Cripple Creek Trail

I thought I had made my last high elevation hike of 2008, but so far, the snow has held off from removing access to the higher elevations. With the beautiful fall weather on Sunday, even though I had an extremely busy weekend, I managed to sneak in a quick hike on Sunday morning to the Cripple Creek trail. My daughter and I had hiked the lower portion of this trail almost 3 years ago (December 2005), but only got part way though due to the snow. It was also REALLY COLD that day, so we decided to turn around. Anyway, I had wanted to complete this trail to see what the higher elevation part was like.

The lower part of the trail is very well maintained, with a nice, even uphill grade. The trail is all uphill, but the grade makes it a pretty easy hike.  There are a few spots where the grade gets rather steep, however those areas are typically very short.  Although I was not able to see Cripple Creek, I certainly did hear it, and it sounded like it was running pretty high and fast.

One interesting note: After crossing the 4635 road, there was a couple of what looked like alder or vine maple sprouts that were hanging across the trail. I thought I'd trim them back - Well, I did, but they weren't alder or vine maple sprouts. I'm not sure what they were, but they were very soft and lightweight. At first I thought it might be bamboo, but on closer inspection, it almost looked like balsa wood! Very light and easy to cut. I don't know if balsa grows in these forests or not, or if there is a similar wood that grows here.  Anyone know?

I also found what looked like an old trail junction at one point.  The "trail" looked pretty well defined, however it was covered with downed limbs, etc.  I also thought I could make out some very old blazes, but wasn't sure.  Are there other trails that intersected the cripple creek trail at some point in the past?  Could it have been the elusive "3 Lynx Trail" that was talked about here earlier?

The trail crosses several roads, some still in use, and some that are old cat roads. For the most part, the trail is very easy to follow, however there are a couple of spots where you need to pay close attention.

All in all, a very nice trail that is well maintained. My favorite part of the trail was the lower section, since I enjoy the big trees and more mature forest. There were some nice old growth spots on the upper section of the trail as well, but they were smaller and fewer than down below.

A great morning on a beautiful fall day......