Jules and I went on a two day backpacking trip in Snow Mountain Wilderness. We decided to do the Waterfall Loop as described on the US Forest Service website. Thirty miles of unpaved road took us to the West Crocket Trailhead where we set out on our 13 mile round trip adventure.

On day one we took the Crooked Tree trail. Over eight miles the trail dropped to 4,600ft at the Stony Creek before rising up to 6,400ft at Milk Ranch. Over the six hour trek, we lost the trail a few times. The first time we walked scoured the area for perhaps 30 minutes before finding it again. We think part of the trail washed into the creek and a new impromptu trail was formed.

When we got to Milk Ranch we were greeted by a pair of horse packers who were on their way out. They were the only people we saw while in the wilderness. We found a nice spot to set up camp on the outskirts of a meadow with a small creek running nearby. After a delicious dinner of freeze dried rice pilaf, we played some cards and fell asleep watching the stars.

The next morning we awoke before the sun popped out, quickly ate some oatmeal and packed up our site. North Ridge Trail took us back to the trailhead. Again we lost our way a few times, but since this trail goes along the top of a ridge, we kept on trucking and reconnecting to the trail. The trail back was probably around five miles long, but was much steeper and most of the trees were burnt to a crisp and didn't provide any protection from the sun. I'm glad we didn't go up that way.

We made it back to the trailhead with few injuries (blister for her and a cut for me) and now Jules has her first backpacking trip under her belt. Time to start planning for the next one!