Sunday, September 12, 2010

Exploring Caples Creek

On Friday drove up 50 to Kyburz and took Silver Fork road. Stopped at the Fitz Ranch bridge to hike up the trail to Government Meadows. I gave some thought to hiking across Caples Creek then up a trail to Forgotten Flat then back down a forest service road to Silver Fork and the car. It's a round trip of 5 miles. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling very good so once I crossed the creek and looked at the first uphill switchback I decided not to continue. I wasn't that committed to it so I wasn't disappointed.

Today we did the same hike, but continued on to Jake Schneider Meadow. I had wanted to stop there somewhere at Caples, take my boots off and cool my feet off. Caples is a lively creek busily trying to carve a canyon out of the granite so there weren't any good places. The banks were a steady 2 feet or more above the water level. The water was also moving pretty fast with many snags and really dangerous strainers so I didn't want to chance going in.

There was one place that had been made into a campsite with beautiful, soft sand and a bit of a calm area. I soaked my feet until a spider (I'm a bit phobic) decided that he wanted to share this exact same spot and he didn't appreciate my fat butt on his grassy home. I left.

We also stopped at the granite and sand beach just down from the nice bridge about a mile up the trail. No one was there and I soaked my feet for quite a while without disturbing any arachnids. Commando and I played some splash for a bit and he cooled down nicely.

It's a nice, easy trail with some good views. The meadow was dry, not quite golden but close. Grasshoppers and dragon flies were abundant. I'll definitely do this trail again.

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