We're doing a hike up and back on Snowbird Creek. The possible destination is Middle Falls, but I have doubts we'll be able to ford the creek in order to get there. The first 3 miles are easy uphill high above the creek, along an old railbed. At some spots it appears the old crossties are still in the ground.
We reach this old panel truck which had been converted to a travel van. The back side windows were added. We have to cross Sassafras Creek, a tributary of the Snowbird Creek at this point. There is a sketchy rock hop which we successfully negotiated. I noted that on the return, this would be a more difficult crossing.
And the rocks were slick, of course.
Continuing for another mile along relatively easy hiking conditions, we came to what appeared to be the first crossing of Snowbird Creek. It looked very difficult. I walked up creek a short way to scout a better route. That's when I saw this ↓↓↓
A bridge where I don't remember one. Last time I was here in 2007, it was not here. Now there is this massive bridge. How this got built is a mystery. The bed is one solid piece of wood spanning the creek. So, we crossed on the bridge. It wasn't but just a short distance beyond this, there was a "for real" creek crossing which didn't look inviting, so we eat lunch and called this the "turnaround" spot.
Just a short way back downcreek, we took a scramble route down to the creek and Big Falls. This was a spectacular spot with a staircase of ledges leading to the Big Falls ↓
After spending some time at the this spot, on the rocks just above the falls, we scrambled back up to the trail and headed back down the trail.
At the spot of the Sassafras Creek crossing, I took off my pack to get my water shoes out. On a whim, I walked up the creek along a faint trail - and surprise, there was a log bridge, crudely made but quite inviting. How we missed this on the way up, I'll never know.
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