Caples Creek Tour

May, 2004

This was another epic adventure: as beautiful as I'd hoped it would be, if for much of the way a good deal harder than anticipated.

The trail up to Government Meadow is a lovely stroll. Leaving the trail there the way went from light to moderate, occaisionally heavy bushwacking and obliged a lot of backtracking and a bit of tough scrambling. By way of illustration, the first 2½ miles of the 3rd day took some 7 hours, while the remaining 3½ miles took about 90 minutes. I tend to stop a lot to take pictures, but it's a fair comparison of trail and off-trail, especially in that area.

All in all it was a blast and while I've had my fill of the hard press for awhile I would not have missed it for the world. From the time I left the trail until returning three days later I saw no-one but the two resident mallards at my little lake, a White-breasted Nuthatch, a few small snakes and a couple of bears. I listented to the wind, the birds and the creek in remote meadows and clearings where no-one has been recently and no-one (with any brains, anyway) is likely to be again any time soon. I shook down some new gear, got re-aquainted with some old gear, and made progress in my quest to learn to carry just what's needed and nothing more.

All Material: Copyright © 2003, Gene L. Miller