Beaver Creek Wilderness

Middle Fork Trailhead
4/9/20 and
4/15 - 4/16/20 (1 night)
2020 Bag nights: 5

I have had the Beaver Creek Wilderness on my radar for quite a while, but it is a little too far for a dayhike and a little too small for multiple nights backpacking, not to mention all the horror stories about ticks.

But with only a couple of nights available and COVID all over, I decided that staying close to home and checking out something new would be good.

I drove to the Middle Creek Trailhead and headed down the trail. Once you drop off the ridge, there is this old chimney near the creek.

Creek view

About this point, I got a message on my InReach from my wife saying that my mother's husband was being transferred to the ICU. I was able to get a cell signal and call my wife and then my mother and then I decided to head home.

Not a lot of flowers, but I liked this fungus

New growth

Dogwood

A week later and I headed back for two nights.

A little further down the trail and another old chimney

Someone had recently gone through and cut new blazes. This is not a well traveled trail and in a couple places I was glad to have the blazes.

Big fan of irises ...

... I also like phlox ...

... I also like geraniums

View from the overlook, it was a gorgeous spring day.

Dogwood

Fleabane

This butterfly was taking a nap on the gravel road

Hawkweed??

About the time I was thinking of finding a place to camp, I looked to the side and saw this. Boom, home for the night.

The next morning was another beautiful day. This is from the old bridge that crosses the Middle Fork.

Fire pink

Southern Sessile Trilium

I had noticed on the LIDAR overlay that it looked like there was a possible waterfall near the trail. But I had never seen it mentioned online with all of the other off-trail waterfalls. As I got close, I could hear an obvious waterfall and then came around the corner and saw a nice campsite and this off to the side.

I headed back up to the overlook for lunch and then walked the road to find a couple off-trail waterfalls that I had seen on the waterfall map.

After a bit of a bushwack I found Upper Typhoon Falls. It took me a little bit of time to figure out how to get off the rim and down below the falls and then some more bushwacking to find this.

Upper Typhoon Falls

Some more bushwacking led to Middle Typhoon Falls ...

... and more bushwacking led to the lower falls and this cool rock wall.

It was about this point that I picked a couple of ticks off me. I had already considered heading back to the car and then I had visions of being covered with ticks while I slept :) It was still early so I headed home to dinner with the family and my own bed.

I'd like to return in the winter after a good rainfall so the falls are flowing and the ticks are less obvious.