10.5 miles of hiking • 2500' elevation gain •
I headed out to Elk Meadows on a gorgeous summer day. No bugs and I had the place to myself. Afterwards I headed up the Gnarl Ridge trail and turned west on the Timberline Trail.
I didn't run into any snow until the Clark Creek Canyon. This creek bottom is beautiful with several waterfalls. Climbing up out of there was tricky with several steep snowfield traverses and route finding challenges to stay on the Timberline Trail. I finally just went cross country up to the top of the ridge to the ski area and wandered around on the ski slopes- found an iphone and it still works! Unfortunately it is password protected so I'm not sure how to return it to its owner. It sure was hot out. I ran out of water, then found- a bottle of water!!
I bushwacked Southeasterly back into the Clark Creek Canyon (via a foolhardy route) and had a wonderful time heading downstream in the creek bed. It was about a mile back down to the bridge on the Elk Meadows trail, but it took over an hour. So many critter tracks in the sand. I had to cross the creek about 5 times. There is clear evidence of a former trail here- obvious tread and cut alders, but then the creek suddenly switches direction and obliterates the trail, and alder thickets are growing fast in the more stabilized spots on the bank.
