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Post by cweston on Aug 3, 2021 4:15:53 GMT -8
…is inching forward: I’m up to three now, after a fantastic 5-day trip into the wild Black Creek country of the Nuchu [Gore] Range with TrailElder . We had an amazing hike (the usual novel-length TR is forthcoming)[edit: full TR here]: he’s a great conversation partner, a strong hiker and routefinder. That last bit is especially critical in the gnarly, jungle-like forests one must bushwhack in order to reach the Black Creek high country. The Nuchu never disappoints, but also never fails to present challenges, both expected and unexpected. It remains one of my favorite places ever. Black Creek is the crown jewel, for those that want it enough. |
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ErnieW
Trail Wise!
I want to backpack
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Post by ErnieW on Aug 3, 2021 6:13:13 GMT -8
If you went with TrailElder was there fishing involved? |
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Post by cweston on Aug 3, 2021 6:34:32 GMT -8
If you went with TrailElder was there fishing involved? There was, on his part. I’ll let him tell that story. (Hint: it involves mostly frustration but also eventual success.) |
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Post by cweston on Aug 3, 2021 6:37:52 GMT -8
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Hungry Jack
Trail Wise!
Living and dying in 3/4 time...
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Post by Hungry Jack on Aug 3, 2021 7:57:17 GMT -8
Impressive feat to reach the upper reaches of Black Creek. IIRC, the lower canyon has a lot of private land.
I remember hiking up to Lost Lake, which sits just south of the Black drainage, and finding a spur trail, not mapped or marked, that peeled off the ridge and headed westerly to what I assumed would be the upper drainage. Never had a chance to explore it.
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Post by cweston on Aug 3, 2021 8:09:32 GMT -8
Impressive feat to reach the upper reaches of Black Creek. IIRC, the lower canyon has a lot of private land. I remember hiking up to Lost Lake, which sits just south of the Black drainage, and finding a spur trail, not mapped or marked, that peeled off the ridge and headed westerly to what I assumed would be the upper drainage. Never had a chance to explore it. Yep—that was the start of our route. We went all the way up the S Fork Black Creek from there, to lake 11,640. We were planning a high traverse from there to Bubble Lake, but the weather forced us to retreat. The crux of the route is about 3-4 miles of hard bushwhack between where the abandoned trail ends and the timberline. |
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Post by absarokanaut on Aug 3, 2021 9:14:08 GMT -8
Not being able to do your route aside I hope you were able to enjoy some precipitation. We've started getting some rain over the last week and smoke sure abated pretty well.
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Post by cweston on Aug 3, 2021 9:56:25 GMT -8
Not being able to do your route aside I hope you were able to enjoy some precipitation. We've started getting some rain over the last week and smoke sure abated pretty well. Yeah, it was all good. We reached the area that was our primary goal and had a zero day there. The rest would have been gravy. And yes, we certainly “enjoyed” some precipitation. (Which was badly needed, I acknowledge.) |
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TrailElder
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Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed
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Post by TrailElder on Aug 4, 2021 5:40:45 GMT -8
Honored to be part of the quest. It was a terrific trip as cweston has begun to describe. I have long wanted to get into Black, and it is how I originally connected with cweston, the Man of Black, and this forum. It certainly delivered on its promise of wild, rough, pristine wilderness. I started this project by inviting TEN family and friends to join me in camping at the meadow campsite of the 1934 Colorado Mountain Club expedition to celebrate my 60th birthday. The idea was we could set up basecamp there and people could go do their own thing. Or hang out at camp, and walk out whenever they wanted to. The site is at the top of the trail -- such as it is -- that was mentioned above. I'll post a link about that inspiring expedition -- including both men and women -- who completed a number of first ascents in the area. Sitting below those peaks looking up at them, I can't imagine even doing one of them. I have an annual habit of disappearing for my birthday into the wilderness, usually solo or with one other person. I thought I would go big this year. My invitation list included a number of very experienced backcountry people and backpackers, including one who has completed the 7 Summits and another who has done the Colorado Trail from end to end. Well, the trip boiled down to Craig and me -- which if I had a No. 1 draft pick it would have been him! Partly because he was the only one who had actually been into Black. Also because it turned out we had solid trail chemistry and even better absence-of-trail chemistry, which is pretty important in Black! ErnieW, I of course had a tenkara rod with me and minimal gear. It was more of a fish-finding expedition than a fishing one. As with everything in the south fork of Black Creek, they were illusive, but I found them in the end! I'll share my TR following that of cweston's. |
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Post by Coolkat on Aug 4, 2021 5:56:31 GMT -8
As someone who has not kind done this kind of trip before but find it very attractive. How much ground does one typically cover in a day on an adventure like this?
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TrailElder
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Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed
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Post by TrailElder on Aug 4, 2021 6:08:24 GMT -8
As someone who has not kind done this kind of trip before but find it very attractive. How much ground does one typically cover in a day on an adventure like this? I'm compiling our daily stats as I tracked them on Gaia and will share them. The short answer is: "Black Miles," as we began to describe them. Through long sections of the bushwhacking we struggled to average 1 mph moving time and .5 mph overall average time (including stops). I think my Gaia counted some of our moving time as stopped time, we were moving so slowly! On what felt like our most accomplished day with our packs, we covered less than 2 miles.... |
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Hungry Jack
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Living and dying in 3/4 time...
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Post by Hungry Jack on Aug 4, 2021 6:14:14 GMT -8
Love the pics. Due to dense cover, ragged ridges, and relatively few trails, the Gores are largely unspoiled. May they remain so.
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Post by Coolkat on Aug 4, 2021 6:19:19 GMT -8
On what felt like our most accomplished day with our packs, we covered less than 2 miles.... I'm good with that. Sounds like fun. But I'm thinking that at this point my mind wants to deliver what the body can't. Hopefully one I'll do at least one trip like that. Sounds like grand fun! |
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Post by cweston on Aug 4, 2021 6:42:39 GMT -8
On what felt like our most accomplished day with our packs, we covered less than 2 miles.... The day we climbed to lake 11,640? Really? Wow. To be fair, we did make camp around noon that day, so it only took us all morning to cover those two miles  …with a hell of a climb up the head wall. To address Coolkat’s question: yes, it’s all about expectations. If you set out onto a bushwhack expecting the usual 2 MPH pace, you’re in for a lot of stress and frustration when you inevitably fail to achieve that. These kinds of trips require a good bit of flexibility because you never know what you’re going to encounter. I, nor TrailElder, nor anyone I know had ever done the last couple miles of this route. We encountered lakes that aren’t on the map, etc. In spite of the extreme nature of the terrain, this drainage would be an excellent learning ground for off-trail exploration. Because it is a straight and fairly narrow drainage, one couldn’t hardly get lost if they tried. Lots of other bad things could happen, of course… |
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Post by Coolkat on Aug 4, 2021 6:50:29 GMT -8
you’re in for a lot of stress and frustration when you inevitably fail to achieve that. These kinds of trips require a good bit of flexibility because you never know what you’re going to encounter. So, inquiring minds want to know. Taking that into consideration what goes into trip planning and route planning. I'm guessing that you're fairly confident that it can be done in the expected time? |
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…with a hell of a climb up the head wall.