[at-l] Centennial Trail - Part 3

[Mark Hudson]

8/22: Half mile beyond Brush Creek trail head -

Some days you're the windshield, and some days you're the bug...

Didn't sleep as well as I expected last night, despite two Tylenol PM. Part
of it was the repeated calls of nature to recycle all the Gatorade I used to
rehydrate. Did get to see a shooting star during one of my pit stops.

Cool and cloudy with a nice breeze when I started out at 7 am. To make up
for yesterday afternoon todays start coincided with the Flume trail ,
following the old path of a flume used for gold mining – practically a
sidewalk. Passed some gentlemen fishing in a small boat and exchanged
morning greetings. Shortly after that the trail crossed Sheridan Lake Dam
and headed up Dakota Point. I can attribute what happened next to a lot of
things, lack of sleep, a missing trail sign, and a shitty trail map, but it
happened – I ended up following the horse/bike bypass (complete with CT
signs) back to the Sheridan Lake Dam. It added at least an hour and I don't
want to know how much mileage to the day.

It seemed that every turn in the trail was a game, part of it was my
paranoia, but there was more than one blaze or post missing too. Much
non-descript ridge bouncing for the morning, and lots of turn guessing, but
pleasantly cool weather for hiking. Lots of deer and squirrels this morning
too. Found spring fed stock tanks near the Twin Sisters, and made the smart
call to stop for water. While I was there two young guys went by on dirt
bikes, the only people I've seen today.

>From there it was up to the Bald Hills – guess where the sun came out?
Anyways, not TOO hot. Stopped for lunch on the other side when I got to some
shade, then had to walk a lot of thinned forest without much shade. Did see
two pick-ups pass by on my way to the Brush Creek trail head, and had to
make an emergency pit stop for something my gastric system didn't like. The
trail zig-zagged down the road, and if that was Brush Creek all there was
was brush. It was shady and cool tho... Had a real debate when I got to
here, I was really wanting to get to one of the next two trail heads, but
when I looked at the map I was afraid the next one might be too civilized,
making it hard to camp. I was about to do my stupid maneuver of pushing on
without thinking about it – when I did stop to think. I'm already ahead of a
schedule that I don't need to rush, there's water and a place to camp here,
and today hasn't been such a great day anyway – so maybe tomorrow will be
better. Now I'm just wondering if M+K will make it to here.

Some post dinner notes: This morning I found a blister on my left heel,
under a callus no less, that I had to drain then and again when I got to
camp here. It shouldn't be any more of a problem than any other blister I've
ever had, but it is a pain.

And on the way along the creek I passed a CT post with "56" on it, which
means I'm just past the halfway point. There's a bit of a problem with that,
because if I keep the same pace I finish on Sunday. I had plans to rent a
car for a few days before I head home, go see Crazy Horse and the Bad Lands,
but I didn't have plans to entertain myself for a whole week. Oh well, we'll
see.

The same pace puts me in Nemo on Friday. I probably won't need more food,
other than some munchies (and ice cream!) but being that it's only a half
mile off of the trail I might as well hit it. It also looks like my first
and only chance to call home.

Finished my first and heavy book, 'Hey Ranger' last night and left it at the
campground, hope somebody gets a good read out of it. And I've finally eaten
through enough food that my pack is back to a reasonable weight.

Hopefully the last note; I haven't quite figured out the area that I'm
camped in. I suspect that it was a landing area for a logging operation,
especially since it takes a rock to drive a tent stake in. But with a large
fairly flat area with water at hand your would expect there to be an old
fire ring or some other signs of use. Nothing, unless you count the cow
patties, but there's been lots of them today. 5:30 pm and getting chilly,
looks like a good night for stargazing – at least for those still awake.

Ah well, it always seems like there's one more note, at least this one's a
good one... it seems like whatever was bothering me after lunch was a one
shot deal.

