Kelsey Creek

We saw spots of snow along the Scott River as we drove to the TH as well as snow on the shady side of Kelsey Creek. The trail is on the sunny, north side of the creek and we didn’t experience any snow on the trail until we began hitting the occasional spot above 3,100′.

Temperatures were in the high 40s and low 50s with persistent drizzle all day which wasn’t at all interrupted by the occasional sun break.

We didn’t make it all the way to Maple Falls. We declared victory and turned around about 400′ below and one mile short of the falls where the North Fork of Kelsey Creek crosses the trail on its way down to the main stream. After the stream crossing the narrow trail heads sharply uphill on an east facing steep slope that was several inches deep in snow above a sharp drop to the canyon bottom. We all agreed that stopping there was a true display of wisdom.

We planned to rehydrate at the Cold Stream Tavern in Fort Jones which was closed. We subsequently cruised Yreka but couldn’t work up our nerve to enter any of their fine establishments. So, we ended up at Callahan’s.