McCloskey Creek, St Patrick's Day

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Chip Down
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Joined: November 8th, 2014, 8:41 pm

McCloskey Creek, St Patrick's Day

Post by Chip Down » March 17th, 2020, 5:38 pm

A couple weeks ago I went exploring up McCloskey Creek Road, and found it gated. Went on to Plan B. Today I went back and walked up McCloskey Creek Road from the gate, looking for the source of the creek, looking for an old dam, and whatever else might come my way. A decade ago, per a TR here, there was still a pipe from dam to powerhouse below, but I didn't see it today. Maybe there are still remnants below. Or maybe I was at a different dam. Continued up a labyrinth of logging roads until I arrived at a dry culvert which Google said should be McCloskey Creek. I heard water very nearby, so investigated, found a little spring. Explored up and east until I was at 2800', looking east into Duncan Creek Valley, thus linking up with where I explored a couple weeks ago.

Considering this was almost entirely road walking, it was a pretty fun day. I was constantly confused, due to new roads, new clearcuts, old roads not on map, and the fact that Archer Mountain seemed impossibly far away and too far west from my high point. But it was a fun confusion, not a scary confusion.

Weather was amazing. Two days ago I couldn't take my gloves off for more than a minute or two, but today it was warm sunshine, gentle breezes, birds singing.
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Apparently a decommissioned bridge made from a decommissioned railcar, like the one over at Duncan Creek.
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I'm calling this the head of McCloskey Creek.
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Still wondering what that is (the snowy ridge). I usually carry a compass, but not today, so I couldn't even take a bearing. NW of Archer. Looking at the map, the most likely candidate is Silver Star.
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Just because.
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The dam.
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My second breakfast of the day.
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Lucky Charms + milk stout = magically delicious.
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adamschneider
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Re: McCloskey Creek, St Patrick's Day

Post by adamschneider » March 17th, 2020, 6:17 pm

Chip Down wrote:
March 17th, 2020, 5:38 pm
Still wondering what that is (the snowy ridge). I usually carry a compass, but not today, so I couldn't even take a bearing. NW of Archer. Looking at the map, the most likely candidate is Silver Star.
Yeah, the big white ridge is Silver Star. The two points to the right are Little Baldy and Bluff Mountain.

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Bosterson
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Joined: May 18th, 2009, 3:17 pm
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Re: McCloskey Creek, St Patrick's Day

Post by Bosterson » March 17th, 2020, 9:00 pm

Chip Down wrote:
March 17th, 2020, 5:38 pm
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Gross, dude. I love how the "marshmallows" are bleeding Blue Lake #4 down the side of your bowl.

When did Guinness start making barrel aged things? Or milk stouts? I feel like you should have brought a bottle of Harp and a bottle of green food coloring because that's classy.

Irish Lowe Alpine - in your closet, not found out there I presume? (That's even better than having an old Arc'teryx piece from back when they were made in Canada.) I was actually surprised a while back to discover Lowe is still in business. Good on 'em.
#pnw #bestlife #bitingflies #favoriteyellowcap #neverdispleased

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