Gorgeous Gorge,
Ferny Canyon, and Beyond
September 10, 2006
I had grand plans for the upcoming fall
hiking season, and I needed to get in shape. The training began
with a three-mile trek up Randy Wilson’s Gorgeous
Gorge and Ferny Canyon. As I was lacing my boots in the parking
area I said to myself “this is a mistake”, because
it wasn’t just warm outside, it was hot. But as soon as I
hopped down into the middle of the small stream bed, around 11
a.m., the air felt 20 degrees cooler.
With the creek being so dry, I wasn’t
concerned with trying to document the scenery with the camera,
though some things were worth photographing. There was a
thousand times more of the odd-looking liverwort plant than
I’d seen in any other location. My utterly unscientific
description is to say it’s a leafy moss. It was growing
and spreading all over a small natural basin eroded into a huge
expanse of solid bedrock.
Tiny wild strawberries found in several
different locations directly in the dry stream bed were a big
surprise. And Gorgeous Gorge was a sight too interesting to
pass up with the camera
The overhanging bluff of Ferny Canyon was
the biggest revelation of the trip. “I sure wish the boys
could see this” was my first thought. I’m sure to
return some day and spend more time there and hopefully get
some better pictures.
The half mile above Ferny Canyon was a
steep, boulder-filled gully, and the only way to move upstream
was along the hillside. Man was it rough! Eventually the stream
bed flattened out. My goal was to reach a spot two tenths of a
mile farther, where the creek forks. At that location was
somebody's... cabin, shed, something... it was a structure with
a lot of junk around it. I was worried about getting shot at or
attacked by some evil hillbilly guard dogs so I quickly but
quietly turned around and got the heck out of there.
As I headed back downstream I stayed uphill
to the west of the creek. I came to the base of a tall
limestone bluff and followed it. There was a ledge about 15
feet up. I reached a spot with a cave opening above the ledge.
Down at my level, a wide section of the bluff was covered with
green moss with a distinct pattern of vertical lines (shown in
the picture at the top of this page) telling me that in wetter
times a waterfall poured out of the cave and over the ledge.
The flat ground I had been walking on suddenly changed to a
steep slope, and I was forced to head downhill along a
treacherous hillside composed of loose chert and limestone.
About a hundred yards down I reached the creek and followed it,
making it back to the truck after sundown with barely enough
light to see.
