Oxbow Loop Trail, CCC Road: Blowout Creek Trailhead — Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024

Had a hard time getting out of bed, so decided to make a quick trip over to the Middle Fork area.  I'd not done the Oxbow Loop before, and decided that yesterday was going to be the day.  Road in was in good condition and free of snow and ice.  There were some sections that had water running over them (very shallow), so watch out for ice if you're there in cooler temps.

Started from the eastern TH (with the outhouse).  Toilets were clean and stocked with TP for all that they were signed that they weren't being maintained daily.  No hand sanitizer, so bring your own if you want it.  Day started out foggy, which with the sunshine, mosses and lichens made for some pretty fantastic scenery!  I didn't make much hiking progress until the fog started to lift as I was too busy enjoying the views.  I am considering renaming the area Mirkwood based on the extreme number of spider webs in the trees and bushes along the loop.

Did the loop counterclockwise, including the marked River Trail that leaves from the SE section of the loop and takes you to a nice beachy area with access to the river, then walked about 0.1 miles down the road (from the western Oxbow trail access point) to Bessemer Road.  Took that up to the CCC Road and went west until I hit Wise Creek before turning around.  This section of the CCC road was in good condition; lots of smaller branches down, but nothing that impeded travel.  Did a bit of pole brushing as I went.  There were a lot of small streams running perpendicular across the trail; all but one were easy to get across without getting your shoes wet.  There was a wider one about 0.5 miles west of where Bessemer Road hits the CCC Road trail that was a little more problematic.  It was too deep to walk across without getting your feet wet and too wide to hop.  There were some rocks you could use to step across, but I was very, very glad to have my poles with me to help with stability. 

Was a gorgeous day to be outside, though a little disconcerting to have it be so warm and to see so little snow out there.  Gaia clocked the day at just over 7 miles with ~650 ft of elevation gain.