Today’s hike was kind of a spur of the moment hike. We had made plans to work on another trail, but due to the recent fires, we decided it would be prudent to avoid the area until things stabilized. I had been thinking about the Corral Springs trail recently, so it seemed like a good substitute. I hadn’t hiked the trail yet this year and it is always a nice hike down to the Roaring River.

We started out a bit early since it was supposed to be warm. As I’ve done previously, I drove up 4614 and then over 4613 to 4610 since 4610 has normally been a very rough road. I was pleasantly surprised when I found that 4610 had recently had a lot of work done to it. It has been graded, new culverts and fresh gravel applied. It was easy driving unlike the last time I was up here when it had lots of water damage.

We got to the trailhead near the closed Lookout Springs campground, suited up and headed out. The trail might get more use than I think because the path thru the old campground was pretty clear. As we got down the trail, there were a few new downed logs. We limbed up a few of the logs to make climbing over them easier. The trail is pretty level for a while, then starts dropping slowly, and then once it hits the edge of the Roaring River Canyon, it starts dropping with gusto.

Shortly after the edge of the canyon, you get a good view of Indian Ridge across the canyon:

And at the first switchback heading down the hill, there is a short side trail to the big rockslide – it is pretty impressive:

I decided to fly my drone from the rocklide – video TBD.

Thor didn’t like being in the sun, so he went and sat in the shade while I flew. Once that was done, we continued our drop into the canyon. The beginning of the trail is really in pretty good shape. It is reasonably wide and mostly brush free. As you progress down into the canyon, the trail gets more faint and as you approach the river, it gets very faint and very steep.

When we got to the river at the bottom of the canyon, I had to take a picture – it is a beautiful river:

I also took a short video of the river, which was being uncharacteristically less “roaring” than normal:

It was early for lunch, so I decided to eat a “snack” while enjoying the river. After about 25 minutes, it was time to head back up the hill. It is kind of a long slog uphill, but it went pretty well. I didn’t take any pictures on the way down, but I did take a few on the way back up. I took this picture of an interesting segment on the Corral Springs trail down lower:

A little bit farther up the trail it crosses a spring which is kind of pretty:

Just past the spring there is Bracken, Deer and Sword ferns all within a few feet of each other:

We continued up the trail, taking a few stops to rest and drink water. When we got up the worst of the climb, the trail grade becomes a much easier climb. It was somewhere in this area where there was a mess of new blowdown – I think there are 7 or 8 logs in this one area:

We made it thru that mess and continued up. There were a few spots where I cut some intruding brush off the trail. At one point, I had some excitement – I went to cut a couple of small trees off the trail that were kind of annoying. I didn’t bring my loppers, just my handsaw. I finished one of the trees and started on the second. When I got thru the second tree, the saw fell down and hit my ankle – I couldn’t believe how big of a cut it did on my ankle. It was bleeding pretty good. I got out my first aid kit and cleaned it the best I could and bandaged it the best I could. I also used my bandana to keep pressure on it. We continued walking up but that was the end of my cutting. I used my hiking pole to help take some stress off that foot, hoping that would help it stop bleeding.

Thankfully, moving slowly and deliberately, I was able to make it back to the truck with no issues. When we got there, I looked at my ankle and it looked really good – it didn’t look like it had continued to bleed so I left it alone, figuring I could deal with it once I got home.

Since the 4610 road had work done to it, I was curious how far the work went, so I continued east. It didn’t take long before the work ended at the 032 spur. At that point, we turned around and headed back down. Since the road had been so nice, I decided to take it back down rather than coming in the way I did (4613 to 4614). That turned out to be a good plan because the road was great all the way down to where it turns to pavement. I think it is shorter, and now that the 4613 road had had some water damage on it, I think it is actually a better way – at least for the time being.

It was a different day than I’d planned, but it was still a great day in the woods. This trail is very peaceful with lots of big trees, a few views and of course the beautiful Roaring River. What else could you ask for?