Middle Fork

[JeffH]

April 23, 2022

I love the sound of wind in the tall pine trees. With that in my right ear and the splashing creek in my left I was on track for a pretty good day.
The plan was to meet up with a friend hiking the PCT and walk a few miles with him since he arrived in Devore on Friday night. Unfortunately the weather and desire for a zero made that change despite me driving up that way in the morning. Since I was already out there I chose to visit Lytle Creek, which had some decent flow after the brief storm left some snow on the upper elevations. It's definitely springtime, as flowers are blooming, the grasses have not gone dormant and the trees all have green leaves. This was just a short walk, I went to the camp just beyond Third Stream Crossing and had a breakfast snack before walking back down. Just a reference, the bathroom at the trailhead has not been visited by any maintenance folk in quite a while. I had some tp in the car so I donated it for a worthy cause.



I chose the lower route on the way in.

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First Stream Crossing.

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The entrance sign says permit required, where do we get them?

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I'm doing some forest bathing right here.

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Endpoint of my hike.

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Not exactly a throne but a rest spot fit for a king.

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Blooms.

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[HikeUp]

Always a worthy destination!

How was the dirt road?

[Sean]

Such a great area to hike. I once got the permit at the Ranger Station on the way to Lytle Creek, but I don't bother anymore. It's a hassle and I've never seen a ranger on the trail in there.

[JeffH]

The road in has not seen maintenance in a while either, it was easily - if slowly- passable with an old Ford Escape. The bushes are trimmed wide enough so you don't have to worry about scratching the sides of a vehicle.

[tekewin]

That's a great area and usually not too crowded. Nice photos.