2019 Fall Away Hike at Pickett CCC Memorial State Park
November 5 thru 7 2019
Our fall get away hike to Pickett CCC Memorial State
Park was a great success. The weather for Tuesday and Wednesday was perfect and
even though we had to cancel Thursday's hike due to rain, I think everyone left
feeling we were well rewarded. We arrived at the park around noon-e.s.t. and
had lunch near the visitor's center under clear but cool conditions. We weren't
able to check into our cabins until 4 pm (cabins is a misnomer, it should have
been houses) so we departed on our Twin Arches Trail. At this point it was a
typical Tuesday hike with everyone immersed in deep discussions as to what we
were going to have for dinner. However, when we got to the arches, we returned
to hiking mode and were awed by the beauty of the arches. You would definitely
have to travel to Utah to find natural arches to rival the arhes we saw in the
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. The two arches span 135 and
93 feet respectively. We continued the loop trail and were rewarded with a
great overlook and several spectacular rock houses. It was an easy to moderate
hike with a steep stair climb up and out of the lower portion of the hike.
Kudos to Sarah and Phil for making and completing the hike. At the conclusion
of the hike, we checked into our cabins and prepared for the event we all
planned this trip for – happy hour and dinner! We returned to the Big South
Fork National River and Recreation Area on Wednesday to hike the Grand Gap Loop
trail – a 6.8 mile moderate hike. The weather was even better than what we
experienced on Tuesday's hike. This hike was not quite as spectacular as
Tuesday's, but just as enjoyable do to the trail conditions and weather. This
trail was mainly along the rim of the Big South Fork River Gorge. This trail
had minimal elevation changes and was rated moderate mainly because of the
distance. There were several excellent overlooks. Again, at the conclusion of
this hike, we returned to our cabins for happy hour and dinner. This time, Roy
made a great fire in the fire-pit outside in the central parking area where we
elevated our blood sugar with toasted marshmallows and other liquid
refreshments. We then had dinner, good conversation and then retired for the
evening. Our hike for Thursday was canceled due to rain. It's not that we don't
hike in the rain, but we felt because we were not as familiar with the trail as
we were of our local trails, it would be better to opt for safety over
pleasure. So we packed up and departed for home – a bit tired, but happy with
our outing. Thanks to Donna for handling the arrangements for our
accommodations, and Roy, Marty, and Joan our hike leaders. Sorry Trish was
unable to attend, I know she would have much rather been with us than sitting
home recovering from her knee surgery.
If you would like to see some pictures taken from the Bluff Trail, click here. From the Twin Arches Trail, click here. And a bunch of miscl. pictures, click here. If you are trying to view the pictures through the TTA website and having trouble, please go directly to the BLOG at www.sdctta.blogspot.com. Google Chrome is the preferred browser.