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| Hiking | 4.30 Miles |
1,002 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.30 Miles | | | |
| 1,002 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | | Headed down south Sunday to escape the heat in the Pinaleno's. Usually I hike the eastern/central portion driving up the 366, but I wanted to check out a couple of different places so I drove up Tripp Canyon Rd, thought about parking at Turkey Spring but continued up and parked at the top of the road. My original destination was to the site of the 1974 C-50 plane crash, but it didn't end up that way. For the first 3/4 mile the trail is in great shape and easy to follow (it's an actual trail), after that it's all off trail and steep. This area hasn't seen a fire in a long time and is thick with vegetation. That and with it raining the day prior made the ground extremely spongy and I slightly tweaked my knee after about a half mile of off trail activities. Being solo and not wanting to risk hurting it any worse I made the decision to turn around and head back to the TH, I'll save it for another day. Rested for a bit, knee was feeling a bit better and I was no where near done, especially after the long drive, so I drove about a half mile further up and parked at the Clark Peak Trail junction and started down the Blue Jay Ridge Trail. About a mile in, I came across a section with a huge field of ferns. About 50 yards ahead of me there was a ton of noise when the ferns started shaking. Expecting a deer or bear to jump out, but no it was a larger size (pretty skinny looking) white dog wearing a blue collar. It stared at me for a sec and took off down the trail, it took me a second to process that it was a dog up here by itself. I continued hiking up the trail when it stopped again, stared at me and run off again. I hiked another half mile or so up the trail looking for it and stopped for a good 20 minutes calling for it waiting to see if it would come back, but I never saw it again, just found some prints in the mud that didn't go anywhere and some fresh scat. Thunder started to boom so I turned around and slowly headed back to the TH. This area is pretty isolated and I did not see another person or vehicle all day so clearly someone is missing there baby. I stopped at the Turkey Sprint TH to see if it had made it's way back down, but nothing, so I headed home. A bit disappointing that I wasn't able to bring the dog down the mountain, but it's still a beautiful area and while a bit humid, mid 70's for temps were great. Before fall I want to head back out to this area to finish this trail. |
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Hiking is just walking where it’s okay to pee.  |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
side trip up to West Peak and the lookout tower at 8670 elev 
and I was glad to shower them off Saturday night. Thanks for the invite Chums and thanks for setting this up Scott. Ringtone is an awesome dog and it was fun to see Bruno and him get along so well. Read the other triplogs to learn about the hike.
which was a shock in such an isolated place. Later, we veered off trail a couple of times near the summit of point 8529', where we discovered jaw dropping views from rocky overlooks. On top of the mountain, we entered into a wonderland of deep ferns, open parks, and seemingly endless wildflowers. Benign cumulus clouds added interest to the sky, and a cool breeze blew as we walked through this slice of Heaven. All too soon the wildflower garden was passed, and we turned downhill into the tall firs to return to the truck on FR 286. The drive home was filled with a sense of satisfaction and the decision to return to this special place more often. 
