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| Hiking | 6.50 Miles |
1,533 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.50 Miles | 4 Hrs 38 Mns | | 1.46 mph |
| 1,533 ft AEG | 10 Mns Break | 18 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | Late 2023 we hiked out this way to assess the damage from the Diamond Fire of 3-4 months earlier, so now two years on we wanted to see how the area has recovered.
As on last trip, we were unable to drive up to the actual trailhead so right off the bat we had the drudgery of accumulating 300' in just under .4 mile... enough to get the blood flowing and respiration rate up.
While on this climb, Tracey found a Nature's Path Almond bar still safe within its wrapper, and picked it up with the thought to returning it to its owner, which we believed was an equestrian whose truck & trailer were parked where we parked.
Having learned the lesson last time, I made sure to bring shears to deal with the encroaching brush we were sure to encounter. Once on the trail it wasn't long before we encountered low holly bushes but continued on through thinking we'd trim them on the return.
As usual, the concrete pool at O'Neil Spring was full.
Eventually there was enough brush of all kinds overhanging the trail it made far more sense to aggressively trim it now with the benefit being an easier and speedier return trip. It's a good ting we did just that, because the trail became hard to follow in many areas. It helped that the equestrian very likely knew the area well as at times all we had to rely on were the hoof-prints, which a few times we had to wander a bit to pick them up again. And this on a trail we, or at least I had hiked over a dozen times.
As we continued with the heavy trail maintenance, not yet having encountered the equestrian, Tracey decided to go ahead and eat the Almond bar, and if we happened to meet him she'd thank him for dropping the bar as it provided well-needed calories for the extra effort.
The farther we went along either side of the creek bottom, the worse the encroaching brush became. It seems the Diamond Fire of 2023 may have just paved the way for more aggressive growth by the cat-claw and holly, as in all my trips since 2012 I had never encountered this much brush. But then again, for much of that time I believe there was much more cattle along the trail, which helped to a certain degree.
We never did encounter the equestrian, even after following the hoof-prints up to the ridge just North of Indian Spring Peak with the resultant overlooking view of Maverick Mountain and Bartlett Reservoir to the West. The wind picked up quite aggressively while we were on the ridge so we descended just far enough to find some flat rocks to sit on for our well-deserved picnic lunch.
After a quick lunch (still too windy for Tracey for us to dally) we headed down into a green meadow of sorts, which had me spending so much thought on admiring the deep green coloring that I made the same mistake as two years ago... heading into the wrong drainage. I believe Tracey realized it sooner but likely just let it play out until I knew something was wrong. Having the previous GPS track along I could see how we recovered previously and did much the same again.
Thanks to all our trail work efforts the trail on the return trip felt like we were on a highway... ok, while that statement was uttered by Tracey in a particularly easy spot at one time, there were all too many drainages to cross which still made for an effortful return. |
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