We wanted to social distance and get away from the toxic news cycle, so we parked outside the gate to Staircase and walked the 1.2mi road walk to the TH on Thurs. afternoon. We were one of 2 cars parked there. We hiked around 8 mi to Camp Pleasant, ducking under or hopping over fallen trees and tree messes.
About 1 mi past Big Log Camp, over the big bridge, the river has taken over the trail and it was next to impossible to find the trail again (especially at nightfall) except by GPS. We had to cross the new stream 3 times to find the trail. The stream is 1ft deep in some places. We got into camp with wet sloshy boots that never did quite dry out.
Friday we set out hoping for First Divide, with winter gear including snowshoes and microspikes. There were several 20ft high washouts that may take the trail next year, but for now those portions of trail are still good.
We saw a still-warm pile of bear scat and fresh bear prints (claws and all - magnificent!) in the snow between Pleasant and Nine Stream, but no bear. (I'm sure he saw us.) We saw one other person who must have been camped at Pleasant, but he was 500ft away hiking out.
The ford at Nine Stream is dangerous right now. If we'd had fording shoes and been willing to strip down below the waist, we might have gotten across, but the idea of doing that and then hoofing through snow - and back - didn't sound smart or tempting, so we turned around.
After lunch at Camp Pleasant, we went back to camp at Big Log, under the big hollow cedar tree. The rain began that night, but the hike out Saturday morning was all sun showers. We saw a herd of elk wading across the river.
We saw 2 other people on a day hike and several people walking on the road inside the gate. When we got to the area outside the gate, we were one of 10 cars.
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