What I did today

Well, I finally got to go check out my new GPS and boots (my Christmas presents) today.

My plan was to go do one of my favorite winter time hikes, one someone here clued me in to a couple years ago.  (Forgive me, but I don't remember who posted it - I will just have to thank them anonymously).  The hike is going up fish creek, on what used to be FS road 54.  My understanding is that it was closed after the 96 floods due to extreme damage.  There is still a pretty decent trail on the old torn up roadbed, however.  In the summer, ATV's use it, but in the fall/winter, it is typically a pretty good hike.  A relatively level grade, with little elevation gain, and you see some very pretty things.  The creek is never far away, and there are a few small groups of old growth timber along the way.  One of the coolest things is that there are some old bridges across the creek, if you hike up far enough.  At the second bridge, there is even some old information signs talking about fish.  It is kind of like finding a ghost town.....Especially since the bridges aren't all that old (late 70's I think).

Well, I didn't get to the first bridge, which is about 3-3.5 miles from the start.  There was LOTS of snow!  anywhere from 4-10" of pretty soft snow, and I didn't have snowshoes, so it was pretty tough going.  Couple that with the water flow in some of the creeks you have to cross, and it was a difficult day for me and my dog.  We ended up turning back at the second creek (the name of the creek-it is actually the 3rd creek you have to cross) crossing.  It was running pretty fast and deep.  Normally, I take a large tree over the creek, which works great.  This time, it was covered it about 6" of snow, and I didn't want to slip off in the middle.  It is about 8' or so down to the creek.  I was getting tired, I had the dog with me, and my better judgement told me it was time to turn around.  So, we did about 6 miles.  It was still a VERY nice trip, and it was wonderful getting out in the woods again.

After this, I thought I would see if I could get up to see the damage on road 63 where it is closed.  Short story - I couldn't.  There is a LOT of snow up there!  I don't think I've ever seen this much snow this low.  224 was plowed to Ripplebrook, and 46 was semi plowed for about a mile or so.  After that, it was kind of plowed.  There was one lane, with two tire tracks, with about 2 feet of snow on either side.  I drove up this until just about the Riverside trailhead, and had to turn around.  There were 5 or 6 cars and trucks, and it looked like there was either an accident or they were stuck.  I honestly don't know why someone in a car would go on a road like that.  I'm guessing they were trying to get up to Bagby, but I'd say unless you have a snowmobile, or a BIG truck with chains, it would be pretty tough to get to Bagby right now.

So, current conditions:  LOTS of snow and LOTS of water in the creeks and rivers.

Now I just have to learn how to use my new GPS and get my track logs superimposed on maps......I'm learning!

Sounds like there might be more opportunity to do some hiking in the next couple weeks, as we are due for a break after tomorrow.  Hope some other people had time to enjoy the day!

Rob