The springs were named after a Robert Bagby who found the springs around 1880 with the Forest Service building a ranger cabin just 33 years later in 1913. Indians used the springs long before that making the history of a place like this and how it became the Bagby we know today so interesting. Not far past the springs there are some excellent camping spots and the first of several creek crossings as countless tributary streams of the Hot Springs Fork of the Collawash River tumble off the hillsides from above. This is Shower Creek Falls:
And the only other hiker I would see all day past the hot springs:
As is the way with so many trails the less popular, less sought after, less interesting to the masses etc often suffer the most in terms of maintenance. The same goes for the Bagby Trail, where just a couple miles past the hot springs and the 6 foot wide foot path so many of us know comes a narrow path ridden with brush and blowdown. In this picture you can see my face poking out through one of the blowdowns:
Lots of spots like this:
Most of the streams the trail crosses south of the springs were rockhoppers but they looked pretty low for March. This is Alice Creek and I think Betty Creek:
The trail crosses the Hot Springs Fork around 3,000 feet before making the climb up toward Silver King Lake. It was really pretty in there:
And some beautiful cedars near the crossing point:
The trail is probably in its worst condition above the crossing, where there were some nice views out over the forest:
I decided to take the short spur trail up to Silver King Lake for some breakfast:
After a relaxing break at the lake I made the final push up to a saddle west of Silver King Mountain where the Bagby #544 meets the 546, which heads off west toward Whetstone Mountain. Nice views in that stretch:
On the way over to the junction with the Twin Lakes Trail there was lots of scat(looked like bobcat maybe) right in the middle of the trail, scratched ground and all:
Also some nice views occasionally out to Olallie and Mt Jefferson:
My favorite part of the Bagby Trail was in the last couple of miles as it traversed the headwaters above Battle Creek before dropping down to Elk Lake:
Lots of nice Alaska Yellow Cedar in there:
There wasn't a drop of snow on the Bagby Trail and none to be seen at Elk Lake as well. It felt like summer at the lake minus the crowds:
I remember seeing this Mickey Mouse sign on the ground near the lakeshore a couple of years ago, looks like its still there
After a nice break at the lake I took back into the wilderness and down the Elk Lake Creek Trail:
Once I reached the Motherlode junction I was curious to see how strongly Battle Creek was flowing. The Motherlode Trail #558 crosses Battle and Motherlode Creeks soon after leaving the junction with Elk Lake Creek. The Battle Creek crossing seems like it would be very difficult to cross in a normal late winter/spring, this year it was about knee deep at worst:
I love these old signs:
Much of the forest in this area was burned just a few short years ago and it shows. In some cases there is undeniable beauty in the colors left after a fire:
There was also more blowdown:
A look up to the canopy revealed the charred crowns of several dead trees:
The base of this massive Noble Fir was only partially charred:
But another look up toward the sky and it was clear its going to be a while before trees of this size/age dominate the landscape again:
There were some more nice views of Mt Jefferson through the gnarled tree tops:
But as previously mentioned there is beauty in this reviving landscape. Surrounded by a once great forest, this rhododendron looked as lush as they come:
Once I reached the junction with the Twin Lakes Trail I had to push a little harder to get back to Bagby in time. After a couple of miles I reached the northern edge of the higher and more westerly Twin Lake:
There were some awesome camping spots near the lakeshore:
I took off from the lake and climbed up to the Bagby/Twin Lakes junction where I headed back north toward Silver King Lake. I had vowed earlier in the day to clean up several blowdowns on the trip down the Bagby Trail and didn't end up leaving the Silver King Lake junction until almost 6:30 pm! So much of it was too big for one person but I was able to better several spots along the way:
This was one was literally blocking the Silver King junction so I spent a little while there:
I attempted to turn on the jets after a little more cleanup but the blowdown and creek crossings proved difficult. I made it back to the hot springs just before dark pretty exhausted, feeling like the Bull of the Woods stole my lunch money and left me in a bad part of town
All in all it was an incredible day along some pretty remote and lonely country for this time of year. Once I got back to the TH the rain started in full so I jumped in the car after a quick stretch and took off for home after another amazing day in the Bull of the Woods 
