Rain was in the forecast, so I was prepared. The forecast said 1/10th to 1/4 inch. As usual the forecast was wrong. I think at least an inch fell while I was hiking. The road is closed at the Park Entrance so I went in on the Dry Creek Trail.
I ran into quite a few people who were confused about how to get in, this combined with the weather gave me solitude today. There is an area just off the trail that I have always been tempted to explore and today seemed like the day to do it. It is a short hike for me and with the rain coming down in buckets a short hike seemed ideal.
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The area was beautiful but not actually the area I meant to explore, but close enough. I discovered an old backpacking campground with two bear wires. One campsite looked like it had been used in recent years.
I wonder why the park service abandoned this campground. It's really nice, but a bit to close to the trail head for me.
It took me a long time to find the perfect spot for my tarp and it also took me a long time to get the tarp set up. I think rain water got down my coat sleeve while I was reaching up to tie out my tarp. By the end of the hike all of my waterproof gear had leaked some, but the rain was so severe that I guess my gear is still good, if not perfect.
I had a nice long lunch under my tarp. I had triangle shaped rice noodles for the first time and I really liked them. They were easy to eat with a spoon. They were a bit more expensive than regular rice noodles though. I had coffee followed by two cups of Pu'er tea to help me stay warm.
On the way out I took the half of the loop that comes out behind the ranger station. There was a lot of heavy equipment parked near ranger station but no workers were around.
6.5 miles with 200 feet elevation gain
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