Big baldy- Indian creek loop, Frank Church Wilderness

 I have been more than remiss! This summer (2015) I took an incredible week long trip into the wilderness and surprisingly came out in one piece! I had been reading tiny snippets about this loop all year and committed to it once I found detailed maps in the college library. Lots of the reports for this trail were outdated but I was informed that lots of work had been done recently. 

Here I want to state my first warning. The dirt road leading to the trailhead, near Snowshoe Summit, was the roughest I've ever driven in my car. I highly recommend at least all wheel drive and some clearance. It is a Jeep trail in places. 

I parked on the side of the track near the trailhead and searched for some time to find the trail while my dogs blitzed around the hillside. I finally found the trail by beginning at the trail marker and walking east near the road. 

Here's my second warning. Please have a good map and decent compass skills for this trip! Though I will say the entire first day I enjoyed a very clear trail. 

I only walked about 6 miles the first day, owing to the extended drive to the trailhead. The entire area burned about 16 years ago and much of the evidence remains. As a result, finding adequate campsites without widow makers (dead, standing trees) was difficult. The very first evening I set up camp on a saddle between Little Baldy and Pistol Lake. Beautiful, but blustery!

Both sunset and sunrise were stunning!

Day 2 was nearly the end of my trip! After passing the trail to Pistol Lake the main trail curves down a hillside to the east. Initially, I walked all the way to the dirt road at the bottom, perplexed that I hadn't found the continuation of my route. I spent about an hour perusing my map, having a snack, and browsing the hillside before deciding I would make one last effort to find my trail before spending the next few days at Pistol Lake. The trail is faint since it wends along the rocky hillside, but there it was! Leading me eventually into one of the sterilized areas from the old burn. Sometimes the fires can burn so hot that recruitment of new trees and plants takes an incredible amount of time. Seeds and spores can't survive the heat and even the soil composition is changed. 

This also means the trail is tough to pick out in places. Don't worry, it gets worse! Thankfully, the day was cool and relatively overcast so I didn't smell like a troll until later. The trail takes you along the rugged spine of the mountain until you reach Chilcoot Pass. The trail to the peak is still available and there used to be the remains of a fire lookout up there but I pressed on. 

Approaching the Pass, the Peak to the left. 

Chilcoot Pass signage. 

Coming down the pass was a little slick in places but I thought it was awesome to stumble upon a spring in the middle of the trail. It's a thin spring but the water was cool and delicious! And filtered, of course. The dogs and I sat here for lunch and enjoyed the green valley we were descending into. 

Today is the day I wish I had stopped earlier rather than later. There's a really lovely meadow I camped in on the way back and it would have been a great stopping place for today. It's to the left of the trail just before it joins up with a dirt road. I pressed on, wanting to make up the miles I hadn't done the first day. 

This is the trail as it leaves the dirt road heading to Pistol Rock. The trail is really bad here, with erosion washing out major portions. My dogs and I slid into one washout when we stepped onto the trail where it had been undercut. Be careful here!! The trail splits just after Pistol Rock and I took the split toward Big Baldy. The trail carried me across the spines of mountains and through stands of new Lodgepole Pines, but every flat tent spot had dead, burned-out trees looming over it. The day was hot and the trail was dry. My 2-liter camelbak sprung a leak and I lost all but half a liter. The dogs were exhausted and we took extended breaks as the day drug on, laying full out in the dirt to nap and rest our feet. We were all thirsty. The trail alternated between being visible but brutal, and nearly nonexistent but fair. Sometimes I had to backtrack to find the trail and often the only indicator of the trail was an old cut end of a log where trail crews in the past had cleared. I nearly turned around today. Buck Lake was close but as I drew near I made the mistake of focusing on a pond off the trail. I imagined that it had to be Buck Lake, ignoring the lack of trail. An easy thing to do when you're out of water. I rationalized that I knew where the trail was and I knew where I'd be down at the pond, so I descended about 800 feet and spent the night at a mosquito filled bowl with a muddy shored pond that gave me the water I needed to think straight. I had made a mistake going off trail. I got a little choked up and felt sick to my stomach. A voice inside told me to get it together and just fix it tomorrow. I did just that but only after a beautiful sunset and some much needed sleep. 

Day 3 broke and we were up early. The stress of the previous day, coupled with the thirst I had endured meant I hadn't eaten much. I was still concerned about getting back on trail and wasn't able to stomach more than a few bites from an energy bar. We climbed back to the trail and found it sheers off the spine to bend and twist steeply down a slide to the picturesque Buck Lake, where we rested for most of the morning. 

I smelled like I hadn't bathed in a month so I stripped down and stepped into the lake. I barely got above my ankles before the cold stopped me. I splashed about but drew the line at washing my hair. My scalp already felt tight enough to pop off my head. We rested in the morning sun for hours before slowly packing up and moving slowly towards Big Baldy, where I wanted to stay in the lookout. 

Let's take a closer look. 

Can you see the trail cutting through the green to the right of the slide? I'd hate to go up that trail. This section of the walk was quite beautiful. I walked through green mountains and out onto grassy hillsides which had once been covered in timber but was still recovering from the burn. I could see the lookout for nearly a mile as I came around a big bend in the trail. We were moving very slowly at this point, paws and feet sore and legs aching. Rounding Big Baldy was my favorite part of this trip. The surrounding mountains were exactly how I had pictured them to be: dark stands of trees broken by furry, grassy meadows. 

We were on a roll and continued trudging along the dusty trail. I kept looking up the length of Big Baldy, wondering if I'd be able to make it to the top, when I stopped dead in the trail. I heard water! Sure enough, a spring bubbled gaily down the mountainside just below me. We flopped down in the squashy moss and slept. This spot was tough to leave; I even contemplated setting up camp by this spring! I was finally able to eat a full meal, though a few bites were shared with my pups. 

When we finally stood up, it was clear none of us would be able to make an additional 1-mile, 1,000 foot climb to the lookout. We compromised by camping near another spring that delighted me by flowing through a miniature trough at waist height, so I didn't have to crouch to filter the next day! 

Signage for the lookout trail. 

Little did I know that I would have slept far better had I taken the trail to the lookout! But that's a story for the next blog.