Henry Coe State Park

Dates: mid December 2007

Duration: 3 days, 2 nights Mileage: ~34 miles Group Members: Nick McGuire, Jack Martin Pack Weights: Jack (~39 lbs), Nick (~ 47lbs) Notes: Had to re-plan original route due to large closures from the recent fire. Very cold temperatures at night…should have brought tent to keep ice/water off of sleeping bags. Were originally going to do 3 nights but we were so close to the exit on the 3rd day I convinced Jack that we should just pack out. Only saw like 1 other person the entire trip which was awesome. Scenery was decent but not amazing.

Day 1: (11.5 miles) Hunting Hollow Entrance to Steer Ridge Trail to Wilson Camp. Wagon Rd North to Center Flats Road to Pond just north of Dormida Trail intersection. Left entrance around 11AM….water puddles in parking lot were all frozen. Steer Ridge Trail was very steep and strenuous. Rest of hike wasn’t too bad but all of the trails at Wilson Camp made choosing the correct route difficult. Elevation gain and loss was a fair amount. Reached lake we camped at at dusk so cooking and setting up camp wasn’t super easy but doable. Pond was VERY scummy and nasty.

Day 2: (8.8 miles) Pond just north of Dormida Trail intersection w/ Center Flats Road up Kaiser Aetna Trail to Tie Down Trail. Took Yellow Jacket Trail and then Dutch’s Trail to Purple Pond. Backtracked to Pacheco Creek except bypassed Yellow Jacket Trail. Long downhill to Pacheco Creek which had no water in it. Strenuous climb/hike up to Purple Pond which was our ultimate goal. Had lunch there and then head back the way we came till we got back to the creek. Purple Pond had water in it but was scummy; Yellow Jacket Pond was empty. Campsite by creek was nice but we made the poor choice of sleeping at too low an elevation and were covered in dew that night and the temperatures dropped well below freezing so we were covered in ice all night. Sleeping bag and layers of clothes kept us warm but it still wasn’t pleasant and we had to keep the bags out all the 3rd day to dry them out.

Day 3: (13.7 miles) Pacheco Creek to Kasier Aetna Trail back out the way we came. Hiked over to Hell Hole through giant metal river culvert. Water that was at the culvert was frozen on top but water in Hell Hole wasn’t…very clear but very cold. (Had issues with the water pump). Hiked out to Rodeo Camp where Jack wanted to stop but I convinced him we should hike out since I didn’t want to have to deal with another freezing night with no tent and we were only a few miles from the exit.