Most of my hikes aren't a "want" scenario but a "need." I need to get away, therefor I do.
Of course I researched all I could ahead of time on areas and printed out directions and a nifty little map. Half of my fun comes from the planning.
Yellowsub (Dana) and I made it a family duo on this one.
The trail wasn't too much to think about on the way in. After boulder hopping and some climbing later on in the day, the steep side took a little toll.
Wasn't long before we could hear the creek flowing. At the bottom, I got a few steps too close to a descent sized Black Rattlesnake that was only sporting two rattles and seemed to to be stingey on the shakes. I only heard two hints of a rattle later on when he let me know that no he wasn't going to come out of his new shady position on his own for pics and to move it along.
There were a lot of clear pools with 8ft marks to dip along the way, but we kept dry until the end.
There is a narrow section of creek that requires either a swim or a crazy steep climb up and down.
The rope down the 30ft Dipper entrance was pretty tricky. From above, at its position on the left, it dropped you right into the water. I free climbed it down a little further over since I was wearing my unwettable camera and gun. Dana dropped down on it to the steep water's edge but then came to the realization that she wouldn't ever be able to touch the bottom and didn't want to get wet yet past the knees. She made me blow up one of the tubes and float it over but by the time it was ready, her arms had lowered her to the neck line anyway.
After bring her a tube and making her blow up mine, I took it and we floated around. I also played in the waterfall and then tried to climb it. It did what I wanted to do but couldn't yet and slipperily slid me down, fully submerging me in the cold water. Of course the wind picked up just then and I retreated back into the sunnier part of the pool. The dipper was at least 18ft deep.
We let the sun get over the hill top, and took some better pics before deciding we were just about out of light for the trip back. We moved the rope over a bit so it could be accessed out of the water, but the assisted climb still required a bit of hand and toe work and an awkward chest oomph over the ledge.
Now that the sun was out of the picture, every waterfall looked like it needed to be photographed but I resisted somehow for the sake of time. At the narrows, I tried out the other side but Dana retraced her previous steps. It took longer over there and from my vantage point, the rock face looked a lot more severe. The frogs also started getting noisy along the way, calling back and forth along the creek. (side story: someone on this board, upon one of his first trips with us to Red Creek, ran all the way back to camp in the dark after exploring with his friend, because I needed to "come quick with the gun, because there was something out there!". This was the weekend right after the rabid mountain lion incident, so I asked him to detail me on what he heard. He said he couldn't explain it, he'd never heard anything like it before. I asked him to try and reproduce the sound before I went storming off into the night to find it on my own. His words: "It sounded like a digital goat." Well I went with him to the area the sound came from, having no idea what to expect. After a long dark silence, the tiny little camo frog in the crevasse finally spoke again. Before he could turn and run (thank God he is a little too much closet-Dem for his own gun), I showed my light over his monster in the dark, and you know what has happened ever since.
Dana and I both made it, kept on keeping on, missed our snake friend on the way out, crossed the creek for the last time and headed up to pay our toll on the steep in the fading light. We hit the vehicle at 7:15 and rolled down the hill lights ablaze until pavement was spotted.
Your guys's monitors are big enough now right? I'm sick of posting 800 width pics that are half my widescreen's dimensions.
Wait is that the trail all the way down there?
Ooo a sign
Oh, we saw Randy there. He stole my camera and took this
Yay creek
Creek confluence
Get in or go up
Some perspective and lens flare
You want me to get what? The tripod? Ohhhhhh the tube.
Some 30ft tall movin water
Searching for holds and not thinking heavy thoughts
I will miss you
You gotta click this one to see the full version (this is the other necessary climb to reach the Big Dipper)
![]("http://www.higherground4x4.com/forums/uploaded/Big_Dipper_10/IMG_0149.jpg")
