So, as seen in the pictures above, a couple of my friends and my son and I headed out to Sipsey Wilderness this past weekend. Our plans were to head down the Thompson Creek Trail and have lunch at ShipRock and then continue on down to Bee Branch and set up camp for the night. Well, it didn’t work that way…
We had missed where the trail crossed over a small creek and continued on straight. We kept passing a few camp sites and even saw another group camping up on top of a hill so we felt like we were still on the correct trail. After a little while we noticed that the trail really became spotty. It would actually disappear for a little part so we just bushwhacked being sure to follow the little creek we had been next too. Eventually we would make it back on something that resembled a trail.
After a while longer we stopped and had lunch. I ran ahead a little and found another section that looked like a trail so I came back and the group followed this “trail” a short ways until it too teetered out…
At this point we decided to heck with it and turned around. We planned to go back and stay at one of the campsites we passed on the way in. Heading back was actually harder than going in though, but we did the same…follow a trail (or possibly just a path that all the water running off had made) then bushwhack a little more. We came across a couple of the sites but kept on going looking for the “best” one.
As we were walking down a “trail” we noticed a small bluff just up off the trail. I ran and checked it out and to my surprise I found a nice little area with a sweet little fire ring under the bluffs and even a bunch of cut wood to go with it. So we took it.
There weren’t many (actually none) flat places so I did not get to pitch my tarp but instead me, my son and one of my buddies cowboy camped underneath the bluff. My other friend and his girl set their tent up on the flattest area they could find. Then we settled in. We all made dinner threw wood on the fire and had a good night.
The next morning we woke up to some cold weather (ok, we slept through some cold weather too…) And as usual, after breakfast we packed up and headed back out. But hey, it was good.
So, here are a few videos of the trip and me talking about some of my gear I (or others) used. The first two videos were taken out on the hike and the last one I did after I got home. So, thanks for reading/watching and hope that you enjoyed it. Please feel free to leave a comment or ask a question at the end of the post if you want. Now, on with the show…
