Day 20: Shelter from the Storm

[Emily]:

Today we awoke from a very rainy night into a very wet morning. Our meadow camping spot off the Lady Gulch Trail was not exactly flat so the incline in our tents made for some wet spots throughout the night.

In planning the hike, we had hoped to climb Packer’s Peak today as it is the highest point through the Trinities along the Bigfoot Trail. However everything was socked in with rain and fog, and the three of us realized the best thing for our group would be to hike down the Lady Gulch Trail towards the Coffee Creek Road.

Three ladies walking down the Lady Gulch Trail.

It continued to rain throughout the morning as we got down to the Coffee Creek Road along the creek. We still had a couple miles of gravel road walk to get to Big Flat Campground and also hopefully a stop in at Mountain Meadow Ranch, a private mountain resort near Big Flat.

Walking up Coffee Creek. 

Like many of the streams in the Trinities, Coffee Creek has experienced a succession of mining operations in past decades.

Old mine tailings along Coffee Creek

Eventually we came to Mountain Meadow Ranch along the road and decided to try to see if we could warm up out of the rain. We had heard the Ranch operator had agreed to hold packages for potential Bigfoot Trail hikers so we hoped they would be sympathetic to three drenches hikers. On our walk down the ranch driveway Gabrielle spotted a baby fawn no larger than a house cat curled up in the grass. We took a peak from a distance and then saw the mom deer and quickly continued on our way. :)

Fortunately the folks at Mountain Meadow Ranch were more than hospitable. Someone saw us walking up, motioned us to come through the kitchen screen door, and pointed towards the fire place. We were immediately asked if we wanted beer, coffee or snacks. We peeled off wet layers and were so grateful for the warmth and kindness. Turned out that the ranch was not yet open for the season but one of the ten families that co-own the ranch was there together for a week. They were eager to hear about the Bigfoot Trail and to share their favorite hikes and recount past trips from spending dozens of summers in the Trinities.

Erin stretching by the fire and enjoying the shelter from the storm at Mountain Meadow Ranch. 

After drying out by the fire for a couple hours and enjoying conversation with new people, we felt we should move on and let the family enjoy their holiday together. We walked down to Big Flat Campground along the upper South Fork Salmon River. As we prepared dinner (yummy creamy potato soup with couscous and rehydrated veggies), we chatted with a few folks at the campground and heard that according to the weather forecast the sun would reappear around 10am. We eventually found enough dry wood for a wet fire and attempted to sleep through another rainy night.

Total miles: 12