Zig Zag to Hall Creek Road 7/17/2016

End of the Trail
End of the Trail

Once again I was aiming for Greenway, once again I came up short.  This time, way short.

My route today was going to be up Zig Zag trail to Hall Creek Road, south and then west to hook up with the road/trail that snakes up and south to Greenway.

My plan required that the blow downs that annoyed the [heck] out of me and Mark Garrett a few months ago be gone.  And for awhile, they were.  The first batch of blow downs was gone.

But about 1.4 miles south on Hall Creek Road the blow downs began and the situation was even worse than before.  Now, later in the year, all of the undergrowth was taller and thicker.  I bushwhacked about 1/4 mile through six or seven distinct trail disasters when I gave up.

I went back the long way, down FR9021 to Garcia and then west on IHT to Hall Creek and the junction with the Hall Creek Connector trail and back to the car.  Which was alone in the lot at 10:15 am on a nice July Sunday!

Every hiker's favorite view
Every hiker’s favorite view

It is clear that dirt bikes have been using this trail.  I am glad I did not encounter any of them:

Dirt bike tracks
Dirt bike tracks

There was a nice western view along Hall Creek Road:

Another misty mountain
Another misty mountain

And the view on IHT along the Mine Creek Bridge (a very impressive structure) is nice:

North view from Mine Creek
North view from Mine Creek

I did note a trail going west from Hall Creek Road – marked by pink ribbons at the junction and down the trail a ways.  Might be the end of the Hall Creek Trail – it is worth investigating.

You can see the intersection spot on the visualization:

http://adventures.garmin.com/en-US/by/djhiker/zig-zag-to-hall-creek-road/#.V4vbs5Xlupp

10 miles, 2,400 ft elevation gain, just over 5 hours.  Another 5am start.  A good workout but I am still looking for Greenway’s summit.