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| | Hiking | | 7 Hrs | | 0.00 mph |
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| no partners | | Headed out to West Clear Creek on Thursday afternoon. Camped at Bull Pen that night. There was only one other group there, but the large amount of trash confirmed the reports I've read on this site. This place is party central! It seems pointless to complain about the trash here, but I've got to vent. Dirty diapers in a fire circle!?! F'in disgusting! The location is incredible, but the trash was a real bummer.
We guessed that this camp might get a little loud on a Friday night. So, the next morning, we decided to head up the canyon to find a more secluded place to stay. We ended up at the other end of Trail #17, on 214A. I had intended that we would start our hike from Bull Pen, but it was getting late (about 11am), so we decided to do a down and back from this trail head.
We saw another couple on the way down who were on the second day of an overnight backpacking trip. They informed us that we were about to turn a corner and see some incredible views. Indeed. The landscape was incredible!
At some point early on, we lost the trail and ended up hopping and climbing boulders most of the way down. This was my fault. I had done some internet research on this trail before we left. I won't go into too much detail here; but I had made a set of wrong-headed assumptions based on some photographs I saw that convinced me that we WERE actually ON the trail. I even commented to my wife, "Wow, you've gotta love the internet. If I hadn't seen those pictures, I would think we had lost the trail." I didn't fully realize the mistake I had made until we made the hike out. I felt pretty foolish.
Anyway, we finally made it down to the creek, but it took us a lot longer than it should have. We spent about an hour at the creek swimming and taking pictures. It was awesome. So beautiful.
We started back the way we came. However, some of the obstacles we traversed on the way down were a lot harder going up. We tried to climb around the side of one dry waterfall. It didn't look hard from the bottom, but once we were halfway up we realized we had gotten in over our heads. I'll just say this: When you are climbing on ledges filled with scree, and something you are holding on to starts to give way, it can really spook you. Then the fear sets in, and you are frozen. It can get dicey pretty quick. We pulled ourselves together, and eventually found another route around the fall. Morale was a little low for me at this point. However, while making our way around the next dry fall (a smaller one), my wife made a miraculous discovery...the trail!!
As many of you know, the hike back up to the rim is pretty grueling. But, to tell the truth, I was so relieved to find an actual trail that it didn't bother me in the slightest. Up we went...and up...and up. We reached our vehicle at about 6:20. We pitched our tent, and then sat, watched the sunset, and ate watermelon.
Overall, a fun and adventurous trip. The landscape was spectacular, the creek was wonderful, and the hike was an awesome workout. Chalk the rest up to experience. I have to say, my recent enthusiasm for learning to rock climb and rappel has dampened a bit though.  Take it slow young grasshoppers. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Of course, reaching the top still felt good. 
