Watch me crash through the brush looking for something that is not there
The plan was to climb Dry Mountain. Motivation however was very low. Not sure why I felt so unmotivated. I forced myself out the door at about 9:30, a late start, but the days are long now.
The drive up to the 4 way intersection where I have to park was fine, the road is clear of fallen trees from the winter. I have to park at the 4 way due to the obscene water bars on the last mile of the road to the trail head. I hate it when they make the water bars so big that you can barely even get over them in a Jeep. Seems pointless to take such extreme measures to save the road that the road is undrivable.
Energy levels at the trail head were still low, maybe I would just hike to the pass and call it good. About an hour into my hike I realized that my birthday was the next day! My spouse had mysteriously said I was going somewhere at 11:30 on my birthday. Where was I going? Would it be bad if I was really sore from a hard hike? I guess it was either a manicure, a pedicure, a massage or skydiving, all things I had never done before. If I was skydiving, I did not want to be sore. So to my relief I decided to just hike to the pass and call it good. Sage and I had a nice lunch on the pass and then headed back on a brush crashing route.
I’d like to find out where the trail went before it was mostly destroyed by logging. I very much doubt that the trail followed the switchback in the logging road, that was blasted out of a cliff! I think the trail might have gone straight down across the current switchback in the road, but I’ve searched for it two other times with no luck. The area in the middle of the road switchback is mostly old growth, so there is a chance of finding the old trail there. Most of the trail though was destroyed by logging and there would be no chance of finding the old trail tread where it had been logged.
I brush crashed down a tributary to Lebar Creek, but I did not find any trace of an old trail. I’ll keep looking. It would be nice to talk to someone who got to hike this trail before it was destroyed. I wish that the road section of the “trail” would be eliminated by the construction of a new trail that goes through the beautiful old growth forest. Why force everyone up an ugly old logging road?
Later I was pointed to a map that shows where the trail went and it did not cross the switchback, it completely avoided it!
The Dry Creek trail ends at a road with a big switchback. I was always sure that the trail never took that same route and must cross the switchback and I've even gone off the road to look for the old trail crossing the switchback three times. I never found it because the trail completely bypasses the the road with the switchback never crossing it at all. :) Here is a map of the trail as it was in 1953 layered onto a current road map. Current trail starts right at the sharp switchback in the road.
on the drive in
On the dive out, some parts are missing now
Male pheasant on Skok Valley road
Lebar creek crossing is always too slippery to do with dry feet
Blasted out road
Where the trail now starts
Beautiful old growth that was spared
Trail goes through an old burn here
Crashing through the brush looking for something that is not there.
Here is a map of the trail as it was in 1953 layered onto a current road map. Current
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