So much for stargazing, within half an hour of writing that it completely
clouded over. A while ago there was a few drops of rain, but when the
thunder pealed I got out to put up the awning. So now it's barely raining,
and no more thunder.



 8/23: Pilot Knob trail head -

Well, the thunderstorm finally broke about 8:30 last night, not a lot of
lightning but it rained pretty heavily until it died off about 11. Of course
the tree that I pitched under for shade that afternoon spent the rest of the
night dripping on the tent.

Fairly fast hike over to Rapid Creek, I would have been able to pitch almost
anywhere in there, but since it's so open I would have took the brunt of the
storm too. Very cloudy and cool, and then I had to bust through a lot of wet
willows to get to the Rapid Creek TH, but at least I got to put the privy to
use and take a break at the same time. Because I didn't keep close tabs on
Stacy's notes I missed that there was a visitors center on the dam – with a
pay phone, so I missed a chance to call home (missed a hot shower too). I
hope to be able to call tomorrow from Nemo.

Anyway, a straight up climb from Rapid Creek (where the map shows few
contours, what did they use, a 500 meter contour?) then lots of contouring
and nice trailwork on the way to Veterans Point and the one good view of the
lake.

More woods running over to the Deer Creek TH area where I took an early
lunch break. I had lots of time for a long lunch, but the sun still hadn't
appeared and I don't think the temp made it very far into the 60's, so after
a half an hour I had to move on just to get warm.

Not far from there I ran into two friendly dogs out for a walk with their
owners. More woods road winding to get here early (just after 1 pm).
Sometimes it's pretty hard to keep track of where you are with all the woods
roads you hike on or cross, some of which don't appear to be on the map.

Found a place to camp on a knoll overlooking some farm fields and the dirt
road which has more traffic on it than I would expect. The concrete spring
near here has a manhole cover guarding the top, I need to backtrack to Jim
Stream to get water fresh from running off a horse field, yum!

The sun is weakly attempting to poke through some clouds now, I have the
tent up and everything spread out to dry (a cold rain causes LOTS of
condensation in a Nomad).

Not much wildlife today, a few deer, squirrels + chipmunks, some coyote scat
in the trail near here. This morning was eerily quiet, normally there's
hawks keening and squirrels and jays scolding, not to mention the ever
present breeze in the trees.. none of that this morning.

Well, I better get water while I still feel like moving, more later.

I think I just hit a major score... I went down to fetch water and was
taking a closer look at the TH board; nearest doctor, nearest sheriff,
etc... and nearest PHONE – 1 mile at the Sugar Shack. Just then two guys
were passing on motorcycles and I flagged them down - "yeah, follow the dirt
road and the Sugar Shack is across the highway, and they have great food!" I
already have too many dinners, but if I'm going to walk a mile just to make
a phone call I might as well see what's on the menu <g>.

And a family just passed here for a walk, two little boys and one more in
daddy's carry pack. It is nice to see people out!

While I wait before my walk to the highway I should say that while I did no
planning on the daily mileage for this trip, in this section it's falling
perfectly, tomorrow to Dalton Lake, which will set me up for the long day
past dry Elk Creek to Alkalai Creek, something like 18 miles with no water.
Hopefully it will be this cool then.

Back from the walk, back much too early. It's now 4:20, and I had a big
fried chicken dinner with fries, have to convince my body not to fall asleep
at 5:30. At least I avoided the beer, all they had was Bud. Called mom and
dad, this time the call went through but the answering machine didn't pick
up, so I left a message with John and Mary. They also had a newspaper there,
it's supposed to be VERY cool tonight (possibly 45 degrees up here – that
will be pushing it with my sleeping bag) and quite cool tomorrow. Then when
I'm trudging across the open plains to Bear Butte on Sat and Sun it's
supposed to be hot again.

Hmm, first time I've laid in the tent, think I have to turn it 90 degrees,
there's a distinct list...

that's a little better – now I'll just slide to the bottom.

