Whetstone Mountain-Battle Ax Creek corrections

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lichenhikin
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Re: Whetstone Mountain-Battle Ax Creek corrections

Post by lichenhikin » April 26th, 2015, 1:34 pm

Okay, okay, but I'm not going back and telling all my friends (and my hiking partner, whose feet are still messed up!) that it wasn't 20 miles ;)

We did the side trip to the Opal Pools and I remember seeing a sign for Ruth mine, so perhaps we did the additional detour as well.

As usual, there were several side trails not marked on the map and we mistakenly followed a couple of those to some nice looking campsites. Last weekend was gorgeous and many campsites were filled in what looks like a great, easy backpacking destination — any idea how many more tent sites there are back there?

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bobcat
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Re: Whetstone Mountain-Battle Ax Creek corrections

Post by bobcat » April 28th, 2015, 2:32 pm

20 miles it is then (Every welt and blister adds another mile in my book)!

Are you asking about camping along the road to Jawbone Flats? I haven't ever paid close attention to sites, but there are a couple of offshoots (old mining roads) down to the river and no doubt places where you can set up a tent. There are two campsites at the Battle Ax Creek crossing where you used the slippery tree to cross. The Poor Boy Mill site, just east of the Flats, would be a good place to camp because you have direct access to the creek there.

There is some concern that toxic metals are leaching into the creek from mine tailings, but apparently they haven't recorded egregiously high amounts.

diskmaster23
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Re: Whetstone Mountain-Battle Ax Creek corrections

Post by diskmaster23 » August 25th, 2015, 10:16 am

How long did it take you to do the loop?
Thinking about doing the loop in September.

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kepPNW
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Re: Whetstone Mountain-Battle Ax Creek corrections

Post by kepPNW » August 26th, 2015, 10:32 am

bobcat wrote:If anyone else out there has some tracks of this route, please comment.
Here's my track from a few weeks ago... http://gpsfly.org/a/4593
Karl
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bobcat
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Re: Whetstone Mountain-Battle Ax Creek corrections

Post by bobcat » August 31st, 2015, 1:33 pm

Thanks, Karl. It looks like you took the "long" way back from the crossing - old FR 2209 rather than the tram road from Ruth Mine Level 5 as described in the Field Guide. Also, an in and out to Jawbone Flats and a whole lot of scrambling around Opal Pool! Still, it would be good to hear from others as well to see if the FG distance should be modified.

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kepPNW
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Re: Whetstone Mountain-Battle Ax Creek corrections

Post by kepPNW » August 31st, 2015, 2:03 pm

Yeah, we probably should've dropped down the tram road, but didn't really know where it was going, and we definitely diddled around both Jawbone Flats and Opal Pool a lot! So ours was most definitely not the shortest loop possible, and it barely cracked 20 miles.
Karl
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