Monday, March 22, 2010

Pratt Valley Hiking, Now's the Time!

One of these days the USFS is going to put in the new Pratt Valley access trail from the Middle Fork Trailhead. In some ways that will be nice, in others we will lose a bit of a hidden gem. If you want to go into the Pratt while it is still "wild", I have created a fairly extensive set of instructions starting with this page:

http://www.middleforkgiants.com/Hike%20Pratt%20Valley.html

You will note there are four pages on the Pratt with different ways to get there and some things to see while you are there. There is certainly more, so look around. The Pratt does not give up her secrets easily!

With the low water, this might be a good year to go in there. So give it a try, haven't you always wanted to see the Pratt?

Middle Fork Road is open and in good shape

The Middle Fork Road is open all the way over the Taylor River to the trailhead. There is still a gate at the road to Dingford Creek. The 12.5 miles of road to there is in pretty good shape and may have even been graded.

If you want to bike the Middle Fork/CCC Road loop, it's in great shape as well. Not much water so the streams are either dry or easy crossings.

Yes, I know there are some signs that say "Road Closed" or "Road Closed in XX miles". Not sure who amongst the many agencies involved forgot to take them down. My guess, though, is it is not the USFS. Quite frankly, they seem to really care and are doing their best to make the Middle Fork a great place to go.

Go to the Middle Fork!!!