American Ridge, Pleasant Valley, Kettle Creek, and a short new trail proposal
This trail report is tardy, but little will have changed in a week. And it’s long. But there’s a reason, so bear with me. I’m covering the following:
Pleasant Valley Campground
Pleasant Valley Loop Trail 999 —which was once Trail # 957A
Pleasant Valley Lake Trail #958B
American Ridge Trail # 958
Kettle Creek Trail (# 957)
First, a little background. Camped in Pleasant Valley Campground this Aug 26 – 28. It’s right across the American River from the part of the terminus of what was named the American Fire last year. My backpacking partner and I were backpacking on the American Ridge Trail last on August 16th 2017 (we were the only people up there) when the trail was in very bad condition. Anyway, just before dark we heard three cracks of thunder several minutes apart. In the morning, after dry-camping on the trail, we came across a fire started by the lightning strike the previous evening. Luckily we were high enough in elevation to have a weak phone signal and could phone in the coordinates. Two hours later the first of several helicopters arrived and by the next day these folks had spotted 13 fires caused by dry lightning. One of the fires worked it’s way down Kettle Creek and Kettle Creek Trail #957, then turned the corner in the valley at the American River and moved eastward. It pretty much burned itself out just past the Pleasant Valley campground. Hats off to the fire crews who kept the fire on the far side of the river and saved this great little campground. The fire only jumped across the river in one small spot in the campground, where it burned a big tree. It’s worth checking out.
The American River is shallow enough to be easily forded all summer long here and if you look, you could also find trees to cross on. If you cross, and bushwhack some 3 or 4 hundred yards perpendicular to the river, you’ll hit the Pleasant Valley Loop Trail #999 which parallels the river slightly up the ridge slope at this point.
Pleasant Valley Loop # 999
That trail (# 999), or at least a section of it, connects to two trails that go up to the American Ridge Trail and these junctions are about 1 ½ miles apart. Think of this piece of the trail as the bottom of a U. Go left on the trail and you’ll come to the Pleasant Valley Lake Trail (# 958B). Go right half a mile or less and you hit the junction with the Kettle Creek Trail (# 957). A quarter mile section of the PV Loop trail across from the Pleasant Valley Campground has some serious trees across it due to the fire. It needs clearing but a hiker can work through it. For horses, it’s challenging.
Pleasant Valley Lake Trail #958B
Pleasant Valley Lake Trail, if you ascend, hits the American Ridge Trail at a saddle some 3.5 miles up. This trail was just lightly touched by the fire on its lower slope. Over the whole ascent of some 2400 feet it has about 20 to 25 blowdown trees across it. Most are small and easily stepped over, even by horses. Only a couple trees are medium sized (10 to 12 inches diameter), but even they are easily bypassed. So this trail is in fair shape and trail crew resources are best used elsewhere. When you reach the junction with the American Ridge Trail at the top of the ridge you’ll see a sign reading “Goat Creek Trail # 959.” If you’re familiar with that trail you can see it straight ahead of you down below the impassable steep slope. This sign is wrong and should read “American Ridge Trail.” But go left about 150 feet and there you’ll see Goat Creek Trail heading down to the Bumping River. This is where that sign belongs.
American Ridge Trail # 958
Unfortunately, not many people hike this difficult trail, but those that do are richly rewarded in scenery and solitude. This year I only had a chance to hike the section from the junction of Pleasant Valley Lake Trail to Goat Peak, but that piece was freshly cleared of downed trees. Last year the trail was a nightmare with accumulated blowdowns everywhere, lost sections, and eroded slopes that needed grubbing out. I had lobbied several years for trail maintenance and this year it happened. Thanks, Naches Ranger District/FS! Last I heard, the trail from near Hwy 410 trailhead to the Goose Prairie Trail #972 was cleared. That still leaves the section from Goose Prairie Trail westward to Big Basin and on to Swamp Lake to clear. As of last year Big Basin to Swamp Lake had blowdowns too, but was passable. However, at Big Basin the trail had disappeared and I couldn’t find it. And the last time I did find it (maybe 3 years earlier) a huge area of blowdown blocked the trail between Big Basin and Kettle Lake. Unless this part received attention in meantime, that trail section is a nightmare.
