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[pct-l] Lost trail?



Ground Pounder Bill,

I went through that area on Thursday. I was lucky and had no problem. I had
the guidebook pages with me and read them carefully when I got to the dam. I
followed their suggestion and crossed on the dam and then took the "gravel"
road down to exactly where Gary (below) says you cross. On the way down I
could see the trail on the other side of the creek. When I got to the creek,
I could see a PCT marker on the other side just above the southern bank of
the creek. I had lunch there and another hiker came through while I was
there. The crossing was only about a foot deep. If you go again, I think you
can find the trail that way. I was impressed by how wide the stream had
obviously been earlier in the year!

I did lose the trail later on in Silverwood Recreation Area. After leaving
173, on a well cleared and marked trail (not overgrown like it says in the
guidebook), crossing that first saddle, and going down to the lake level and
following a dirt road, I left the dirt road (I think at the correct place)
and started following a trail marked by blue ribbons. It was intermittently
overgrown but after a while it became more and more overgrown. At a small
creek it seemed to turn upward. (I think it must have gone forward through
brush, but I am not sure.) Following the upward turn, I ended up at the
junction of that dirt road with 138. It being late in the day, I just
followed 138 to the Silverwood Recreation Area off-ramp and main entrance
area and picked up the PCT again at that point. I know another hiker went
through that area on the same day correctly, but he had been through there
before and knew where the PCT was supposed to go. I did have a slightly
shorter, if less pleasant, walk!

Also, just west of  138, the trail is washed out after a little way. The
best bet would be to follow Cleghorn Road until you see the trail on  the
north (right) side. Actually, just past there, the trail momentarily is on
the shoulder of the road and there is a PCT post at that point.

I hope this is helpful when you go back there.

                                            Phil



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gary Wright" <at2002@mac.com>
To: "Bill & Cathy" <tahoe.cat@verizon.net>
Cc: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2005 10:17 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Lost trail?


>
> On Jun 6, 2005, at 12:22 AM, Bill & Cathy wrote:
> > We cut our trip short because we could not find the trail once we
> > get to the Mojave river dam. If it is marked we could not find it.
> > we went over the dam and around to 173. We could see the trail from
> > where we were after we were about a 2 miles away in the wrong
> > direction.
>
> This seems to be a common problem for PCT hikers.  The trick is to
> realize that you need
> to cross Deep Creek a little before it flows under the dam.  If you
> drop down towards
> the creek at the spillway you can follow the trail below the dam
> for a while before crossing Deep Creek.  Once on the other side of
> Deep Creek the
> trail continues in a direction that is roughly parallel to the dam
> and on the
> south side of the Mojave River.  The trail hugs the hillside and
> eventually curves
> south, away from the water and towards 173.
>
> Here is a link to a topo of the area:
> http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?
> z=11&n=3800102.00008649&e=478215.999999999&datum=nad83
>
> In this topo you cross Deep Creek between the words "Forks" and
> "Reservior".
>
> I saw one PCT journal this year that made fun of the dam without any
> water. I did
> the same thing last year but after the heavy rains this winter it all
> makes sense.
>
>
> Gary Wright (Radar)
>
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