fun confusion on Starvation/Defiance

[Chip Down]

Starvation Ridge looked like my kind of route. Steep ridgecrest. Really steep. The fieldguide states "The trail builders seemed determined to stay directly on top of the ridge, creating pleasant, level ridge-top sections and knee-breaking climbs where the ridge gets steeper". Okay, sounds fun!

Arrived at dawn to see trail-closure signs. Excellent, maybe I'll have more solitude. Oh, damn, fine print says open weekends. Still, maybe some hikers will just see the TRAIL CLOSED signs and go elsewhere.

I was a little apprehensive about the Starvation cutoff trail. I've heard it's treacherous. Bah, it was just a minor hassle, no big deal. It's an official maintained trail, stable and safe. Nothing interesting about it. Just something to be endured as a very sensible shortcut.

STARVATION EAST OF THE CUTOFF
Towards the top of the cutoff, I followed a little social trail up to a viewpoint, and beyond that the trail was very prominent. Hmm. Should I go? Might completely change my plans for the day, but that can be fun. So up I went, and soon hit a T junction. Oh! Must have just looped back to the main trail. Kept going, looking for the end of the cutoff trail. It never came, and I surmised the cutoff trail must have ended in the section when I was off-trail. Are you confused reading this paragraph? That's okay, it was confusing, but it was a good fun confusion. And that turned out to be the theme of my day. Confusion after confusion, but mostly the fun kind.

The nice scenic switchbacks under the powerline clearing ended at a great viewpoint where I paused briefly, but it was chilly/breezy, and I knew I'd be here later, so I started up the ridgecrest. It was great, lots of variety of terrain and views and flora. The trail is well maintained, stable, and never a hassle, just a fun kind of steep. I wish it had been a little rockier though, and I would have liked to see some challenges (a little scrambling would be nice).

I had planned to turn back at the clearing just past the end of the ridgecrest, where the trail veers east (map below). I wasn't really paying that much attention, because I knew the Warren Lake trail would tip me off that I was getting close. The trail entered a charming flat rocky area and turned left, passing through a rockslide, and then continued east before starting switchbacks. Umm, what? Did I miss the Warren Lake trail? Hmm. Continued a bit to another rockslide, where the trail faded. I saw a very faint brushy trail exiting the slide, and looked for a clearer trail, but came to realize that was the only option. After a few yards the trail got clear again, and I followed it to a junction that wasn't the one I missed, but clearly wasn't the one I was expecting next. So yeah, more confusion. Finally realized it was a junction to a little trail heading to the primitive roads to the east, a junction that doesn't even appear on some maps. Okay, I get it now. This is the end of Starvation. So on towards the lake on Mitchell Point trail. When the trail leveled off, it was a pleasant hike. Perfect weather, flat, just a nice stroll through the woods. Came to another junction that should have been the top end of the Warren Lake trail, but the side trail was going left, not right! More confusion. My head was spinning. Looked at the posted map, looked at my map, explored a bit, scratched my head. The unexpected trail to the
left went to an abandoned trailhead, so I turned back and continued to the lake.

Okay, here's the lake, but....what now? The sensible thing to do would be take a Defiance loop, but that wasn't best for me. Two reasons: First, I hadn't thoroughly enjoyed the Starvation Ridge trail. I was always looking forward, saving the descent for more sightseeing. I just like seeing a trail from both directions, so if I know I'll be doing a loop, I look around more as I hike. Second reason I wanted to go down Starvation is because down at the bottom of
the ridge, just above the powerlines, I had jettisoned my Igloo cooler filled with a variety of frosty refreshing beverages. Yes, I'm completely serious.

On the way down, I encountered a shocking number of hikers. The most common question wasn't what you'd expect (how much further) but rather "Wow, you're coming down already? Did you get to the top?" I am, and I did. Well, unless they meant the top of Defiance, which I didn't. I asked everybody if they knew anything about the missing trail I was looking for. Nope, nobody even knew what I was talking about. Enjoyed my descent, grabbed my beverages, paused at the end of the ridge, and headed down the trail, past the cutoff and continuing west.

STARVATION WEST OF THE CUTOFF
One of my goals was the top of Warren Falls, the hole-in-the-wall diversion. Along the way, I crossed over Cabin Creek ridge, and wondered if an ascent would be interesting. I see Pablo has reported on it, and found it enjoyable, so it's now on my list. By the way, this ridge is supposed to cross the fictional Warren Lake trail up high.

At Warren Creek, I headed down the west side of the creek, and that turned out to be a mistake. The west bank got steep, and I kept getting forced up towards the trail. So I dropped down, crossed the creek, and went downstream on the east bank. It was moderately brushy and rugged, really not fun, but not awful. I had no idea how long this would last. Fortunately, it wasn't that bad. Maybe 15 minutes? Seeing the grating over the diversion tunnel was pretty cool, but barely worth the hike. Back upstream, across, up to the trail, and continuing on my way towards the Defiance trail. When the trail abruptly turned away from Warren and headed west, I spotted a faint path headed down towards the creek. Damn, that's the way to the top of the falls. It was a breeze, no effort at all. And the west side grants a close up access. You can get right there at the concrete and steel. I realized my half hour on the east side was pointless. WyEast Blog reports a similar access conundrum, and the eventual solution. I wish I had read that post before my trip, as it would have saved me a lot of time/effort. (Incidentally, I used WEB's guide to the lower Starvation/Defiance loop, and found it a great help. Could have done just fine without it, but it was a nice companion in my pocket and I referred to it often.)

