen and left a big mess of branches all over the trail, nearly obscuring it. As we cleared that, a couple of hikers came walking down the trail. They had hiked all the way to the top (it was their Jeep we saw down below earlier), and they were now on their way back down, all smiles.
From here on, we mostly cleared trees overhanging the trail, some leaning on other trees. There were also more raspberry bushes and locust growing back over the trail, and I gave myself a sore back snipping away at those. In some areas, I used the stomp-and-snip method, to clear the growth away wider and closer to the ground.
1 PM: We lunched at what I call a horse campsite - a super-shady and wide clear spot with a long cut off tree stump that I imagine would make a good hitching post. I spent a little time exploring a primeval water-source down the hill with pools and flowing water. Lots of butterflies and bugs danced around down there, and a game trail climbed the hill on the other side.
2:48 PM: We snipped and sawed our way up past two Reynolds Creek signposts. I continued on my own to where the trail gets wide (an old road) and carpeted with Ponderosa Pine needles. I felt myself getting close to the last two touch-up spots I wanted to work last Monday.
3:47 PM: Before I reached those two sketchy sections, I ran into a fairly large and branchy aspen tree overhanging the road-trail, and so I spent the rest of my available time clearing that away before turning back. Those couple of sections up top would have to wait.
6:10 PM: We switchbacked down the cliffs, and the sun was low enough behind the mountains to keep the trail cool all the way to the trailhead for a near perfect day! |
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