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chick-on
It was continuation of Elevenmile. It only went for a very bit more...
Basilblop pointed out another bit s and e of there that needs exploration though.
That is quite a lovely stretch and definitely one of the easier sections (including the spur down to the meadow), even if all the construction up at the Henness Ridge Rd end has destroyed a lot of the charm and isolation of that bit. A few years ago, I hunted around in the area where the old road comes back up to the current alignment but couldn't find anything resembling a continuation (although, at the time, I didn't realize the extent to which they sometimes obliterated the old road where it crossed paths with the new so I may not have looked far enough up the hill). I'm assuming, btw, (and your "s and e" comment seems to confirm this), that the continuation of the old road is above (i.e., east of) the current alignment after the Elevenmile segment comes back up to the current alignment (certainly seems like it should be, given the angle of approach)).
On our trip last year, I actually didn't get to do any hunting around for OWR segments (of the bits of which I'm aware, there are only 2 short segments north of Mosquito Creek that I haven't hiked yet). Instead, I started exploring sections of the Alder Creek trail and the area up around Empire Meadow...both of which were new to me. I got caught up exploring the old railroad bed that leads out to Alder Creek Falls and also the road out to Deer Camp (both of which I stumbled on quite by accident while hiking in that area).
Alder Falls has been on my to-do list but since I didn't expect any water there in September, I wasn't planning on doing it on that trip and was actually quite surprised when I ended up there! When the trail comes up to the RR bed, I was quite surprised...I knew there was a lot of lumber company RR'ing in that area so wasn't surprised that the RR was in that area but didn't expect to see it as part of the trail. Interestingly, when you first hit the RR bed (coming up the Alder Creek trail from Mosquito Creek) the section to your left is VERY clear but immediately to the right, it just disappears into a massive tangle of overgrowth. I'm curious where the other end of that is but we didn't have time to hack through it on that trip. Definitely want to explore this area a little more. (*)
The road to Deer Camp was a total surprise to me, however. We hiked in from the GPR, through Westfall Meadow and along Alder Creek drainage and I had no idea this road was down there. I followed it off to the right a little bit (the sign says it goes to Wawona but I wasn't able to figure out where it comes out down there (unless it stops being a road and deteriorates into a trail). We took it out as far as Deer Camp (and that direction is clearly much less well-maintained), had some lunch and then headed back.
(*) Oops, I was just about to start inserting some photos but it appears that Picasa no longer lets you share photos. Seems they've replaced Picasa with Google Photos (at least my old pictures have auto-migrated there) but I need to confirm a bunch of settings about extent-of-visibility before I start sharing stuff. Once I figure that out, I'll just do a (long-overdue) TR for that part of the trip (posted a couple days of the trip several months ago but then lost track of things).
a happy birthday!
!
for an awesome year of hiking, boating and exploring! So much fun! And even when the going gets rough, it's always a pleasure sharing the experiences with you!
![](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1693/26319573265_7110e14288_z.jpg" width="640" height="360" alt="IMG_3928")
Well, at most two of a kind.
) a belated very happy birthday! Hope you had a great time during your birthday weekend!
