Blodgett Canyon
The Blodgett Canyon trailheads lie just a 10-15 minute drive from the town of Hamilton. The road forks and divides into three trailheads. One goes up Blodgett Canyon and the other up Canyon Creek... canyon?
There are
various trail descriptions for Blodgett Canyon trail, the one I followed listed it as a 4.9 mile trail. Even though I lived here before and I'd been on this trail, that was pre-idiot ultra runner days. The trail is somewhat technical but not too bad. It follows the creek, across a bridge, and up the canyon. I turned around after ~6 miles when the trail narrowed with overgrowth. With a modest 1,100 ft elevation gain, this is a gentlemanly run in comparison to others on this trip.
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| View up the canyon |
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| Rough trails most of the way |
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| Creek, by the way, is pronounced "crick" here. |
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| Return trip - it's hard to get lost but I gave it my best |
Canyon Creek
The Canyon Creek trail, and this should surprise no one, goes up a canyon. The
trail description calls it a modest endeavor. Take a look at my Strava and the elevation profile. This is what rates as a modest endeavor here. OK, so I got lost on the way up and climbed 300 unnecessary feet, but still, that last 0.7 miles were at 28% average gradient!
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Strava profile of Canyon Creek
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As the trail climbs the canyon, we get to a steep section which i believe the mountain goats call the "Waaaall of Deaaaath". I scrambled over many rocks on all fours on this glorified creek bed that we call a trail. Climbing up over the treeline opens up views across the valley of the waterfall/slide. The lake lies above the saddle and drains down this granite face.
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| The waterfall! |
A ways later, I got lost on the way up when the trail disappeared into this rock slide. I stood on a boulder next to a cairn, but couldn't locate the next one, much less see an obvious trail. I knew I had to climb up to get over the saddle to get to the lake but I didn't know exactly where. A lot more rock scrambling later and I found myself looking down on the lake, the trail far below. Oops - too much climbing!
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| The trail disappeared here |
And finally, I get down to the lake to enjoy the cool water of the lake all to myself. I thought I should rename it to something more descriptive, like "Lost Trail Lake". And I lost the trail on the way down and scrambled over boulders again. That name sounds a lot better than Canyon Lake.
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| Canyon Lake with another waterfall on the far side |
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