On November 10-12, 1979 Jim White and I did a 27 mile round trip backpack in the Trout Creek area of the Domeland Wilderness.
We left my place in Lone Pine about 8 a.m. and drove about 100 miles via the Nine-mile Canyon Road to Blackrock, then toward Sherman Peak stopping at the Woodpecker Trail just beyond the Bald Mountain Lookout Road. We hit the trail downhill about 10:30 and soon arrived at a spring and then a slow creek that later disappeared into the ground.
We had a snack and continued soon coming to a jeep road (accessible from Rockhouse Basin and the S. Fork of Kern). We followed the road to a junction where we again were on a trail that descended through open brushy country (old over 30 year ago burn) to the banks of Trout Creek and the edge of Domeland Wilderness. Very niece campsite in the area.
We arrived about 1 p.m. and had lunch and a rest. We decided Manter Meadow at 8 miles was too far to go and headed up Trout Creek on an old trail and cow paths. After wandering through the brush a bit we bypassed the edge of Woodpecker Meadow and soon picked up the jeep road that goes a fair ways up Trout Creek. The road finally turned into a bike path and we were soon walking through beautiful forest along Trout Creek.
Between 3 and 4 p.m. we crossed the main Trout Creek Stream and started up Little Trout Creek where we soon made camp, just below the Machine Creek Trail junction - having hiked about 7 miles. We set up camp and climbed into sleeping bags to rest before preparing supper from the bags in front of the tent. Too tired and cold temperatures to bother with a fire, etc. although there was fabulous amounts of firewood available. We finished supper and hit the sack about 7 p.m.
Next morning we decided to leave camp in place and do a day hike up toward Big Meadow, then hike out the next day via Machine Creek. Around nine we headed up the trail, passed the Machine Creek junction and continued a steady climb on mostly good trail. As we got higher and on the north facing slopes we had 3-6 inches of snow on the trail that slowed us down a bit.
The trail climbs along Snow Creek to the top of a ridge between Snow and Little Trout Creeks then follows the ridge a while before moving to the north side and swinging into a meadow at the head of Little Trout Creek. We found some bear tracks in the snow and had our lunch about 1 p.m. Several nice campsites in the area and lots of firewood. We were only a few miles from the Big Meadow road but decided four miles was enough and headed back to camp.
We arrived from our 8 mile round trip about 3 p.m. and hit the sack for a nap before fixing supper. Fixed it in the dusk and dark, and put out the thermometer. We hit the sack about 7 p.m. again with the temperature around 28 degrees F.
In the morning about 5 a.m. it was 20 degrees. We were lazy about getting up - fixed breakfast from the tent and enjoyed the sack until the sun began to appear over the ridge and warm things up. We hit the trail about 9 a.m. and headed up a very beautiful Machine Creek trail - winding in the creek bottom among rocks part of the time.
We soon climbed up out of the creek and headed for the divide between Machine Creek and the main Trout Creek - arriving about 11 a.m. or so for lunch. The weather was sunny and beautiful after a few clouds the day before. We descended on snowy trail to a fork of the creek and soon to the main Trout Creek. Evidence of logging was found along the trail - also some beautiful ice crystal formations in the creek.
At Boone Meadow we stopped for a snack and found a new snow marker erected in the meadow plus supplies to build a new fence around the meadow. We soon trudged on to a trail junction above the meadow and again evidence of logging. They have, however, preserved the trail up this fork of Trout Creek. We soon cross a logging road and head on up the creek toward Curliss Meadow where we turned right and quickly reached the main paved road - about a 7 mile hike. Jim stayed with the packs while I hiked up the road to get the car.
Thought it would be about 3 miles but it was almost 5 - mostly level or downhill though and took about an hour and a quarter. I picked up the car and returned to Jim as the sun was sinking in the west. We headed for home about 4 p.m. - arriving about 6:30 or so after a very nice fall weekend hike in some pretty country. The trails were all used by bikes but did not show heavy use and were in mostly good shape. We saw no people at all on the hike.
The area would be a nice spring or earlier fall hike - maybe even in the summer. We saw much evidence of Boy Scout Trail markers apparently put up many years ago using numbered pieces of tin painted in a color code. We followed parts of a red and a yellow trail. Was a great weekend.
Trout Creek Loop 1979
