Off the Beaten Track: Myrtle Creek at Six Rivers National Forest

Date: November 28, 2014
Place: Myrtle Creek, Six Rivers National Forest, Crescent City, California
Coordinates: 41.802065, -124.054833
Length: 1.5 mile, in and out
Difficulty: easy (medium if adding going down to the water).

We had ended a perfect Thanksgiving Day at beach of Tolowa Dunes State Park. As we returned to our hotel room the storm we saw approaching had finally caught up with us.
It was still raining on and off throughout the next day. I assume that most normal people had passed that Black Friday shopping in nice, dry and cozy malls and outlet stores. Us Quails, on the other hand, were headed out of town and into the redwoods.
I was perfectly content to spend the day in the wet woods. Because I was the only one who felt so, I was sent alone to the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park Visitor Center to gather information about where should we go on a rainy day.
Still driven by visions of yummy pine mushrooms like those I saw at Russian Gulch SP I asked about where might I find some.
"It's forbidden to collect within the park," said the ranger in charge. Yes, I knew that already. Where could I, then?
Turns out it is legal to harvest in the National Forest land. In that area - Six Rivers National Forest. So our first Black Friday hike was on a little, underused trail along Myrtle Creek, within the National Forest land, right outside the State Park.

Smith River, a view from the parking area

I didn't tell anybody what had tipped my choice to that trail and it didn't matter because the options were very limited: most trails were affected by the rain and mud to the point of being either closed or dangerously slippery. Either way, I didn't see any of the pine mushrooms I coveted on that trail.

Our hike in and out Myrtle Creek as captured by Papa Quail's GPS. The real starting (and ending) point is at the green square. 

The best way to get the chikas out of the car was to tell them about the huge banana slug I found near the car. I was surprised to see that the banana slugs in the north redwoods were not bright yellow like those of the Big Sur. Still, they are quite impressive mollusks. 

Banana slug

There rain had paused for 10 misleading minutes during which we got wrapped up in plastic ponchos and crossed the quiet road to the trailhead on the other side. 

The trail, a short, dead-ended dirt road, was completely soaked and muddy. Luckily, it is a wide and level packed gravel road, so all we needed was to avoid the deep puddles. 

Myrtle Creek trail

Were were completely alone there. The rest of humanity packed the shopping malls and Nature was left for itself. 

Not Fern Canyon, but there were many ferns there too, giving the hillside a super-lush appearance. 

As expected, there were many mushrooms there as well (although no Suillus or Boletes that I could see). Also, the rain had intensified and I was very reluctant to pull my camera out from under my poncho, so I took much fewer photos at this hike than I usually take.

Coral Mushroom

The trail is very short, so although we walked slow we quickly got to its end point. A steep and narrow foot trail connected the dirt road with the creek below. It was muddy, too. There was no way in the world I could walk down that trail with my fragile knee.
So I sat down and made my way to the bottom on my bottom. The rest of the family followed suit (sans Grandma Quail who decided to wait for us at the top).

Butt-sliding is also a good way of getting a really close view if the little forest that carpets the rainforest floor. And by little I mean moss and lichen.

At the bottom the creek was running fast and furious, fueled by the night storm. I was hoping to find a trail to continue walking along the creek but there was none. Going further meant bushwhacking, leaping on slippery rocks and wading in ice-cold water.
In a different time I might have considered it seriously. On that day, however, all we did was to appreciate the serene beauty of the stream and then make our way back up the muddy slope.

Myrtle Creek

On the way down and up the slope we saw several frogs taking advantage of the wetness and hopping about. They didn't mind us very much and were quite content to sit still and model for me.

Yellow-legged Frog?

We rejoined Grandma Quail at the dirt road and turned to go back to the car. The rain continued as a light drizzle, mixed with large droplets falling from the trees. Everyone seemed eager to go back into the shelter of the car and they left me behind. I didn't mind that. In fact, I prefer it when no one rushes me along. Besides, the rain brings out creatures that prefer hiding when it is dry. 

But it was a short trail and eventually it ended for me too. 

Five-fingered Fern

The day was still young and the rain was still on. We drove back into Jedediah Smith State Park and Papa Quail navigated me to the road that goes back into town on the longer route: along the Smith River. There, if the rain had stopped, the Quails would agree to go and take a look at the Stout Grove of Giant Redwoods.