Kettle Creek Trail (# 957)
My hiking partner and I in Aug. 2017 were probably the last people to see this trail before the fire drastically altered it. One reason to at least hike the lower part of it is to see the fascinating power of the fire and what it can do to trees, terrain, and the landscape. But be warned, this trail already had hundreds of blowdowns before the fire and can only be worse now. If I were going up very far, I’d take some bright plastic marking tape and tie pieces around trees at sections where you leave the trail for some distance and tie another piece where you pick it up again. It will help you on the way down and help the next hikers too.
This trail suffered heavy fire damage, at least on the part that I hiked. I only got about 2 miles up and lost the trail at a place with a number of large trees across it. I circled the 100 ft. blockage and spent 10 minutes of looking for the continuance on a slope. Because I had limited time I turned around and climbed back around the mess. It took me even longer to find the part of the trail I’d just come from so that I could return. This trail has been barely used in years, so doesn’t have a very worn path to begin with. What makes it so difficult to see if you leave it in this and many other parts is the ground is all covered uniformly with dead evergreen needles from the fire-damaged trees. Note that not all parts of the fire burned hot enough to kill all the trees. In those spots where the fire burned hottest, the ground is bare and gray. All the organic matter burned off and left exposed a layer of Mount St. Helens ash and soil. Some steep slope traverses are bare soil now with no undergrowth to hold the soil in place and will wash out when the fall rains start. You can already see mud along the American River from the previous spring rains and snow melt.
As I said above, last year after reporting the fire, when my friend and I came down this trail off the ridge, it was already a nightmare. Hundreds of trees were down and along some sections the trail was impossible to see. See my report of last year for more detail (https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2017-08-18.4224861766) about this trail. It was a very problematic trail then and now it is much worse. This trail needs clearing badly. And it’s a shame because it offers a beautiful waterfall along the way, and allows access to Kettle Lake.
I noted on that 2017 trail report cited above that the Green Trails topo map I have, and my digital topo, are not accurate along the upper part of the trail. If you come down to Kettle Lake from the American Ridge Trail and want to head down, search for the well-hidden trail sign in a tree near the lower end of the lake for the trail. The topos will mislead you as to where the trail is. It stays fairly high along the valley slope on the east side and does not go down to the creek until a couple miles later. I’m guessing this part of the trail was re-routed years ago.
A project proposal for a short new section of trail
Let me now get back to Pleasant Valley Campground and the two trails up to American Ridge (Pleasant Valley Lake and Kettle Creek). Both trails are only occasionally used because they are not easily accessible despite being close to Hwy 410. The problem, of course, is the American River lies between the road and the trails. But there is a solution for this. The American River is easily forded all summer long. A dedicated hiker just needs to walk through the shallow water. Then on the far bank there’s another obstacle. Before the fire burned that area, getting over the downed trees and pushing through the underbrush for a quarter mile to reach what is now called trail 999 wasn’t easy. Thanks to the fire, much of the underbrush is gone but there are even more trees down. This doesn’t stop the elk over there, but it’s difficult for people to get through.
A quarter mile of simple trail cleared through to trail 999 would cut several miles off the access to the two trails leading up to American Ridge. With a path, many more people would use those trails. However, there is now also a second reason to cut a trail there. Pleasant Valley Campground already has a nature trail, but one that’s become tired and mundane. Here’s a chance to build a new nature trail—one that would fascinate and educate many a child and adult alike. The burned-out old growth forest across the river is an amazing place. Fires and fire policy have been in the news all summer, and we’ve all breathed the smoke, but how many of us have actually seen the aftermath? Nature’s awesome cleansing/destructive force has painted a memorable portrait of huge blackened trees, some giants still standing and many others laid low. That’s something few people have a chance to see. And in the years to come, the recovery of such a forest will be quite a story to watch.
One big impediment of course is a bridge. I believe there used to be a footbridge across the river years ago and a trail connecting to trail # 999 and the ridge access trails. The Forest Service has a lot of bureaucratic hoops to jump through to get anything approved and funded and I’m sure they’d want a bridge of some sort if there’s to be any nature trail. But the trail cut would be something simple to do in the short term. And even a simple bridge could be put across. After all, there are a large number of big trees down just across the river that could be turned into a simple footbridge. There are already at least a couple fallen trees spanning the river that some people have crossed the river on, but something with a handrail and higher above the spring-melt water would be better.
Finally, let me say there are still some nice fall weeks left in which to get out, ford that little river, and see this amazing forest Armageddon.
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