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| The sign at Mormon Springs was better than the trail |
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| Caterpillar gathering along Babcock Creek |
I started at the Spring Creek Trailhead. This trail walked me along some pasture that was private and then it climbed up a hill and traversed above the pastures to Babcock Creek. Supposedly the cliffs and rocks above the trail were favorite hangouts for bighorn sheep in the spring but I never saw any. The trail that traversed over to Babcock Creek was very rocky, covered by many ankle-turners. I hiked along in the cool, morning shade and enjoyed looking at the flowers on the hillside.
Once across the hill the trail dropped into the Babcock Creek drainage and then turned up the creek. I found out early on that rocky trails were the nature of this hike. The drainage was tight and rock and talus fields came down both sides and the trail had to cross them. They even covered up the creek and no water was seen for some time. I had brought my gaiters in case of snow up high but I put them on down low because it was so brushy that my legs were getting scratched. I was glad to have them even if I was using them for reasons other than what I thought.
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| Mormon Springs |
The drainage was tight the whole way up, but eventually a creek bed could be seen. It was dry most of the time and the trail crossed from side to side as was necessary. I saw quite a bit of bear sign--rub trees and scat--but none of it was very fresh. It was nice hiking a spot that seemed to get more bear traffic than human traffic.
At one point, I heard something dropping through a tree. I thought at first it might be a branch or pine cone and it landed within ten feet of me near the base of the tree. It seemed odd and I looked up. I saw a hawk flying toward the tree and when it saw me it changed course and flew away. Now I was really curious. I walked over to the base of the tree. In the grass, I saw half of a squirrel. It was missing a head and its upper body and was just the lower half and back legs and feet. I had almost been hit by the hawk's half-squirrel lunch. I snapped a quick photo and then hiked away so it could reclaim its meal.
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| A hawk's lunch |
The further up the drainage I hiked the trail became fainter and fainter. Sometimes the only thing reassuring me I was on the trail was the old cuts. I may have been more worried if the drainage hadn't been so narrow. There really wasn't anywhere else for me to go but to continue to follow it upstream. There was a little water flowing from time to time as I hiked higher, but it was very minimal.
Eventually I came to Mormon Springs.
I found the trail that headed up out of the drainage. It was well-maintained at the junction and then again it turned into just a faint track that led across the hill. It seemed like it had been cut out perhaps last fall and was easy enough to follow and after some time it led me to a dirt road. There was a trail sign and I knew from my map that I was at the saddle between Babcock and Burnt.
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| Burnt Mountain from Babcock Mountain |
I decided to head up Babcock first because it was lower and because, according to the map, the summit had two high points on the ridge at the same elevation. Knowing how I am I knew I was going to have to walk the whole ridge to stand atop both summits. I walked up the road a bit and then cut into the forest to follow a ridge. The forest was nice and shady, open, and grassy. I followed the ridge easily to a crossing of the same road and followed it a bit until it became faint and cut back across the hill. I again followed the ridge up and before long I found myself on the summit ridge.
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| Arrow-leaved balsamroot |
It was really not much of a ridge and was just grassy fields full of wildflowers with a few high points rising above the rest of it. I walked from high point to high point until I was out at the furthest point. It did not seem like it could be as high as the first point I had come to, but it was far enough away and I knew not to argue with a map. I sat and ate some food as I took in great views toward the Welcome Creek Wilderness. The view was made better as it was out over a field of balsamroot. They were so thick that I could smell there incredible fragrance blowing in the breeze.
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| Old man's whiskers |
After eating, I headed back to the first high point and then followed my route back down to the road and the saddle. Then I followed the road toward Burnt Mountain. It neared the mountain and turned to go both to the right and left. I left the road here and went straight up the hill. It was much steeper than the slope I took up Babcock and I was moving slowly. I tried to stay in the shade of the trees despite a nice open, flower-filled slope nearby. As the climb was just under 600 feet from the road I made it top shortly. The views were even better from the top of Burnt as there were more open slopes falling away from the summit. I sat up there for a bit and took everything in. I snapped photos of the surrounding mountains and of the many flowers before heading back down to the road.
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| Rocky and brushy Babcock Creek drainage |
From the road, I quickly made it back to the trail and followed it back down to Mormon Springs. Once there, I knew the walk down would be pretty quick and easy. It was except for how rocky it was near the bottom of the drainage. By that point, my feet were quite sore and it was rather hot. I was happy to make it back to the car and to sit down. It had been a great introduction to some of the lower peaks of the Rock Creek drainage and I knew I would return.
Elevation gain: 3365' Total gain: 67,550'
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