Our hardy group started from the parking area at the final switchback on the Shingle Springs (Kibbie Lake/Ridge trailhead) road. At one time the Forest Service warned novices of the lack of official trails ahead; the sign is gone, but the lack of trails and thick brush remains. The going is slow and tedious, but with enough patience, the "green mossy slabs" are reached, and (with luck, or experience), most of the bushwhacking is over.
From here, it's down nice granite slabs, across Snow Canyon Creek (where we saw the only other people we'd see the entire weekend), around to the faint path that leads to the gap on the Red Spur, then across and down the dome to a large pool with a nice sandy beach.
From here, we followed the creek over mostly gentle granite.
Eventually, we came to the crux: a spot where the creek runs against a tall, seemingly vertical wall, with one major weakness: a long crack that leads to the "Chockstone", under which two more people crawled for the first time this weekend.
"This is great!"
Past this obstacle, my wife and I continued up-canyon while our companion checked out the "Ramp Route", a potential mostly-granite alternative to the Lookout Point route. The Schifrin "favorite spot" grove was a bit buggy, but we quickly emerged at the base of the long granite ramp where my friend and I had camped during my first Cherry trip. We climbed the ramp , then descended to the base of a nice little waterfall.
After a bit more climbing, we reached what is informally known as "Camp Flintstone" at the base of Cherry Bomb Gorge. (The name comes from some "improvements" that had been made in the past; alas, the Bedrock Furniture Builders appear to have returned...) The clouds were threatening, so we rushed to the small pool east of the camp to bathe while there was still some sun.
We arrived back at camp around the same time as our companion. We spent the rest of the day preparing camp, collecting and treating water, climbing a nearby dome, and cooking and eating dinner before retiring for the night.
Flintstone Area Photosynth Note: broken in a few places...
That night, we were greeting with thunder and light rain, and it continued to drizzle in the morning. We decided to leave our camp set up and day-hike up canyon. After climbing the flowing granite slabs east of camp, we stopped at the Cherry Bomb Gorge "observation area" for some views and pictures.
From there we continued up and over dome 6458, then across open terrain to the next mini-crux, where the route steeply drops into a gully.
Past here, more wonderful open granite, a final nasty descent, then more open granite before the final return to the creek.
We took a lunch break at the river. (Hmmm, that chicken seems a bit pink and undercooked...) The day had been mostly overcast, but fortunately, without rain.
Cherry Creek Photosynth
My wife and I continued up-canyon for another mile or so, to about where the Hyatt Lake outlet joins Cherry Creek. This was my wife's first backpacking trip in well over a year, and her still-recovering ankle needed some cooling off, so while she soaked it in the creek, our companion continued about a mile further upstream, stopping just short of the upper crux (well, it was a crux in the rain/snow with not-so-grippy shoes...)
On the way back we checked out a dome with excellent views of the creek and some interesting granite "chatter" across the canyon.
Dome Photosynth
After more strolling across open granite, we stopped again at the "observation deck" for another peek at Cherry Bomb.
We enjoyed another wonderful evening and sunset after returning to camp.
It rained again that night, and continued into the morning. The clouds were much lower than the previous day; at times it was impossible to see more than a few hundred feet up the canyon walls. We had decided to return via the "Lookout Point" route, a short but steep climb from Flintstone to the Kibbie Ridge trail near, well, Lookout Point. Routefinding was never much of a challenge despite the clouds; in fact, they added a mystical, if not magical, feel to the terrain.
We found a mostly brush-free route to the top of "Mastadome" (Dome 6202), and after a few zigs and zags around some tall granite ribs, started the steep climb through the forest. Our luck continued as we avoided significant shrubbery.
We eventually emerged on the well-trod Kibbie Ridge trail, and after a short sprint down it took a final break at Lookout Point.
The rain had stopped while we were here and I made the mistake of removing my pack cover, guaranteeing more rain--and light snow--on our hike back to the trailhead. Still it could have been a lot worse: we got dumped on while driving down 120 from the Cherry Lake junction towards Groveland. (Or, some unknown critter could have sabotaged our car...)
This TR ended up being a bit longer than expected, but... can you have too much Cherry Creek Canyon?
More Pictures
Ben Schifrin's Emigrant Wilderness book includes a general route description, but it is not detailed enough for those who are not very comfortable with cross-country travel, non-technical climbing "moves", or traveling over steep granite surfaces.
Links to previous Cherry Creek Canyon posts:
my first descent: May 2008
some bill-e-g dude, July 2010; chick-on + basilbop, May 2011
basilbop: July, 2011
