Walks with Moss: Historic O'Neil trail to the five stream crossing

Five stream where the historic O'Neil trail crosses it

On our last hike we set out to find Jumbo’s Leap. We found the river called Jumbo’s Leap (five stream) but did not find a lot of evidence of cut trees. We wanted to head up to the 5 stream crossing on that trip but we ran out of time.

We devised a new plan that involved hiking up the main trail and then crossing the river. This plan would have to wait until the river level went down. Well, we were not patient enough to wait , so we went back again on the same route.

We made better time and got out before dark. We found the spot where the O’Neil party crossed 5 stream with their mules. It is a very pretty spot.

It is surprising that 5 steam just suddenly leaves an impassible canyon here and levels out making crossing easy. We found O’Neil trail markers on either side of the ford and clear evidence of the trail on the far side. We did not have time to explore on the far bank, that will have to wait for another day.

I probably should have waited a bit after returning from Yellowstone. I was very sleepy at the end of the hike. Phil got stung by a wasp near the end and we both got scraped up a bit brush crashing in the old growth.

8.3 miles with 500 feet elevation gain 3.6 miles off trail.

Navigating the section we call the "itty bitty shitty"

Waterfall on 5 steam. When we saw this waterfall we knew we were near the crossing
since it showed that the river was no longer in a canyon at this point