First Catherine Creek Visit of 2018

March 17, 2018

Note: Watch for ticks and poison oak if you hike here.

Greg and I made our first Catherine Creek trek of the year today. It didn’t rain, but it was partly cloudy and pretty windy! I didn’t take a ton of photos, but I have a video at the end of this post.

Catherine Creek Hike

We started off behind these two women who walked right past the “dogs must be on leash” sign with their dog off-leash. We saw them later in the hike and the dog was still off-leash.

Catherine Creek Hike

Things are starting to green up!

Catherine Creek Hike

Catherine Creek Hike

Once we got up on top with the big sloping meadow we were pummeled by the wind:

Catherine Creek Hike

Catherine Creek Hike

We started getting a little bit more blue sky:

Catherine Creek Hike

It was a relief when we picked up the old road and started descending. We were out of the open and now protected from the relentless wind:

Catherine Creek Hike

We crossed Catherine Creek then picked up another old road going up past the old corral:

Catherine Creek Hike

We looped around over the top near the arch where we were back in the wind:

Catherine Creek Hike

We dropped down to the road and walked back to the car. Great loop today! Could have done without the wind, but that’s the Gorge for you. 5 miles, 1400′ elevation gain.

CatCreek