Anyway, the reason that I headed to the Sugar Shack so early was that I
didn't want to give Mother Nature the chance to change her mind about the
weather, and then it sprinkled a bit on the way over.

Two sitings on the way back, first a western bluebird flitting into the
trees, and second a Coke semi on this dirt road. There must be something on
the other end of the road because there sure isn't much here,

Raining again, I'll assume it's just a passing shower. Where do I collect my
check for breaking the drought here? And I didn't even mention my boots and
socks being soaked from the grass and brush this morning.



 8/24: Lake Dalton -

The first passing shower last night lasted about 40 minutes, then there were
a couple of short showers and then quiet for the rest of the night. It did
get cool. I woke up about 5 am slightly chilled, but I knew that opening the
sleeping bag to pull more warm clothes on would let out all the heat, so I
just snuggled into the fetal position

The weather report called for "chance of showers" today. Just as I finished
packing it started to sprinkle, and I pulled my rain jacket out for the
start of the hike. Well, it turned out that it would rain/shower/pour all
morning, and with the trail on old woods roads all the way I made really
good time.

I started just after 7 am, by 9:30 I was down at the Box Elder Creek TH,
sheltering under some trees watching it pour while I pulled on my rain pants
and ate a Cliff bar... so much for morning break.

Now one of Stacy's journal entries has her "whining" about the section of
trail she was on being pounded out to loose sand by the horse traffic. I can
now report to her what happens when you add rain to previously rock hard
woods roads... the sand immediately turns to quicksand, and you step in,
sink an inch, and then slide. The clay immediately turns into a skating rink
that you immediately slide on. Now I'm going to guess that I've
conservatively covered 40 miles of old woods roads on this trail, and they
seem to consist of 75% shale... so... where do all the rocks go in the
rain??? And when you find a rock and think you have secure footing... the
clay has coated the bottom of your boots and you go skidding anyway... I
have no idea why I didn't end up on my ass in a mud puddle someplace, anyone
following my tracks will think I was drunk!

About 11 am I hit Rt 404 outside of Nemo, and trudged down the road to the
"Mercantile". It's bigger than the proverbial breadbox, but not by much. I
picked up some Snickers and crackers to fill out the munchy bag for the next
four days, and had a very nice cup of hot coffee and a danish while sitting
out of the rain on the porch. "Funny" operation, the gentleman running it is
a "a-yup" kind of Dakotan, and his little dog lays on a pillow in the window
and barks when a customer pulls in... but there's not much there.

I got chilled almost as soon as I finished the coffee, but the rain had
stopped for a bit so it was time to head out. I was up the road when I
remembered the gentleman had offered to let me use his phone in lieu of a
pay phone, oh well...

I knew I had a short run to Dalton Lake, just as well it was a short run
with more rain and drunken sliding. About a mile from here the rain stopped
and the sun popped out, and I realized two things, the Camelback bite valve
that has been a pain in the ass about popping off all week has permanently
disappeared, probably on the porch of the Mercantile. It must be Camelbacks
damn profit point, stupid piece of plastic that probably costs 50 cents to
make and they charge $6 for it. The second thing was watching a chipmunk
scurry off the trail, and I realized that probably half the things I was
calling chipmunks are ground squirrels.

Well, due to the short breaks and easy terrain I arrived at Lake Dalton
about 1:30. It's not a big place, the lake is really a dammed up pond, and
the first few campsites are really picnic spots, so I think there are only
eleven sites for camping. There's three trailers here, and a couple of
"reserved" sites, but it looked like no one was home. After settling in I
was trying to work myself up to a clean-up swim (too cool and breezy) when I
heard the dumpster lid bang. Met up with Alex, an older gent from this area,
had a great little chat, and then he handed me a "care package" of bottled
water (BTW, there's no tap water here), an orange, an apple, and a banana!
Pretty sweet...

