Fifteenmile Creek – 5/11/2021

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dmthomas49
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Joined: May 16th, 2013, 6:51 am

Fifteenmile Creek – 5/11/2021

Post by dmthomas49 » May 12th, 2021, 1:05 pm

Was a chilly start at the trailhead at about 8:30am. On the drive here the temp quickly changed from 36 to 46 when we came around a bend in the road more to the East side.
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The first part of the trail had some snow on the trail, but it was easily navigable. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was 25-30 trees that we went over, under, or around across the whole trail.
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We reached the bridge over the creek and did not experience much snow after that.
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Once on the ridge we started to see some flowers. They are definitely not at their peak yet.Hiking on the ridge you can see the different types of plants and flowers east of the Cascades. The ponderosa pines are so distinctive here.
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Some plants are the same as we see on the west side like the Glacier Lily (Not avalanche!), grass widow, lupine, and arrowleaf balsamroot. Then also some more indigenous like manzanita and succulents.
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(Continued)
"The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness."
— John Muir

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dmthomas49
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Joined: May 16th, 2013, 6:51 am

Re: Fifteenmile Creek – 5/11/2021

Post by dmthomas49 » May 12th, 2021, 1:12 pm

We also saw some bear scat, that looked to be days old. No bear sightings however.
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Mt Adams and Mt. Rainier were in view through occasional openings in the trees.
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The notable tree eating rock is still prominent. Looks like the section that was previously in the rock has moved out. Rock left a carving showing its love!
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Previous photo from 2017.
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At the midpoint, the Fifteen Mile Creek – Cedar Creek- Underhill Junction, we saw an old chain probably used by some logging equipment or a giant for his bicycle. This was a nice shaded spot for a snack and some water before the hike up the trail.
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On some of the rocky, sunny hillsides, the succulents were more frequent.
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Distance 10.6, elevation gain according to GSP 1,850. No other people seen on the trail.
"The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness."
— John Muir

wnshall
Posts: 186
Joined: July 17th, 2009, 10:31 am

Re: Fifteenmile Creek – 5/11/2021

Post by wnshall » May 15th, 2021, 7:47 pm

I hiked this today, 5/15/21, and the blown down trees are mostly cleared out. All clear down to the trail junction with Cedar Creek trial, and mostly clear on the Cedar Creek Trail -- just a few very large trees across the trail. The fifteenmile creek trail had a bit more tree fall left on it, but nothing too bad. Almost no snow, and then only at the very top of the trails.

Boy, there's a lot of dead and dying trees in this forest, as evidenced by all the downed trees and debris on the trail. Beautiful scenery though.

In addition to the flowers shown in the original post, I also saw some lady slippers:
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Lady Slippers
Also a note, for those of you who might be thinking of taking Cold Spring Road to the School Canyon or little Badger Creek trails: just around the bend from Fifteenmile creek campground the road is blocked with a pretty large snow drift. In the morning, there was a SUV apparently stuck in it (as well as people camping in the road -- this is right at the Fret Creek TH.) By afternoon, the SUV was gone, but a truck coming from the other side decided not to try it. Give it a couple more days and should be all cleared out. Or bring a shovel.

Saw 2 hikers at the TR and two on the trail. Busy day.

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