Bear Gulch

Pitter-patter … pitter-patter. The rain fell during the early part of last night. But by the time we went to bed, the rain was no more. Stars were twinkling in the sky.

We woke up rested, and after an easy morning, we were ready to tackle at least a portion of the West Brush Creek Trail … definitely more of a hike than yesterday’s walk around Sylvan Lake.

Technically, the trail starts at the day use area up by the visitor center. The 5.8-mile long trail ends at the Sylvan Lake Dam. We started in reverse and hiked 2.1 miles from the campground to Bear Gulch. There were some up and down portion. Some steps in the steeper sections. If one starts by the visitor center, there is an elevation change of some 1,000 feet. Starting at the dam, the section we did had an elevation change of just a few hundred feet. Overall, we felt it was an easy hike. And no bug swarms … which made the hike all the more enjoyable.

Rather than returning the way we had come, at Bear Gulch we crossed the bridge and returned via Forest Service Road 400 … the hard-packed dirt road to the campground.

11,093 steps later we were back at the campground … slightly weary … but happy to have made the most of a delightful blue-sky day with temps around 68F. Even more so, we were happy to be settled back at our place before the seriously gusting winds really picked up.Read more