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| Canyoneering | 18.00 Miles |
600 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 18.00 Miles | 34 Hrs | | 0.72 mph |
| 600 ft AEG | 9 Hrs Break | 40 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | The mission was to explore the upper reaches of Burro Creek and tributary springs, and also to attempt a new sweat record of four gallons for a single day.
As a disclaimer, it must be mentioned that Upper Burro Creek is part of the Oro Ranch, which is private property. They allow a limited number of hunters and outdoorsmen to access the property, the majority of whom are bear and mountain lion hunters, to reduce predation of company livestock.
There is no right or wrong way to access the area; most of the gates are unlocked in the public lands below the Baca Float. The roads are really rocky and require a high clearance vehicle with 4 wheel drive for the most part. I made it in with a lifted two wheel drive pickup, but just barely. A quad would have been a better choice.
One trick is to mark every road junction with the GPS before you go out and map out several points of entry, making a plan B, C, and D. I drove in at 10 PM, so the hand-held GPS was of great service. The gate was locked at the Halfway House Ranch buildings, so I took a detour around it on the 4x roads to the east. The route I took was through Bagdad, taking Camp Wood Rd, to Halfway House Rd. Getting there is half the adventure, so best of luck.
The route is within hunting unit 16B, which has a wide range of fauna and topography. Burro creek lies in a volcanic rock formation with elevations ranging from 6000-3000'. Water is abundant in the area and it supports a thriving riparian habitat. Water flows year-round from large springs at roughly the 4800' level.
The day started at 5 AM, bright and early. The side wash that I took to enter Pine Creek has some dangerous drops and cliffs, so a better entry route would have been 3/4 mile east, where the canyon is less steep. Those little 20' drops can be quite a buzz kill if you fall down one.
For the most part, the creeks allow for a dry boot experience, having ample room on either side to avoid deep pools or obstacles. There were only about 5 places that I had to portage to get around the big pools and drops; not bad at all. As per usual, the hiking will have an abundance of rocks, rollers, logs, brush, and other obstructions to impede your progress. Bring some athletic tape for twisted ankles and expect some cuts and bruises along the way. I took a few hard falls on account of moving too fast and taking chances with uncertain footing.
A few points of interest can be found roughly at these locations: pic #1 at 1.6 miles, #2 at 5.8, #3 at 9.3, #4 at 11.9, #5 at 3.8, #6 at 5.7, and #7 at 9.7.
My trip plan was to walk all the flowing water sections and see what was going on at the feeder springs. Despite an abundance of shade, the hike was another sweat-a-thon. My water filter broke along the way, so I ended up drinking much of the water untreated. I figured that the creatures residing in my gut, the gardia, protozoa, and tape worms, might be in need of a few new friends. The water is actually quite good, especially if you load it up with Kool-Aid and Country Time Lemonade mix.
I made camp at 6 PM, near the top of Cold Spring Canyon, giving me a couple of hours of daylight for some R and R and a swim. I had passed dozens of prime swimming holes throughout the day without even getting my toes wet; now I would have to settle for a bug filled, shallow pool. Oh well, it would get the job done.
However, Mother Nature often ruins my plans and intentions; this case was no different. No sooner than I stripped down, a hornet began buzzing about my head. Soon there was another, and then a few more, until all Hell broke loose. Standing my ground, I grabbed my underwear and swung it wildly about, using it as both shield and net. It worked splendidly, and I quickly snared a hornet within its folds. I dispatched my foe with a small rock, and at the same time, waved my free hand overhead to keep the other hornets at bay. The tide turned within seconds: a hornet stung my hand, while the others attacked my nose and mouth. Retreat! By the weight of sheer numbers, the hornets forced me to make a most inglorious, and painful, exodus from the field. What is worse, I was totally exposed and bare footed, which greatly reduced my speed over the sharp rocks and tree branches.
The hornets ceased their pursuit at 20 yards distant. It would be half an hour later before I dared gather up my things from the contested zone, but in the meantime, other insects did the Devil's work upon my person. I eventually went to the far side of the pool to wash off the day's dried sweat and stink, all the while keeping on guard for a renewal of hostilities.
I broke camp the next day at 6AM and humped over a ridge to another spring complex to the west. There was a fox family living there that gave me a Mutual of Omaha moment, with an aggressive fox hell-bent on getting his picture taken. Most of the time wild animals scurry off before I can pull the camera out.
Most of the second day was spent walking roads to get back to the truck. The 4X road is completely impassible the last two miles of the canyon, even by a monster truck or ATV; for all intents and purposes, it is a cattle trail. I chose to walk it instead of taking the canyon face head-on, which added another three miles. The truck made it out OK and all went pretty good. |
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