Thanks, Ed, for organizing the trip; Barry and I really enjoyed it. Rich, it was good to paddle with you again. Jerry, Mike, Bruce & Diane, it was nice to meet you all.
The Upper Pine on Saturday was delightful; we enjoyed the scenery more on that section, though it didn't have the excitement of the rapids in the canyon. After taking out on Saturday we went to Colton State Park and did 2 short, scenic hikes, then drove to the National Forest and camped at Asaph. We were the only campers there. It is a nice little campground nestled in the hemlocks along a pretty stream with about 10 primitive sites, vault toilets, and a water pump. Sunday we slept in, broke camp, then hiked for a couple of hours before heading home. On the hike, which was atop a ridge at about 2200 feet, we saw some awesome beaver dams that had formed a rather large lake. It made us wonder whether some of the waterfalls we saw in the canyon were the result of similar ridge-top lakes, rather than springs.
|