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| Backpack | 12.50 Miles |
2,687 AEG |
| | Backpack | 12.50 Miles | | | |
| 2,687 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Not the best choice for a quick backpack.
Got a late start and decided to this loop clockwise starting out from Big Burns Creek trailhead and headed northeast to the junction of Hells Hole Canyon. Trail conditions are pretty good for this stretch and seem to be used by motorcyclists, mountain bikers, and hikers. The hike to hells hole canyon junction took me just under and an hour and I decided to camp in this stretch instead of my plans to camp in Little Burns Canyon. Along this stretch from Hells Hole Canyon to Little Burns Canyon there are a few spots which are established or would work for camping. Some spots have shown signs of recent use whereas others haven't been used in a awhile. Very lush and green thru this section and would likely be very pretty when the leaves change in the fall.
I made camp around the hells hole area and ended up getting no sleep that night. Something bigger was rooting around my campsite and it paid a few repeat visits. Finally got to sleep around 3am just to wake back up around 5am; my camps visitor was still around but scurried off pretty quickly when I exited my tent. Never did see what it was that was visiting.
Continuing on from camp and hells hole I made my way to the Little Burns Creek drainage which was my junction, from here I would be headed southeast and up. This is where the conditions of the trail get a bit tougher and more ridiculous. You have a a pretty good climb over the next two and a half miles which include several water water crossings; debris to avoid; route finding; and muddy trail to deal with. This was the most annoying part of this loop; find the path of least resistance and embrace that suck. You are at times hiking in the creek; or just busting thru the scrub and willow; there are signs of well used trail when you do find it; but it's a lot of bushwhacking thru this section.
The trail eventually reaches a junction according the map but I only noticed one route to go which was to the right and up. The climb to the saddle was extremely steep; a quick 1,000 foot gain in just under one half of a mile. Some of this section reminded me of the last mile in See Canyon but with a few more switchbacks; has a few sections of off camber and eroded trail; and of course more brush to deal with but not as bad as Little Burns.
This section of trail is also where I had my first signs of wildlife which was a decently sized color phased black bear; never could get a good picture but seemed to be a good bit bigger than anything I have seen in Arizona. He was running up trail as I was headed up; lost signs of him before I made it to the saddle.
Once I made to the saddle the views opened up a bit but were rather disappointing for the effort you just made to get there. However, the trail conditions improved quite a bit but with less water. From here I made my way down into Black Canyon which was quite a bit better than Burns Canyon and a significant improvement over the Little Burns drainage. Once out of the canyon it was a two mile road walk back to the car, pretty warm as I headed back to the car and a lot of traffic along the road. Glad I did this loop but wish I had been recommended something different... I think this hike would be very colorful during the fall though; there lots of aspen and maple trees; overall very lush and green but too bushy for my liking.
Not the best intro to the Targhee but I'll be back to do Alaska Basin in another month or so. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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