The trail leading west from the campsite under the overhang came to an abrupt end at a very rocky ravine. I decided that if the trail continued on the other side of the ravine, it would do so a fair way up it. I hiked up over the very large boulders. It was difficult going and I quickly decided that it was an unlikely route for the trail.
Getting back to Long Creek, I concluded that the only logical route was straight down the creek; a bit of water hiking was in order.
I was surprised that I’d not seen or heard a single person so far and this was Memorial Day, which I was expecting to be busy as the area near The Falls draws quite a crowd. The creek didn’t look to be too deep, but I figured with no one around if it got too deep I could always strip off to keep my clothes dry.
It was just as well the creek wasn’t too deep and I didn’t strip off, as five minutes later I bumped into John — the only person I was to see on this trip — hiking up the creek. We exchanged pleasantries, and he told me he had a hammock set up a short distance downstream.
We were probably the only people in the entire wilderness, and we’d both turned up at the same spot.
I carried on hiking down the creek past where he said he’d set up his hammock. I had just worked my way around the edge of a big deep pool when I spotted what looked like another overhang behind the trees. And so it was. This was a much more primitive spot. Tucked under the overhang there was a fire ring and a small stone stool, nothing fancy. Scouting around I found what looked like a trail coming in from the west, so that might be another way to get to this spot. I’ll have to check that out another time.
Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.