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| Hiking | 9.79 Miles |
1,459 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.79 Miles | 5 Hrs 14 Mns | | 1.99 mph |
| 1,459 ft AEG | 19 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Needed an easier day due to prior commitments necessitating being back in town in the late afternoon, so we opted to hit up Deer Creek and see if we could benchmark against prior trip reports with regards to the amount of brush and specifically poison ivy that might abound.
We arrived at the trailhead to warmer temperatures than our more recent hikes, and a number of vehicles already in the lot. The trail headed out of the parking area and up onto a low hill to head cross country past the Gold Ridge and South Fork junctions before it drops down into the Deer Creek drainage, where it tended to stay on the southern side of the watercourse, well away from the creek bottom.
We stopped at the old windmill site, discovering the windmill long gone, and a motorized pump installed with a bucket crammed over top for protection. The trough seems to also have been long abandoned, the tubing coming from the pump seems to terminate on dirt near the trough. After poking around a bit, we continued on, stopping briefly at David Gowan's grave site.
As we progressed, there was a little bit of brush encroaching along the trail (thankfully not catclaw)... though it picked up considerably once we passed the boundary marker. While the trail was evident, it often headed into thickets of scrub oak. Not long after crossing the wilderness boundary, the trail drops into the bottom of the drainage, crossing every now and again. After a few crossings, with the trail becoming more overgrown and less apparent, and our time crunch, we decided to stop for a break and head back after I climbed up the hillside to check out several groups of poppies. I can only assume that the trail from this point onwards is what is mentioned in other triplogs, with the path becoming more faint and overgrown, and likely infested with ivy. With most plants not leafed back out yet, it's hard to say how many of the sticks we saw were dormant ivy plants...though I'm glad to say I don't seem to have developed any sort of a reactive rash.
The hike back was uneventful, with the hike concluding with a low flyover of a couple military jets. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to get my phone out to capture any video. Will have to come back out again and have another look at Deer Creek when we have a bit more time to explore and see how far we get past our turn around point.
Wildlife: one cow, a bunch of butterflies, a variety of birds heard, and a cardinal sighted - but it flew off before we managed to get any photos of it. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
Poppies are starting to put on a show...even though in my mind, it seems much too early for that! There are also a fair number of desert anemone along the way. |
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Happier when hiking....I may not move fast (and I'm often distracted by wildflowers), but I'll get there eventually  |
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