Toiyabe National Forest
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Buckeye Canyon Toiyabe National Forest |
August 8, 2016
Today I am looking for an easier walk en route to the Bishop area, in order to save some strength for tomorrow's scheduled hike, which rates to be rather rigorous.
Sawtooth Ridge, home of four of California's remaining glaciers
The Buckeye Creek Campground is virtually deserted, which is not a
good sign. Normally some fishers would be in evidence —
unless the creek is dry. I head back to the bridge near the campground
entrance, prepared to abandon this area if the news is bad. There is a
healthy stream flow, however; so I return to the trailhead and set out on a
gated two-track.
Only 'authorized vehicles' are allowed through here
There also is a signpost warning that 70+ horses will be traipsing through
here on August 17th. That must be
some function of the local Hunewill Ranch, which owns most of the non-federal
property on this side of Bridgeport.
The walk is easy, but boring
It is quite warm out; so being beside a creek would be nice; yet although I can hear occasional sounds from Buckeye Creek, I have yet to see it.
The canyon walls have some color
This one is just for livestock
Now the path is soft sand, which is not so easy
The only shade on the route
In fact, I have not had my dark glasses off yet, and that is unusual.
Aspens line the roadway
Cows line the meadow
I am rapidly losing interest in this venture. Yes, I could add another notch to my 'Number of Different Hoover Wilderness Accesses' belt by continuing for another several miles; but I'm not here to pad statistics, and this trail isn't worth the effort in any case.
I've seen enough
I will try to salvage something from this outing by venturing over to the creek. Perhaps I can follow it all the way back.
There it is
Getting close to the water is somewhat problematical, because this side of the stream is line with willow thickets. Only short animals and possibly some smaller cows could be at home in here.
Buckeye Creek is very pleasant
This is a good place to stop to munch a bit of gorp. There even are a couple of flowers beside the stream.
Cows Clover
Apparently the livestock do not crawl underneath the fence
I must crawl though the barbed wire myself, however, in order to continue. The preponderance of streamside bushes precludes any notion of following the creek back to the trailhead, so I head back over toward the road. Along the way, I do run into an actual faint trail that even crosses the roadway in one place. Soon, this walk is mercifully over.
This is better than the roadway
§: Well, I wanted an easy trail, and I got that; but I also
wanted an enjoyable walk, and this one was barely worth doing.
Admittedly, it would have been somewhat nicer two months ago.
Tomorrow's trek up Kearsarge Pass should be a different story.
| Scenery |  |
| Difficulty |  |
| Flowers |  |
| Solitude |  |
