Don has been wanting to do this trail in the fall ever since he and our daughter and very good friend Jerry backpacked to Alpine Lake one summer several years ago. (Or tried to: Jerry made it, Don and Audrey… made it somewhere else. A story for another day!) Don remembers thinking that all of the beautiful bigleaf maples, black oaks, redbuds, and hazelnuts along the route would make for a glorious fall hike.
And it probably would have been, but we were a good three weeks too late. Very few deciduous trees or shrubs had any leaves left on them. Instead, the trail was strewn with the oranges, bronzes, yellows, and golds of fallen leaves.
We began this hike at Stuart Fork Trailhead, just beyond Bridge Camp Campground on Trinity Alps Road, off of Highway 3, and hiked ~5 miles along Stuart Fork Trail to its intersection with Boulder Creek Trail, and then a very short distance down to the river for lunch. We found this 10-mile out-and-back hike with ~900 feet in elevation gain to be of moderate difficulty.
From the trailhead, the first mile or so of the trail is well marked on an old road, which mostly passes through private holdings. At some unclear junction, the wilderness begins, the trail narrows to a single track, and signs all but disappear. For the most part, the trail ascends through lovely mixed conifer–hardwood forest, with some conifers of impressive girth!
Now and then we got a glimpse of the ridgeline to the northwest, under which Alpine Lake is nestled.
The Stuart Fork of the Trinity River is a constant companion along this section of the trail, which is sometimes high above the river, other times right alongside it. Even when you can’t see it, you can almost always hear it rushing.
We crossed over several small tributaries, some with little waterfalls; inspected a wall of moss, dripping with water; and crossed over a substantial bridge, which spanned Deep Creek with its numerous falls.
We highly recommend this beautiful and invigorating fall hike, but encourage you to do it very soon if you’re thinking about it. Realize that the days are short now and, in this river canyon, the sun “sets” by 2:30 PM. Temperatures are getting pretty cold, and are even colder in the shade. Just know what your limits are and be prepared.
There was nothing in flower that we could see, but there is more to botany than blooms! Here is a slideshow of some of the fun sights that we stopped to wonder at. All photos by Don Burk. Enjoy! -Laurie & Don Burk
