Devil Canyon loop
Posted: December 15th, 2018, 11:47 pm
I stepped out of my car at the first switchback on Rd 27 and found it distressingly warm. I knew it was going to be a wet sloppy day. I followed a trail (old road, I imagine) up Devil Creek until the creek turned north. Lost the trail, but saw an old road across the creek. Poked around until I found a way across, then followed the road until it faded. Found an old stove. Back to the creek, followed it upstream.
Got lured away from the creek, higher up the canyon, by the promise of bare rocky terrain, but it never quite materialized, so back down I went. Following the creek was slow, wet, tedious. Slipped on a mossy rock and went in. Oh well, figured I'd have wet feet soon enough. Worse, I messed up my left hand when I landed on it. It was pretty bad. I actually refused to take off my glove, because I didn't want to get all freaked out if it was ugly. Okay, that was enough. I was done. But I didn't return the way I came. I figured if I climbed out of the canyon, a less direct descent might be faster. Not to mention I had no desire to drop down a steepish wet brushy canyon.
On my climb out of the canyon, I ran into a talus slope which I've since found in a 2010 report by Splintercat, accompanied by Don Nelsen and a couple other guys I don't recognize. As they discovered, from the top of the talus there's a brushy exit gully. There I found a yellow ribbon, then several more. That was a game changer. That's when I became confident this was going to work. The brush faded, I was in open forest, then came to a trail, perpendicular to the gully (roughly parallel to the creek). I turned left, and followed the trail upstream quite a ways, above Devil Canyon Falls. It became increasingly difficult to follow in the shallow snow. Following the creek up would be easy, but pointless. It was a pleasant enough hike, but my feet were wet, I was worried about my hand, and I was hours from my car (I assumed).
So back down I went, along the creek for a ways. Had I kept going, I now realize, I would have come to the top of Devil Canyon Falls. I heard something, turned and looked across the creek, saw a human! I wonder which of us was more shocked. Then more, even a little girl, I think. I asked if there was a trail or road over there, and he said they were maybe a half mile from road 27.
I climbed back up to the trail, followed it back down, past where I gained the trail, down to an opening where the trail crossed a ridgecrest. Followed the ridge up, but at the top it was brushy, so I'm calling it Point Disappoint (there are so many). Back to the trail, which went distressingly far east, crossed a rocky slope where it became evident it used to be a road, then finally switchbacked west, which was reassuring. After a couple more switchbacks, the trail abruptly flattened, and then I came to Road 35A, which I followed west until it became 35B. At the end of the road, I continued west along Zigzag river until I came to the Devil Creek confluence. Devil was somewhat easy to get across, which surprised me. That completed my lollipop loop, and I had a short walk back to my car.
Got lured away from the creek, higher up the canyon, by the promise of bare rocky terrain, but it never quite materialized, so back down I went. Following the creek was slow, wet, tedious. Slipped on a mossy rock and went in. Oh well, figured I'd have wet feet soon enough. Worse, I messed up my left hand when I landed on it. It was pretty bad. I actually refused to take off my glove, because I didn't want to get all freaked out if it was ugly. Okay, that was enough. I was done. But I didn't return the way I came. I figured if I climbed out of the canyon, a less direct descent might be faster. Not to mention I had no desire to drop down a steepish wet brushy canyon.
On my climb out of the canyon, I ran into a talus slope which I've since found in a 2010 report by Splintercat, accompanied by Don Nelsen and a couple other guys I don't recognize. As they discovered, from the top of the talus there's a brushy exit gully. There I found a yellow ribbon, then several more. That was a game changer. That's when I became confident this was going to work. The brush faded, I was in open forest, then came to a trail, perpendicular to the gully (roughly parallel to the creek). I turned left, and followed the trail upstream quite a ways, above Devil Canyon Falls. It became increasingly difficult to follow in the shallow snow. Following the creek up would be easy, but pointless. It was a pleasant enough hike, but my feet were wet, I was worried about my hand, and I was hours from my car (I assumed).
So back down I went, along the creek for a ways. Had I kept going, I now realize, I would have come to the top of Devil Canyon Falls. I heard something, turned and looked across the creek, saw a human! I wonder which of us was more shocked. Then more, even a little girl, I think. I asked if there was a trail or road over there, and he said they were maybe a half mile from road 27.
I climbed back up to the trail, followed it back down, past where I gained the trail, down to an opening where the trail crossed a ridgecrest. Followed the ridge up, but at the top it was brushy, so I'm calling it Point Disappoint (there are so many). Back to the trail, which went distressingly far east, crossed a rocky slope where it became evident it used to be a road, then finally switchbacked west, which was reassuring. After a couple more switchbacks, the trail abruptly flattened, and then I came to Road 35A, which I followed west until it became 35B. At the end of the road, I continued west along Zigzag river until I came to the Devil Creek confluence. Devil was somewhat easy to get across, which surprised me. That completed my lollipop loop, and I had a short walk back to my car.