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Thunder Ridge Trail
Malaspina Road to Plummer
Road
January 1999 with light
daypacks, my web-partner and I drop a pickup vehicle at Southview Road and drive
up to the start of the Thunder Ridge Trail.
The trail heads eastward
towards Plummer Road and Toquenatch Trail
Starting at 21.3 or 21.4
depending on which spot you choose.
This, and the trails
to Inland Lake, are my earlier hikes and do not originally include time between
points.
On a second hike, going
in going from Southview Road to Malaspina Road (i.e. in the reverse direction
of this log), my sons and I hiked this with light backpacks in 2.5 hours.
On Malaspina Road (the main
road between Okeover and Highway 101)
the trailhead(s) are about
1.2 km. towards Highway 101 from the Cedar Lodge B&B or the road into Y-knot
Campsite. The trail from Wednesday Lake arrives at Malaspina Road where another
small road meets it.
The short connector trail
continues from where the previous section (Wednesday Lake to Malaspina Road)
meets Malaspina Road: this short trail begins directly across from the end of
the Wednesday Lake Trail and turns right in the woods to parallel the highway
towards the gravel pit.
This connector trail meets
the second trailhead at the crest of the gravel pit.
The gravel pit trailhead:
From the junction where the previous trail ends turn left (towards Okeover)
about 100m to a small gravel pit along the right (southeast) side of Malaspina
Road. This makes a good area for parking, though security is not guaranteed.
The trail begins on a path cut out of the backside of this pit. It meets the
connector trail at the crest of the gravel pit. From the top of the gravel pit
the (now one) trail starts out east (towards Okeover) on the south side of Malaspina
Road. When the road bends left the trail continues straight east and then southeast
into the woods.
The trail is quiet. Moss
drapes the trees and immerses their trunks. Marker 22 km. flies by going the
other direction. The trail is wet under foot. At 22.2, Fern Creek appears as
the trail turns left and down to cross the creek and up the other side. A green
hue colors everything. Do not adjust your glasses. On the other side
of the creek a picnic table offers an opportunity for a stop. If needed, it
could serve as a campsite.
In January, we needed only
light jackets as the temperature dipped barely below zero (Celsius.) Around
Fern Creek numerous branches sprout ice flowers where the bark split due to
the freezing moisture within. The resulting petals of white ice stand out against
the green background and the brown of the branches. A florist could not create
such a delicate flower or spectacular surprise of pure white color in this green
universe.
The trail continues east,
passes 22.5 km. and then turns north. Numerous places offered freshly blown
down obstacles across the trail.
Many are old dead wood that
has spent years near the canopy, now blown down to earth by the passed winter
storms.
The trail cuts right, past
an old pulley/wheel left over from old logging operations. In a short distance
the trail begins its long and steady climb. At first it traverses northeast
across the hillside, and then it turns east, continuing the climb, providing
a good morning warm up of the heart and legs. Part way up the trail passes the
23 km. marker. At about 23.2 the trail joins an old roadbed through the woods.
The squirrels provide the only noise, until the sound of a log dropping into
Okeover Inlet (to our left) thuds our direction.
The trail forks. Continuing
on the roadbed (taking the right fork) will take you to Highway 101 and the
trail to Dinner Rock. The left branch is our path on to the Toquenatch Trail.
The trail heads east, southeast,
and east again gently down through the quiet woods, and then descends more steeply.
To the left the chainsaw filters its way across the Okeover Inlet which is just
visible through the trees.
The trail passes marker
24 km. just before a long step down on to an old level roadbed. A small area
next to the trail is cleared and flat, offering emergency camping, though no
water is readily available. The trail continues on downward. After a sharp switchback
to the right and a left bend "Old Gnarly" stands on the left side of the trail.
This 7-8 ' Fir is marked "Do not disturb. Wildlife Tree. Saved for food, shelter
and nesting." (Obviously humans need not apply, but should tread carefully.)
At 24.8 another old fir
is similarly marked. The trail continues gently descending. At the 25 km. marker,
my hiking and web partner slips while stepping over a fallen branch and plants
a bruise for the hot tub later. Only because his falls servers notice, do I
avoid a similar fate on the slippery leaves.
At 25.2 one takes a huge
double plus step down from the floor of the woods onto Plummer Road. We stop
for lunch, though the only spot offered here is a 2 car wide turn around spot
on the road. We prop our backpacks and enjoy 25 minutes of lunchtime highlighted
by the mixing of the trail mix. This time it is only peanuts and M&M's.
Prep time left us without the usual premixed nuts and fruits.
I check my pager to ensure
no one is trying to contact me. No pages have come through. I return it securely
to its holster.
Toquenatch Trail
from Plummer Road 25.2 to
Southview Road (and Homestead Campsite)
This trail generally follows
Toquenatch Creek, upstream, away from Okeover and Malaspina Inlet. It heads
up towards Gibraltar Rock, though this section ends at Southview Road, just
under Gibraltar.
The trail begins, heading
down an old roadbed and then turns left and down to meet another roadbed trail.
