Busted Trails!!

The Canyon Creek trail is the most popular trail in the Trinity Alps and needless to say, CD and I have been eager to do it since last year. In an effort to maximize our summer and beat the latter summer heat, we decided to go up this trail early in the season. Unfortunately, this past January saw some huge snowstorms in the Trinities and a lot of trees fell from the weight of the wet snow.



Originally we had planned to hike in about 5 miles on Friday and set up camp. On Saturday we planned to do a day hike up to the lakes (lower and upper Canyon Creek Lake); and then exit the wilderness on Sunday. At the ranger station they mentioned that some trees were down on the trail, but they said that it should be reasonably doable. After about 3 1/2 miles we started to cross downed trees. We made it past quite a few before we decided that it was too much with our heavy packs on; plus, we saw no end to the trail obstacles in sight!



So, we turned around and hiked out. We had to ford the creek, again!



We decided that we should car camp and try a different trail the next day for a one-night backpack. We checked at the fire station the conditions for the trail to Granite lake. They told us that there were a few trees down and the snow was all melted, but it shouldn't be too bad. After some discussion that night we decided to just do a day trip instead of an overnighter. It was a wise decision. We encountered 55 downed trees! Yep, we counted them!

Our reward was this beautiful alpine lake surrounded by a granite cirque:




Overall, I have to admit preferring car camping for one major reason: fire! Usually no fires are permitted in the backcountry and I do enjoy ending the day by sitting around the fire and warming up.