Return To Stone Creek

I just recently hiked Stone Creek, but I missed the trail and followed the dirt road a little way up. Today we wanted to try and get at least one last adventure in before the weather turned, as well as get Roxy out again so we decided this was the trail to do.

From the parking lot. Gross! We haven't even hit winter yet and have a blanket of smog. oi.

Some pretty color already.

Yea totally taking the trail this time, which actually appears to be an old 4 wheel trail. It is pretty easy to overlook, but it is right about where the pavement ends. If you want something a little easier, you can keep following the road a little higher up. There are quite a few side trails back down to the trail if you change your mind as well.

Some wildflowers.

The creek, surrounded by leaves.

Old pipe with a bunch of bullet holes.

Pretty trees and mountain sides.

I am starting to get why this is called Stone Creek. Lots and lots of boulders to climb over and around.

Roxy needed some assistance over that slick rock.

Some nice color and the creek.

Lone pine.

Got passed by a random cowboy on a horse, which Roxy promptly decided to follow. I don’t know what her plan was if she ever did catch up to it!

Another boulder.

Some cliffs above, below it there was a dam that I didn’t get a shot of. I think that is where the dirt road ends.

Boom color!

First creek crossing. I lost track of how many times we had to cross.

Giant rock outcropping. Kind of looks like a face from this angle.

Nice and scraggly! Some of those outcroppings are hanging pretty precariously.. someone should knock em over for safety! No seriously, screw those guys. I honestly believe they did it for the sake of knocking over a boulder over the safety of other people. Why film it and act like jerks if that was not the case? (If you can’t tell this is a small rant about the idiots that knocked over one of the boulders in Hobbit Land). If you are concerned about something, talk to a forest ranger. Super easy.

A couple shots of the creek. Fall is really just about over.

Strange red band in the creek. I couldn’t tell if this was a plant, or some human caused garbage.

I picked up a couple hitchhikers. The trail was getting pretty thin, and it is starting to get dark.

Landis and Roxy decide the best way across the creek.

Leaf littered ground.

Speckled leaves.

Starting to reach the sunlight again. This particular canyon is pretty deep, and turns so in the waning sunlight of fall, it is pretty shaded once you pass a certain point.

I love sun lit forests in fall.

Illuminated seed pods.

More forest.

Back down to were the cliffs and the little dam are there are some climbers on the cliff face.

The little dam.

Some wonderful yellows.

This part of the trail was a little tougher.

Nice little cascade here though.

More seed pods.

Some more lovely colors.

Hillside.

The smog layer again. Just, yuck.

And a view back up the canyon we just came out of.

Old spillway. It seems this may have been a reservoir at one point but that is no longer the case.

This trail is thin, wild, and rugged. I LOVE these types of trails that are obviously not used as much by others. We ran into a couple people before the dam, but after that not a single soul it wasn’t too steep and had quite a few things to see and explore. I kind of wish I had explored this canyon earlier in the season as losing light for most of the hike wasn’t particularly happy. Obviously I will need to return in the summer.

Final rating 9 out of 10 Squirrels.

As for difficulty. hrm. I guess I will go with a DR3 there were a few rough spots, but none that were too terrible, actually, I have to bump that up to DR4. This is not a well maintained trail and required multiple creek crossings.