Calf Creek - May 1, 2022

This hike went pretty much as described. Like we thought last year, the first left near a large
rock outcropping is the Calf Creek North loop – probably. We also found that there are a lot more junctions, and the upper roads don’t seem to jive with the routes shown on the Trailforks website. But, my friends had GPS’s and one had a Forest Service map on her phone, so we took the right turns. Twice we ran into hikers going the opposite direction who gave us advice. We followed the old logging road and went down what must be the south loop. A year ago this loop was signed closed due to it being an elk calving area. This year the sign boards were blank. This was the most pleasant trail, winding down a gulch of intermittent Calf Creek through a forest with huge pine trees, and then up another sharp-edged rock outcropping that would be a good climbing spot. We didn’t see a lot of wildflowers other than Yellowbells, a few Buttercups here and there, a few Shooting Stars in one spot, small white ones, and one Trillium not open but showing a little white. Most of the time we had great views of the main Bitterroot Range, but, unfortunately, it was overcast so we could only see the lower parts of the mountains. But we only got rained on
a little. The participants were Peter, Julie, Sarah, Dave and me. Steve Schombel.