To the left it will take you to the gate on Plummer Road, about 200 yards down
from where this trail starts. Our trail continues to the right, an easy trek
on the old but level and occasionally wet roadbed.
An old foot bridge provides
the high road, though four feet below it the dirt covering a culvert (or some
natural passage for the stream below) provides the low road passage over the
flowing water a good 15 feet below. Within a stone's throw the trail forks,
both directions tagged with orange tags.
(New in 1999 is an outhouse
at this junction. The left fork serves the outhouse, the right is the trail.)
The left fork, the less
traveled path, follows a dead-end roadbed as it bends around to the right, ending
high above the creek ahead. There, to the right, orange tags guide you down
a set of wood-holding-dirt steps. Then, with a bit of balancing effort, you
can cross some wet ground to the water's edge of sorts. Not recommended. But
this area is slated to be a camping area.
But if you wish to continue
bushwacking along the bank of Toquenatch Creek, you will arrive at Toquenatch
Bridge, and meet up with the newer trail there.
The right fork (back
by the outhouse) continues on the wider roadbed. This roadbed ends and the
trail turns left into the woods gently climbing. It joins another roadbed. Three
times when the old roadbed disappears into water and/or tree roots the trail
turns left into the woods only to return to what may have been the same roadbed,
or as in this first case, an adjoining old road bed, closer to the Toquenatch
Creek. Wet under foot is the theme for us in January. (It is drier when we
return in July 99.) On the last turn into the woods you can hear noise from
the creek ahead. The trail turns back, right and parallel to the creek, now
visible 50' feet below on the left. A marked side trail turning far back to
the left provides access to the water well below the falls. This trail, if
you follow it along the bank and bushwack a bit, will meet up with the trail
by the outhouse.
A few trees further on,
one catches a glimpse of the falls ahead with a bridge just above them. The
water trips down a number of three to six foot drops between and over huge rocks
and under long since fallen trees.
At 26.7, the bridge is labeled
"Toquenatch Bridge" and another sign informs us: "Exit to Road." It connects
with a spur off Southview Road. Crossing the bridge is not part of our trail.
Our trail continues on towards
Homestead Campsite, marked as 2.1 km. to go. We continue on past the bridge
and its signs, hiking upstream parallel to the stream on our left.
The trail turns right and
continues its climb, now steeper. It levels when it reaches an old road bed
and turns left on to it. Again, for water under foot, the trail turns left into
the woods and then bends back right to rejoin the old road. After turning left
again into the woods the trail arrives at a crest above a creek. The trail parallels
this creek moving upstream to the east and then south.
A detour to the left brings
us around two fallen trees, each fallen in opposite directions exposing the
base of their roots to each other. The trail moves away from the creek 100 yards
and then parallels it moving southeast on a high and dry roadbed. To the right
a bright and brownish hillside peaks through the trees.
After moving around numerous
trees, windblown down across the trail, (cleaned up by July 99) we emerge
into the light, at the edge of the clear cut. The trail follows the edge of
the clear cut, eventually paralleling the inevitable logging road before ducking
left back into the woods. Soon thereafter, with a rock quarry visible on the
other (right) side of the still visible logging road, the trail passes the 28
km. marker. At about 28.1 the trail forks. The right fork heads up to the logging
road and on to the Atriveida Trail to Highway 101. The left fork takes us into
the woods on our way towards Southview Road, Homestead Campsite and the Marathon
Trail.
In the woods the trail twists
and turns around water, roots and fallen trees.
A huge, old, now fallen,
fir displays its majestic tangle of roots.
Further on at 28.5 a sign
proclaims "Toquenatch Fir. Douglas Fir (psuedosuga taxifolia)." This one provides
shelter, food, and nesting for wildlife. A stone's throw further down the trail,
an orange diamond labels a Sitka Spruce on the trail's left side. Southview
Road is close by, exposed by the noise of a single passing car or truck. The
trail crosses another burbling creek, this time on a single-log bridge out of
which two smaller trees grow near the far side. This bridge is scheduled
to receive footboards and hand rails.
When the
trail spills out on to the road, it meets a section of road that has been replaced
by a new section of road running 50 feet straight ahead. Turn left on the "frontage
road". Join the main road (Southview Road) and continue in the same direction
towards the bridge ahead. (There is also another bridge in the other direction
on the main road.) After crossing the bridge, two signs mark the roads. Straight
ahead is Theodosia Forest Service Road 6423 Branch 2. Branch 6 turns right.
Follow Branch 6. To start off on Marathon Trail, hang a left up into the woods
before the bridge just in front of you on Branch 6. (A mere 15 yards or so on
Branch 6.)
To reach the Homestead Campsite,
continue across the bridge and take a right into the opening on your right.
Yup, that's the campsite. Water from the creek you just crossed, a flat area
amongst the trees (an alternative, more private, tent-site), two picnic tables,
two fire rings, and an outhouse (on the side opposite the creek) all fit together
to be a sufficient campsite.
Now, to check for any messages
on my pager. But the darn thing has jumped it holster. (But it is found the
next day by Toquenatch Bridge. Now it has a strap to keep it from jumping loose
again.)
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