Eleven backpackers and three day-hikers showed up on an unusually delightful late winter/early spring weekend for a hike through some of the more spectacular backcountry in the Big South Fork (BSF) National River and Recreation Area. The route left the Blevins Cemetery and wound its way down into the gorge of Massey Creek. The old railroad grade was pretty evident, and offered a historical slant on a wilderness trip. The route then turned up one of the huge canyons for which the BSF is famous: the gorge of Rock Creek. The trail undulates along the creek side, or climbs up over small ridge until it gets to a junction and a creek ford. The dayhikers peeled off at the junction, and the backpackers continued into Pickett State Park by making two fords of Rock Creek. Camp that night was in a lovely huge flat area near Double Falls, and we prepared for a forecasted storm to hit in the middle of the night by erecting a tarp complex.
The storm did hit hard, but its fury was spent by 7:30 in the morning. The rain had turned all of the overhangs into small waterfalls along the Hidden Passage trail. It added a special tone to an already spectacular trail of massive rock walls and overhangs. The group had lunch near Crystal Falls, and arrived at the trailhead by 2 pm.
For more details on this trip, go to Roger and Susie's site: http://www.twohikers.org/SE_Hiking/bigsouthforkbackpack.htm