Okay, back up to the trail and continuing westbound. Hit the Defiance trail and continued a bit to Lancaster Falls. It was evident, when looking up at just the right angle, that there was a big middle tier, and I had to see that, so I followed the rugged trails up on the east side of the creek. Brutally steep, unstable, sketchy dirt that has forced people off onto a network of newer trails, which will eventually become more dirt gullies. Ugh. What a mess. Worse than the new post-storm lower ROA mess, but thankfully much shorter. Finally got to the top (middle of the falls) and it was a letdown. Totally would have been worth 100 yards of steep-but-sound trail, but it wasn't worth 100 yards of misery.

Next goal was the junction where old Defiance meets new Defiance. Knew it was under the powerlines, so kept going west, on and on under the lines, until I finally spotted the little westbound trail going down. Soon reached the log staircase, which I used to think was up near the summit. When I learned this cool old Defiance trail is down low, it went on my to-do list. Sat on the staircase for lunch, and planned the next stage of my epic suffering. Umm, I mean my hike.

THE ROAD
I wanted to go find the road that crosses the Defiance trail, but first I wanted to look for more of the old Defiance trail, so went back to the junction where the old Defiance meets new Defiance under the powerlines and looked for old Defiance, which I believed was east of and parallel to new Defiance. Turns out I was mistaken, but didn't know that until much later. Didn't see anything, so went up Defiance a ways, looking for opportunities to bushwhack east. Never found a good opportunity; steep and brushy. Some of the descending hikers were recognized as ascenders on Starvation in the morning, and many of them were shocked to see I was headed back up at this late hour. I asked some of them if they knew about the road. Answers fell into two categories: "no" and "yeah, way up at the top". But no, I was looking for a road junction much lower. Kept going up. It was 3:30 when I started out, and I didn't have the time/energy to do much, so this was stupid, but I kept going. Reached a spot where the trail abruptly flattened for maybe 20 yards, and then launched up again. Going up, I glanced down and realized that was the road crossing! No wonder nobody saw it. To a casual observer it's just a flat spot in the trail. Greatly relieved that I spotted it, I went down and explored a bit to the west, and followed some faint paths to grassy viewpoints, and then went back to the main trail and followed the road east. This road appears in pictures in earlier TRs, looking easy enough to follow. Earlier travelers have commented that although it's no good as a road anymore, it's fine for hikers. Those days are gone. Slides, blowdown, brush, thorns, poison oak, absolute horror. Occasionally the roadbed appeared, enough to lure me into continuing. What kept me going was the thought that the road might be in better shape once I hit the T junction to the road that goes N & S, but there is no such junction. I was confusing this with the next road up. I was on the lower road (map below makes it all clear). I started questioning myself. Was I seeing a road because I wanted there to be a road here? Was there a natural bench with random clearings that made it look like a road? Eventually, I found a cable (a "wire rope" in industry parlance) and I was vindicated. Yes, this really is a road. Clearly there had been some sort of industry or development here. My spirits lifted, but at 5:30 the bushwhacking was just too much, and I gave up. Do not try this route. There's no reward to be had, unless you just enjoy this kind of hell. Oh, and the mosquitoes were the worst I've seen this year, much worse than on Defiance. I flagged a tree where I stopped, wrote my name on it, dated it. Partly in case I ever came back the other way, and partly as a curiosity for anybody else stupid enough to come this way. It was pencil on masking tape though, so won't be there long. I don't regret going up Defiance looking for the road, because of the thrill of finding the secret that people walk right past all the time, and because of the simple joy of finding that little scrap of steel cable.

A LITTLE MORE OLD DEFIANCE
A couple hours later I was back at the log staircase, looking for more roads/trails. Not a lot going on that I could see, but I did spot a remnant stretch of old Defiance where it crossed a rocky slope, to a switchback, and then back east into the forest where it disappeared. It would have been easy to get down to the highway from here, but I had other things to explore, so took a direct line up/south until I hit trail, then went east to Starvation, down towards the bottom of Warren/Hole falls. After my visit up top, it was neat to see them from below. Followed the dry Warren Creek up to the dry falls. I wanted to poke around more, looking for artifacts in the area, but it was getting dark, and the HCRC construction left me slightly confused.

NEXT TIME
Poke around a bit more down low. There's a lot of history just south of I84 around here.
Back up Defiance, see if I can spot the road at 2200' (probably will take GPS to help me spot it) and follow it up to the end, maybe explore some more up there.
Ascend Cabin Creek Ridge. Not sure what I'd do when the ridge fades. Maybe come back down.

note: didn't mean to post in the off/lost section...but what the heck, it was a hybrid day, I guess it sort of fits here