December 28

I hiked in this morning along the Bradford Ridge Trail. There is a lot of ice on the road in Twin Peaks and I lost traction in a couple places so be careful. There was also ice on the trail in a few shady spots, but it was nice in the sun. There was already one car at the trail head when I arrived. I saw the two hikers from this vehicle hiking down Bradford Ridge when I was hiking down Family Canyon. The water level has dropped since Jobe’s visit. The Serenity Pool area is now exposed but covered with sand. You can walk around there now. The fresh water source above the crab cooker is exposed; however the pipe is no longer there. The top of big rock near the Arizona Pool is now above the water level. Thanks to Jobe and Santa, the Womb and Anniversary Pools are in very good condition considering. Both are partially filled with sand, but still a very good soak.

When I arrived no one was at the springs proper but there was a group on the Bowen Ranch side. A young man and woman took the plunge and swam across. The water is cold and the current strong, but they had no problems swimming. The water is still pretty high and swift non-the-less. Two young women arrived from Bradford Ridge (the hikers I saw before), and we all soaked in the womb for a while. Others arrived at the beach across the creek. Two or three took the plunge and crossed, as many or more stayed on the far side. At least one other arrived from Bradford Ridge. No more than 7 or 8 folks were in the springs while I was there.

Jobe already discussed the trail conditions. I’ll just add that the Bradford Ridge trail has some narrow and steep spots and some of these are now in worse condition. There are a lot of ruts and rills in the trail. However, the trail is passable and in my opinion, it is a much better alternative than crossing the creek. What is more, the trail can be accessed without the need for driving on dirt roads. I access the trail head and Highway 173 through the town of Twin Peaks using Highway 18, Highway 189 and Grass Valley Road (see the link below).

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=N+Waterman+Ave&daddr=CA-173+W&geocode=FZUBCQIdO3gC-Q%3BFaqnCwId_LoD-Q&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=34.144221,-117.278548&sspn=0.004147,0.008036&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=11

My visit was short and I hiked out at about 12:30.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2010 04:42PM by hiker.