Wade in the Water Children: Our Horse Linto Water Adventure

Date: July 6, 2013
Place: Horse Linto trail, Six Rivers National Forest, by Willow Creek, California
Where we parked: 41.00703, -123.60427

Where we entered the Horse Linto Creek: 41.00714, -123.60219

41.00703, -123.60427

Where we exited the creek: 41.00541, -123.6060541.00703, -123.60427

41.00714, -123.60219

41.00703, -123.60427

41.00714, -123.60219

41.00703, -123.60427

41.00714, -123.60219

41.00541, -123.60605

Length: 1/2 mile
Difficulty: strenuous and potentially dangerous.

We slept better on our second camping night near Willow Creek, and were ready for a good hike. The heat wave was still going strong and we decided to go to the Horse Linto trail that was suggested to us at the Six Rivers National Forest visitor center at Willow Creek on the day before. The trail is deep in the forest, meaning shade, and right next to flowing water, meaning the option of a cooling dip, if needed.
After 30 minutes of driving slowly on a narrow and winding forest road we reached the Horse Linto campground, which was completely deserted. We parked our car a bit further behind it where the Horse Linto dirt road splits to the right, and continued on foot on that road for about 1/4 mile.
The bridge crossing the Horse Linto creek and the dirt road beyond it are over-grown with Himalayan Blackberry, an aggressive, invasive species that is taking over the forest undergrowth in that area. Our progress was slowed down considerably due to thorny branches extended into the road and the plentiful bounty of ripe blackberries.

Himalayan Blackberry on the Horse Linto Bridge

On the other side of that bridge there's a trailhead to the Horse Linto creek trail. It used to be a road too, we were told at the visitor center, but is now closed to vehicles and is basically, impassable. We immediately saw what he meant.

The Horse Linto Interpretive Trail

Before long we realized that this trail is impassable for hikers too, unless equipped with machetes. We weren't.

Horse Linto Interpretive Trail. Invisible under blackberry, poison oak, and other hostile vegetation

After we gave up on negotiating the brush any further we backtracked our steps to the bridge, where we found a bootleg trail going down to the creek and a makeshift campsite that has been used not that long ago. We sat there, staring at the water, and sulked.

Horse Linto Creek

Sitting by the creek has its calming effects. During that time Papa Quail managed to photograph this water-tension shadow of a water strider:

Water Strider

and with some patience, this elusive thrush as well.

Swainson's Thrush

I, too, was absorbed in photography experiments to take my mind off the unsuccessful hike:

A cloud of gnats sparkle in mid-air over the water

Eventually, it was Papa Quail who saved the day. He suggested that we get back to the Horse Linto campground through the creek. In the water.

I will pause now for a stern warning and a disclaimer. Entering a flowing mountain creek can be seriously risky. The current can be strong and treacherous, the water depth variable, and the footing slippery and unpredictable. This isn't an easy walk for adults, let alone young children. I would not recommend this sort of adventure to non-experienced people, particularly not with young children.

That said, since we do have ample experience in flowing creek hiking, including a fairly recent one with the chikas, we did take the chance and waded into the water. Papa Quail and I, each of us holding a sturdy stick in one hand and a chika's hand in the other, started walking slowly downstream.
We met an acquaintance there:

Darmera peltata

It was a short stretch of only 1/4 mile but a slow and treacherous one. The The creek bottom was uneven and slippery. It was difficult to hold my own footing even with the aid of a stick, let alone supporting my chika who was thigh-deep in water most of the time.

Ferns on the creek bank

That section of Horse Linto Creek is flat, but we did encounter some small cascades and a couple of deep pools. We did have our shoes on the entire time but still got to jam our feet between rocks every now and then. Not to bad, though.

Horse Linto white-water 

At some point Papa Quail wondered if we would know where to exit the creek. Good point - we haven't really thought about it when we entered the water. I did remember, however, that the Horse Linto campground had a large and obvious access to the water and I was sure it will be visible from the creek side too. In any case, if we got to the bridge then we would know that we've gone too far and have to backtrack.

As it was, the campground access was indeed quite visible and we got out of the water, soggy, tired, but thoroughly satisfied. I left Papa Quail with the chikas and went to get the car only to discover once more that walking in soggy-wet jeans isn't a very pleasant experience.
We had a picnic lunch at the Horse Linto campground and, after drying off, we drove back to Kimtu Beach on the Trinity River just to get wet all over again. It was a very hot day.