More of a laze-about than an adventure… I drove up to the valley with no real destination in mind. I travelled up William Creek (USFS 47 Rd) with an eye to finding some area to hike about and camp overnight, and maybe do a bit of snowshoeing, but turned about and headed up the highway to Cortright Creek Rd (USFS 45 Rd), when all I found was ice at around 3000′, and no welcoming campsites along the way.
Cortright was also a bust, again hitting ice at about the same elevation. Next, I thought to drive up to the Summit Creek trailhead on the 44 Rd, always some good campsites up there in the off season, and my recollection was that there was a newly installed, likely unofficial, footbridge at the Inipi near the trailhead. Once there, however, I found no sign of the foot bridge, but also a deep, swift Carlton Creek. I decide to spend the afternoon setting up camp and being lazy.
The area had a bit of traffic over the course of the afternoon, but by dusk had emptied out. I spent a chunk of the afternoon hiking up the 026 spur road to the end near the creek – a good drive-in camping area there – and then further along a social trail heading up the canyon. It eventually led me to an area above the gorge, that had burned this past August. All the ground cover was burned off and the large, old-growth trees scorched and dead. The ground was covered in a loose sand, and I suspect the area was the target of a water drop, being outside of the wilderness area. As I explored, I began to be wary of the soil. Things just didn’t seem firm, and the slope was not gentle. I gingerly retraced my steps and followed the trail back down to the road.
Returning to camp, I had just enough daylight to set up my campfire (I had purchased two bundles of campfire wood at the hardware store in Packwood), and then boiled up some water for dinner (Chicken & Dumplings) and evening tea. I don’t usually have a campfire when I’m out, for reasons of risk and smell, but this wintry evening under the bright stars was the perfect occasion for an exception. I don’t know what time I retreated to my hammock and down bag, but I had burned thru my stack of wood and was getting very, very sleepy.
The morning dawned bright, and eventually, rosy. I had reserved just enough water for a cuppa dirty chai, and with that in hand walked down to the trail head to filter some water from Summit Creek. What a beautiful way to start the day. My filter had frozen, and that took some work to thaw.
Leave a Reply