Cold Creek Leftovers - An Exploratory Hike

One more hike for November!

I am looking for a few explorers to accompany me Sunday uncovering an old road/trail, that is possibly very overgrown and require a little bushwhacking, that will connect the Backbone Trail with the Cold Creek High trail

We had a similar adventure in the area a year ago and had a great time finding artifacts of human activity from a bygone era. See https://www.meetup.com/localhikers/events/155400972/ for pics, etc.

We will be hiking off-trail so wear long pants and good hiking boots. The off-trail exploratory section is about 3/4 mile long with 400' gain (if we get it right the first try). Upon successful completion we will return along known trails, exploring some other short old spurs along the way. This will be a loop with total distance will be 4-5 miles appx. Bring enough water for twice that.

I have already reconned the area. Here are a couple of old satellite photos indicating (with read arrows) the road/trail I want to find and use. The green line is a gps track from one of our "normal" hikes along the Cold Creek High trail. The cyan line is a gps track from a Backbone trail hike.

http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/e/6/4/d/600_431818957.jpeg

There was a fire in 1993 which is probably why the road/trail in the 1994 picture shows up clearly. The trail is still visible in 2002. By 2007 - 2010 only parts of the trail are visible. The trail is almost completely obscured from the sky by foliage today.

Again, we will be hiking off trail. Expect the unexpected. No beginners, no whiners, only hikers with a sense of adventure are allowed.

Directions

We'll park and meet at the 2.1 mile marker on Stunt Rd. There is also parking at the 2.0 mile marker