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Hurricane Creek Wilderness Area
Backpacking in the Hurricane Creek Wilderness Area with bluff action1/25/18
With rain coming in late on Friday my plans were pushed back to Thursday afternoon. It was then that I headed for Hurricane Creek. With 64° and clear skies the forest edge was penetrated at 2:15. The terrain pulled me upward towards the middle of the ridge that paralleled the creek. By about 3:30 my destination was before me. I was sweaty so I stripped down to underwear to allow my clothing to dry in the breeze. This was an interesting way to make camp. An eagle glided downstream in the valley below. Bears eyed me from up the hill. There was just enough time to enjoy the late afternoon into evening with an excellent sunset closing off the day.
Food was leisurely prepared and consumed while a couple of Barred Owls greeted each other, as is their custom. By 7:00 the tent called me inside where a typical night of sleeplessness occurred. This was mainly due to the constant onslaught of bears attacking the camp. The skies remained cloudless with a 55% moon illuminating the valley nicely. By morning the clouds rolled in and provided a very fine, almost icey form of precipitation. I rose at 6:00 and packed and departed. A full rainbow was observed to the north over the valley during the hike out. By 7:40 with 33° my point of parking was arrived at. The windshield was iced over. I found this to be quite curious. The drive home was drizzly for much of the way. My round trip distance was a mere 2.7 miles.
