Dickey Creek Trail, July 30, 2011

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pablo
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Dickey Creek Trail, July 30, 2011

Post by pablo » July 31st, 2011, 2:06 pm

Lake Lenore in the BOTW Wilderness:

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This hike was supposed to be a lost trail adventure to Schreiner Peak but I ran out of time. Originally I was going to hike up Elk Lake Creek to Welcome Lakes and then on to Schreiner Peak but at the trailhead for Elk Lake Creek was a note posted on the board dated Jul 6, 2011 that both Elk Lake Creek and Welcome Lakes trails are closed due to the dangers associated with falling trees destroyed by last years fire. I should have checked the status. Anyway I went for Dickey Creek TH, which is open, to launch my search and found part of the road to the old trail head is in the process of being decommissioned. Parking at the new location is a little fuzzy right now and not as nice as the spot at the old trailhead but I assume this will get sorted out.

The trail is in there somewhere:

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Before crossing Dickey Creek I ran across some early berries, tart and tasty.

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Not much snow left near the lookout:

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From near Slide Mtn, a look towards Welcome Lakes

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Trail trace above Welcome Lakes

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Near Slide Mtn the views to Lake Lenore have opened up a bit - there is someone walking along the shoreline about the center of this photo:

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This fire burned hot:

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The views are fantastic in all directions:

Just tops:
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Jeff looked great:

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This was as far as I got, I'll try again, Knob Peak close and Schreiner Peak further back.

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Great day, as Sullivan says, the price of admission to the Dickey Creek Trail is you have to hike uphill about 500' to return to the trailhead, not fun after a long day. Oh, lots of mosquitoes and biting flies. Saw several groups of backpackers and a couple day hikers - probably doing this trail because of the trail closure at Elk Lake Creek.

Doug Firman from Trail Advocates has posted a large collection of photos for some additional details on the effects of the fires on the trails in the area at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/19191522@N ... 344283420/

Around 16 miles, 3-4000' vertical, I'll be back.

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The future's uncertain and the end is always near.

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Splintercat
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Re: Dickey Creek Trail, July 30, 2011

Post by Splintercat » July 31st, 2011, 2:38 pm

Nice, Paul! I've got photos from this hike in my scanning queue from 1981 that I'll post, eventually. That steep first bit hasn't changed all that much -- a relic from the logging heyday that destroyed the original trail downstream from there. Interesting that the decommissioning has started.

TKO commented that moving the Dicky Creek trailhead back to the main road, and constructing a short, new trail section would be preferable to what they ended up deciding -- I've learned a lot about the politics of the USFS and the sway that a couple of staff inside the agency can have, in the process of tracking the decommissioning. Sort of like learning that the neurosurgeon that you're trusting your life to has a drinking problem and beats his wife... unnerving, at best, given that our public lands are at stake. :roll:

BTW, was Big Slide Lake affected by the fire? Not sure what the western extent was -- or how close a call it was for the lookout at Bull of the Woods.

Tom

pablo
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Re: Dickey Creek Trail, July 30, 2011

Post by pablo » July 31st, 2011, 2:57 pm

Splintercat wrote:[...]

BTW, was Big Slide Lake affected by the fire? Not sure what the western extent was -- or how close a call it was for the lookout at Bull of the Woods.

Tom
I did not stop there but from the trail Big Slide Lake is fine.

I think the fire sort of limited itself to the Welcome Lakes region, then over the top to Lake Lenore doesn't look like from this photo the lookout was in any danger. Click on the image for the big print version.

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The future's uncertain and the end is always near.

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Derk Vogel
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Re: Dickey Creek Trail, July 30, 2011

Post by Derk Vogel » August 25th, 2012, 10:40 am

Pablo-
Love your pics. My buddy and I are heading up that way soon. Can you recommend some good camping sites?
Thanks,
-Derk

pablo
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Re: Dickey Creek Trail, July 30, 2011

Post by pablo » August 25th, 2012, 12:17 pm

Derk Vogel wrote:Pablo-
Love your pics. My buddy and I are heading up that way soon. Can you recommend some good camping sites?
Thanks,
-Derk
Hi Derk,

I'm not a camper just a day hiker so I don't pay much attention to camp sites - you might post over in the Q&A forum. There is the old BOTW lookout but I don't know the details on that. Lake Lenore and Welcome lakes have camp sites but what they are like after the burn I don't know.

Have fun...

--Paul
The future's uncertain and the end is always near.

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RobFromRedland
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Re: Dickey Creek Trail, July 30, 2011

Post by RobFromRedland » August 25th, 2012, 7:26 pm

Paul - as far as I know, ALL of the trails in BOTW are now open - they didn't officially open them, but they let the closure expire, so they are able to be legally traveled on again. It seems like the FS doesn't want to publicize this fact, but I'm very sure that is the case. The closure extensions expired earlier this year.

I was at Welcome Lakes a month or so ago, and there is still a campsite there, but it is completely burned-"charcoal" as it was explained to me, and that is a pretty good description. There is still the little creek there, but you will have no cover, and there are some trees that are rather iffy (might fall in a wind). I would not recommend camping there. There are nice campsites at Big Slide Lake, and also at the Dickey Creek crossing (about 3 miles from the original trailhead - not sure how far back the trailhead is moving).

As far as fire damage, I think Paul had it nailed. Welcome lakes was hit hard, and although we did not go there, the photos Paul took of the Lake Lenore burned area look very similar to the area around welcome lakes. The fire burned REALLY hot. The lookout seems like it was pretty safe - when I was there we did see remnants of the "protective cover" that they had put around the lookout (some sort of reflective tarp/insulating type material). The bad news was that there has been no work done on the lookout and it continues to deteriorate. There were new shingles in the lookout, but they just sit there unused.....I find it very sad and frustrating.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW! What a ride! - Hunter S. Thompson

justpeachy
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Re: Dickey Creek Trail, July 30, 2011

Post by justpeachy » August 25th, 2012, 8:40 pm

Splintercat wrote:TKO commented that moving the Dicky Creek trailhead back to the main road, and constructing a short, new trail section would be preferable to what they ended up deciding -- I've learned a lot about the politics of the USFS and the sway that a couple of staff inside the agency can have, in the process of tracking the decommissioning.
All I found on the USFS website was "The trail begins at Forest Road 6340140; .6 of the 6340140 spur has been decommissioned adding that .6 to your hike." So does that mean the TH is where we used to turn right off of 140 at the T junction? Is it that spur to the right that's been decommissioned?

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bobcat
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Re: Dickey Creek Trail, July 30, 2011

Post by bobcat » August 27th, 2012, 11:46 am

@justpeachy: Yes, the trailhead has been moved back essentially to the junction. To Big Slide Lake, it is now 5.6 miles rather than 5.0 miles (I did this hike last summer as well).

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