[pct-l] Section C water/trip report

[Marion Davison]

We did a 40 mile trail crew trek from April 8-13 and cleared all the 
trees from Cougar Crest to Highway 173.  19 big ones and dozens of 
smaller ones.
Here is a water report.
We did not check Delmar Spring.
We did not find any water sources from Cougar Crest until we crossed 
Cienaga Larga, near Holcomb Creek.
Holcomb Creek is running strong, wide and deep.
Cienaga Larga is running well.
Cienaga Redonda is running well.
There are several slow moving, algae filled creeklets between Bench Camp 
and Hook Creek.  One of them, close to Crab Flats road, is running strong.
Hook Creek and Deep Creek are running strong.
Willow Creek and McKinley Creek are running well, crossing the trail in 
Deep Creek Canyon.  A couple other minor creeks in the canyon are also 
running a bit.  After you cross the Arch bridge, no water is available 
until you reach Deep Creek behind the dam.
Deep Creek Hot Springs are totally awesome!
We were able to cross Deep Creek (behind the dam)without a problem, 
about 100 yards upstream of the marked crossing point. Trail Ratz bridge 
does not exist, and the marked crossing (a post on either side) was too 
narrow, swift and deep for our tastes.  We walked upstream to a break in 
the bushes that line both sides and crossed just a few feet south of a 
big animal carcass (horse or cow) in the creek.  We named it "Dead horse 
ford".
There are lots of snow patches on the trail between Cougar Crest and 
Little Bear Hot Springs, especially on north facing slopes.  Ray 
actually had to dig a path about 200 feet long across an especially 
steep section.
You can see pictures of the work, and some unresolved trail issues, at:

> http://picasaweb.google.com/raydav94/PCTApr09#
We only photo-recorded the trees over a foot thick, or those presenting 
special problems.
Marion