I accessed the CCC Road/Trail from the western trailhead. I was lazy so I took a chance & parked at the gate. The road/trail is easy walking w/ no hazards for the first 2.6 miles to Roaring Creek. Several creek crossings, most small, start after Roaring Creek. From there it is another 1/2 mile to the junction w/ Green Mt road/trail. I noted an old rusty gate at the Green Mt road/trail. I continued to the right on the CCC trail (which was more of a trail now). Not too long after the junction I noted a trail on the right which I had been looking out for. I believe it is a trail coming up from the Middle Fork Road that is designed as a shortcut to the Green Mt road/trail. I plan to come back later & attempt Green Mt. A few peek-a-boo views of peaks to the right, but otherwise not too exciting. Did see 2 spent balloons on the day, a Happy Birthday (which I enjoyed w/ my birthday 5 days away) and a Graduation balloon. Skies were clear & the creeks were mostly roaring with smowmelt. At Big Blowout Creek I noticed a lot of bugs. I crossed the creek & went the 0.3 mile to the junction w/ Bessemer Mt road/trail. I went up this road a few tenths of a mile to see if there would be any better views. A double trailer gravel truck came down the road and soon I was at the site of an on-going rock mining operations complete with warning signs. I turned around here; bugs were also again thick. No mosquitoes noted though. I returned the way I came. I saw no other hikers during the trip but did see a guy mt biking not far from my vehicle. I spoke w/ him & found out he was an area resident. He warned me about parking there, that the roads leading to this trailhead are private. But he was nice about it. I don't plan on parking there again, but what can I say, I was lazy & wanted to save the extra couple of miles roundtrip. Put in about 11 to 12 miles. Good exercise.
Comments
Old CCC Road access points
I biked/hiked the CCC road repeatedly from both ends during the past 30 years.
Once I biked/hiked from school bus turnaround to Last Promontory in Aug 08.
A year later, in Jul-09, I drove the road past the "No recreational access" signs to the gate where you parked, parked off the road at the gate and biked from there to Bessemer Rd. I was surprised how many trucks have keys to the gate. I crossed Blowout Creek on foot and connected to Bessemer Mtn. Road. Cleaned trail side and picked up a lot of trash on the way back. I doubt that the road to the gate is a private road. The signs were posted by irate neighbors. The county road has a right-of-way through this neighborhood (Parcel No. 9005). Roads branching off from this road may well be private roads.
Later in Aug 09 I parked at the yellow gate on MidFork Rd. and pushed my bike 2800 ft. up past the quarry to the saddle on Bessemer Mtn.
All three (four) trail heads giving access to the old CCC road suffer from a lack of parking space.
Have not tried the new shortcut trail coming up from the MidFork Road bridge to the CCC road yet.
Posted by:
"EckartS" on Jun 16, 2012 09:09 AM