Trip report: 12/18/2019 (including parking details)

Got in kind of late - around 12pm.

Hadn't been to Bowen since September, at which point there were fences before the check-in house, but still only the option to park with Mike.

This time, right before those fences, there was a yellow hand-written sign pointing cars off to the right for "New Bowen Ranch parking" - you take a freshly-cleared dirt path up about a quarter mile to where there are some trailers. A guy named Ed, standing outside the trailer, stopped me and collected my 10 bucks. He also gave me a receipt, which was new. Up ahead I could see an earth-mover on a hill another quarter mile away, and a guy on an ATV riding back toward the trailer.

I asked him: "Are you guys separate from Mike's whole deal?"

"Yeah," Ed said. "We're separate. Mike's on his bullshit. We allow you to park closer to the trail." That last part didn't make sense, since I'd always parked right next to the trailhead, and didn't know where this parking lot was gonna be.

The guy on the ATV then introduced himself and had me follow the ATV down to the parking lot. Guess what: it's the exact same area where I've always parked for Bowen Ranch. Above that spot, back toward Mike's place, I saw another fence like the ones at the Bowen property line, with a couple cars parked behind the fence.

It seems to me that if you park at the old Bowen spot with Mike, you have to park a little further away (but really not that much), and if you go with the new guys, you get the old parking lot.

One more detail: the guy in the car in front of me bailed on the new spot and doubled back to Mike's place. He told me once we got to the springs that Mike only charged him $5 for entry. Seems odd to me since Mike has been 10 bucks for at least a year or so. But take that for what you will.

Water in the creek was very cold - numbing your toes cold - but only about thigh-high (my junk luckily stayed out of the water). Only 6 other people there when I arrived - 4 textiles. By the time I left (around 2pm or so), 3 other people arrived - 2 of them textile.

Free-hiked out, and passed three people right at the end.