Wilson River Trail , Elk Creek to Jones Creek 10/19

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pdxgene
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Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Wilson River Trail , Elk Creek to Jones Creek 10/19

Post by pdxgene » October 19th, 2009, 6:44 pm

Under a light mist to moderate rain (right at lunchtime, grrr) six of us (Paul, Jane, Jim , Barb, Rich and myself) headed out to cover the eastern end of the Wilson River trail theoretically going downhill from the Elk Creek campground gate to Jones Creek trailhead where the shuttle car back was parked and waiting.. We got to enjoy an extra quarter mile or so thru the closed campground to the trailhead..
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Some of the maples off in the mist..
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There were a number of small footbridges..
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And an occasional sign reminding us there was still some ground to cover..
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Long stretches of ferns guided the trail...
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The rain coming down and the mist on the lens gave the moss on the trees an almost eerie look..
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A nice arch bridge covers a 110' span crossing the North Fork of the Wilson River..
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And the North Fork of the Wilson River from the bridge..
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And on into the homestretch where another mile long uphill run cruelly awaited us..
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And the last of the maples on the final run to the parking lot..
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At which point of course, the rain stopped...
Go figure...
A fun day with a great group, thanx all!

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Jane
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Re: Wilson River Trail , Elk Creek to Jones Creek 10/19

Post by Jane » October 19th, 2009, 8:53 pm

Thanks for getting that up so quickly Gene! It was a fun day, and we had the trail all to ourselves. Paul may give details , but I think we hiked 10-11-ish miles? Elevation: yes ;) . The distance between the two shuttle spots was about 5.2 miles on the highway. I hadn't hiked on this trail before, it will be nice to come back and explore more sections of it (21 miles total?) and check out the visitor center when they're open (they're on their fall hours , open Wed-Sun. only).

A few pics I attempted on this wet day:

jackrabbits heading up the closed campground road on the way to the trail
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pretty river sections
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golds and greens..
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lunch -WET :roll:
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lovely leaves..
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looking down at a bridge
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convening before the last two miles..
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It was a good hike, wet but not cold, fun friends, and rich colors and smells of autumn - a great day, my thanks to everyone as well!
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OneSpeed
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Re: Wilson River Trail , Elk Creek to Jones Creek 10/19

Post by OneSpeed » October 21st, 2009, 9:07 am

Wow, not sure I've ever been called a jackrabbit before! Don't know what got into me that morning, especially since I gave up coffee.

My GPS showed 10 miles, and all those well-photographed trail signs (inside joke ;) ) said 11 or so. Here's a map from my GPS. The white bump at the top right is Elks Mountain, just out of frame:
WRT Elk-Jones Map.jpg
Wilson River Trail, Miles 1-11, Elk Creek CG to Jones Creek TH.
And here's our elevation profile. The big hill is right after you cross Kings Mountain Trail (KM1 here) and put in about 1,200 feet in two miles. It seemed worse, somehow.
WRT Elk-Jones Profile.jpg
Otherwise, I can't believe neither of you posted a photo of "the only interesting thing on the hike." Here it is, from high on the southern slopes of Kings Mountain:
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It was a good day, indeed. We should do it again soon.

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Jane
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Re: Wilson River Trail , Elk Creek to Jones Creek 10/19

Post by Jane » October 21st, 2009, 9:17 am

OneSpeed wrote:Wow, not sure I've ever been called a jackrabbit before! Don't know what got into me that morning, especially since I gave up coffee.


Otherwise, I can't believe neither of you posted a photo of "the only interesting thing on the hike." Here it is, from high on the southern slopes of Kings Mountain:
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It was a good day, indeed. We should do it again soon.
Hiking with Gene you don't need coffee ;) And I didn't have my camera out for "the big rock" but glad you had a good photo of it!

"...do it again soon?" Monday or Tuesday > where ?

DennisTheMenace
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Re: Wilson River Trail , Elk Creek to Jones Creek 10/19

Post by DennisTheMenace » November 3rd, 2009, 12:00 pm

Huh. So they closed the Elk Creek campground earlier than
they usually do. Usually they close it off starting on November
1st if my memory serves correct.

as for the hike, I've never hiked that portion of the Wilson River
Trail that far to the west. I've taken it as far as just below Kings
Mountain though.

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