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| Backpack | 35.01 Miles |
2,300 AEG |
| | Backpack | 35.01 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| 2,300 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | It was another great trip to the Primitive Blue Range. However, this trip may as well have been to a completely new wilderness area, as it was a sharp contrasts from my previous northern Blue Range runs. Carl and I share a similar affinity for the Blue Range and I was very pleased when on short notice he told me he could make a three day run the first weekend of October. At his suggestion we headed for the southern Blue Range. We made the short 5.5 hour drive to the TH Friday night and car camped about 45 minutes via rougher road from the remote and rugged Blue River 101 TH.
I was relieved that Carl offered to drive in the morning, as the final stretch of road into the Blue River Trail TH proved to be a little nasty in spots. Nevertheless, in what seemed to be an over-night drive we were finally hiking by about nine in the morning. The first stop was to visit the Fritz Ranch or more commonly referred to XXX ranch near the TH. For an abandoned ranch house it was actually in pretty good shape and made for an interesting quick tour before our hike. Our next major land mark was the old ranger station which sits at the boundary of the Primitive Blue Range and the intersections of the now very defunct Baseline Trail and Blue River 101 Trail. It is amazing to think of the level of care and attention given to this area by the forest service a few decades ago in comparison to now. Carl and I both agreed the next mile or so of trail is perhaps some of the worst sections of the Blue River Trail and I will admit it did have me wondering how enjoyable our three days would be. The trail simply no longer exists in large sections along this portion of the Blue River and the several crossings coupled with steep over-grown banks made for some tougher hiking with three day packs. We made camp just north of the confluences of the Little Blue and Blue proper in a picturesque spot located on a large grassy bench with steep canyon walls as a backdrop.
As it turned out, and not really by design, day one ended up being Carl's itinerary and day two ended up being reserved for my itinerary. We both struck gold. Carl maximized our day one hike in by creating a nice lollipop loop for us that included an awesome slot canyon section of the little Blue and culminating with a stop at the Hannah Hot Springs. It's not like this loop was a shot in the dark for Carl, he knows this area so well and spent so much time in here during the 90s and early 2000s that they should really have a canyon somewhere in there named after him by now. The hiking was not necessarily easy, but the hot springs really made the trip worth while. Never considered myself a hot springs type, but it was hard not to enjoy these. Arriving to camp was a welcomed relief, whether it was the 5.5 hour drive the night before, or the ten miles of "ankle busters," I was beat! We: made a quick fire, ate some food, chatted it up a bit and ended up staying up really late. Well that's if you consider both in bed by a quarter after eight late ;)
Saturday we went with a little 15 mile out and back track I drew up earlier in the week. The track consisted of the Blue River Trail north to Cow Flat Trail #55 and a stop and Landron Spring for lunch. Ladrone Spring (spelling seems to be different on multiple sources) was simply described as having a robust flow and Carl had not done that section of Cow Flat so we went with the route. Although lengthy the hike proved to be very rewarding. H U Ranch was an interesting site to visit along the way and Ladrone Spring proved to be nothing short of special. It was part of a system of several gushing springs that seem to come out of nowhere near a very dry and rugged section of Cow Flat Trail. The springs create a very fast falling stream with a strong flow that is essentially one cascade after another. Just a cool place, pictures will probably not do justice, but will have several in photo set. I struck out on some rock pile hunting on way home and then we repeated routine from previous day, however, this time I think we both made it to nine O'clock.
The hike out was relatively uneventful. Carl and I did some additional exploring near the juncture with Baseline Trail near the abandoned ranger's cabin, although, Carl was certainly more ambitious then myself. After several creek crossings we were back at Xterra for post hike beers and ESPN radio. A great cap to an awesome three days. Carl certainly picked a winner and I see myself going back for sure, assuming I can get someone to drive my Xterra through that rough section of road again.
A Kind of Funny Final Note:
Carl had a hike on Saturday like we have all had before and it was sort of humorous that it was not me for a change. After I snapped an early morning river crossing photo, Carl realized he forgot his camera. Luckily it was only about a 2 to 3 tenths of a mile detour for him. He then lost a glove near the Blue that was found with some careful back tracking and capped it off by making an additional trip to Lardon Spring to retrieve a misplaced handkerchief. |
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