Kenyon Devore and Rim Trail

[David R]

I hiked the Kenyon Devore trail down to West Fork Campground. The trail down is fine and has always been one of my favorite trails as it precariously makes its way down the steep north slopes of Wilson. It is typically much more shaded then the south side but with the fire, the lower section is completely exposed. The trail to West Fork is also in decent shape with a couple of trees fallen over the trail. The trail to Devore camp does not look cleared and the route up to Newcomb Pass is completely wrecked. I had hoped as I took the fire road up that I could connect to the pass but even that short section is gone and has thickets of poison oak with poodle dog to make it impassable even if you wanted to push through which I originally tried. I continued on the fire road to the top of the ridge and the connector back to the pass. There was only one obstacle on the connector with a tree fallen over the path that can be clambered around. The Rim trail is another great trail and is in fine shape with some poison oak to weave through at the lower elevations. There is a fire break along the ridge proper but it has some of the most healthy stands of poodle dog that you'll find so not recommended. The two things that have been constants in this area are lots of bugs and big ass squirrels and neither of those disappointed on this hike. I also saw a deer on the Rim trail. I saw nobody for the entire hike until I got back up to the observatory.