My campsite looks like a pack explosion with everything spread out to dry,
the breeze and the sun are helping a lot. And while I didn't brave swimming
I did at least rinse out my hiking shorts.

I wasn't all that hungry today, maybe because of the big dinner yesterday?
Don't know, yesterday I was starving at lunch time, today was more breaks
than lunch; 1 Cliff bar, 1 danish, 1 Snickers, and a fruit strip. And I just
ate the orange, the banana is for breakfast and the apple for morning break
tomorrow. 4 pm and the orange tasted good, dinner will wait a while yet.

Tomorrow is a wacky day, I need to plan 22 miles or so to get to Alkali
Creek Horse Camp in case there's no water at Elk Creek. Stacy reported tire
tracks in the dry creek bed, but if I can find even some good puddles from
the rain I can make it a short day. But if tomorrow's terrain is like todays
22 miles isn't really a big deal (other than the water I need to camel). I
did 14 trail miles (or so) and another 1 mile in and out of Nemo and got
here at 1:30. I could make A.S. In time for dinner even with more breaks and
a real lunch stop.

Forgot to mention one really nice amenity here if I needed it – a small
pavilion that would be really handy in the rain. Some more quick notes;
Lipton Noodles Thai Sesame with a package of shrimp and a couple of
spoonfuls of peanut butter make an entirely acceptable dinner on the trail.

Walked back down to the dam to shoot a few late afternoon pics of the pond.
There ARE people in the first campsite, they must have spent the afternoon
napping. Then while at the dam a pick-up towing an old trailer and with a
beautiful chocolate lab in the back pulled in, followed by a full bore
"rumble-rumble" V8 Camaro. Damn, this doesn't seem like a party spot... how
much beer and how big a boom box can you fit in a Camaro? When I came back
up from the dam the guy with the Camaro is talking with Alex, turns out he's
the official (didn't get the proper term) in charge of this campground and
the one at Box Elder Creek.

Going to be another cool night, very few clouds. At least the breeze has
dropped, that made it even cooler before. Now only if Alex will turn his
generator off <g>.



 8/25: Dalton Lake -

Yes, THAT Dalton Lake, and no, today was NOT a zero day. Welcome to my
biggest hiking fiasco ever...

Very cool last night, but I was pretty comfortable sleeping with my jacket
and fleece cap on. Up bright and early for what I thought would be a long
day to Alkali Stream. Out on the trail about 6:40. Down road to trail head.
Last blaze on Carsonite post shows right turn down road. Map shows trail
crosses stream and leaves road. Faded Cen blaze on padlocked gate. Climb
over gate and follow trail to Lower Wilson Spring. NO blazes on the way.
Walk up to next logging road junction, no blazes. Follow FR 704 back to
trail head, no blazes. New bridge below dam (damn), not on map, no blazes.
Follow ER 704 back. Manage to follow old trail to 704 at top of ridge. New
CEN trail crosses perpendicularly. 50% shot, right? Old trail switchbacked
off of ridge and climbed west to head of valley, so I turn west and follow
newly built trail. Eventually came to road junction and gates at the head of
Dry Elk Gulch. Cool! I'm going the right way! Pick up more new sidehill
construction, heading for Elk Creek. Figure I should be nearing Elk Creek,
round corner. See water below. Cool! Realize water is lake. Realize lake is
Lake Dalton. (Insert expletives here!) Why spend all that time sidehilling
and not put up a sign... when trail ends up crossing new bridge below dam?
Trail constructor should be shot! 11 am, too late to start over. Greet Alex
as he packs to leave. Score more fruit. Help him load generator into truck,
say good-byes. Head downstream to find swimming hole for clean up. Sunny,
warm and breezy, back to camp to find a spot in the shade.

Not only does new trail in no way correlate with the old trail, by what I
can make out from this morning it is actually using southbound sections of
the old trail to go northbound. Hint to future Cen Trail hikers; BURN MAP!