Photos from Mill Creek Wilderness Loop

Cougar warning at the trailhead Beautiful pine grove at lower Belknap junction Beautiful pine grove at lower Belknap junction After the last creek crossing, you enter an area burned by 2000 fire First good view of Twin Pillars This clearly shows an incredible job trail crews have done... Last year I had to look for flagging to follow the trail in the brush (and negotiate invisible blowdowns), this year it's clear 7-feet wide path Looking over Brogan Creek valley (foreground) and Mill Ck valley (further back).The green mountain in the background is Wildcat Mtn From this angle both pillars are visible The view of Desolation Canyon, not far from my first camp Brogan Prairie was a nice mix of young pie forests, open meadows, and clear streams. The mosquitoes I saw last year didn't materialize yet. There were still a few snow patches Picture of water on the trail... guess who drew it Last year I took a wrong trail at some point and missed N Twin Pillars trailhead by about half mile. This time the trail was easy to follow. Pepper had fun at the little pond, while I filled water at the large stream for the 3-mile road section Meadow at N Pillars trailhead The road section is easy, but that sign cost me some confusion last year. There is no trail on the right at the sign, instead hike straight about 1/5 of a mile and turn right on side road (signed as Rd 500) - Wildcat trailhead will be 5 min down that road Some more burned areas near upper Mill Creek Somewhat hazy view of Three Sisters and Bachelor New life is coming back Could see the Pillars and the hill we climbed a day before Once on the east side of the ridge, it became much greener Could see as far as Lookout Mountain - still with some snow near the summit Balsamroot is only getting ready to bloom ...but some other flowers were nice Wildcat trail is faint in places but isn't hard to follow Some evidence of trail's namesake We stayed in a nice pine grove a mile short of Belknap junction There was a nice boggy meadow with a tiny stream nearby and a nice little pond. I thought about setting a camp near the water, but the frogs were so loud I thought they wouldn't let us sleep if we did - so I set a camp several hundred yards uphill Flowers near the camp These two deer were very curious about us - they approached a camp 3 times, then turned around when noting us seeing them, only to repeat 5 minutes later I ditched the pack at upper Belknap junction and hiked to White Rock campground and back. It's a beautiful trail & it almost completely escaped the recent fire I like White Rock campground - it only has 2-3 spots, about half-acre each (no joke), the restrooms, and plenty of shade from old-growth ponderosa pines. I never see a soul in it, but maybe it's because I always plan it on workday (that time an original p There was some great trail work on a steep Belknap Trail. BTW, while the trail is waterless, there is a good stream a mere 10 yards from the trail, about half way down. There is a side trail going down to it. that stream will dry in the summer, I guess Back at Mill Creek, it was hot enough so I took 6 fords without taking my boots off. The water was almost knee-deep at the deepest ford; but usually only half as deep I will come to Ponderosa Land again next spring, if not before :)