Critique My Itinerary - OML + SE RIM + Emory Peak

[MetalMan]

I wanted to start a new thread to discuss my itinerary plan and see what you guys think about it. I will be going solo towards the end of January. I will be driving a small car and will not be able to cache water at Juniper due to the rough road, just the Homer Wilson Ranch. Here's my itinerary I've come up with so far:

Day 1.

Wake up at the chisos basin campground. Water cache at Homer Wilson, get permit, leave chisos mountain lodge and hit trail around 11am at the latest. Hike laguna meadows trail south to SW rim trail to SE rim, camp at SE2. 6.3 miles

Day 2.

Hike SE rim trail to NE rim, NE rim to colima trail, colima trail west to blue creek trail, 5.5 miles to homer wilson ranch. Zone camp near ranch. 10.4 miles

Day 3.

Dodson trail to juniper canyon trail . Zone camp. 10 miles

Day 4.

Juniper canyon trail to boot canyon trail north to emory peak trail. Camp EP1. 9.1 miles (alternative, TM1)

Day 5.

EP trail to pinnacles trail north to chisos mountain lodge. approx. 4 miles

TOTAL MILEAGE: about 40

I drew a quick sketch in paint to illustrate my intended route. Start at the blue X at the chisos mountain lodge, and follow the red lines with directional arrows to each campsite marked in blue.

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I have a few questions though regarding this plan.

1. RichardM indicated in my previous post (http://www.bigbendchat.com/portal/forum/general-questions-and-answers/questions-about-getting-to-the-water-cache-locations-in-a-small-car/) that EP1 campsite may no longer be there. I was wondering if anyone can confirm this, as I was planning on staying there on night 4. If this campsite is removed, is there no campsite at all along the Emory Peak trail? If not, I will plan on using TM1 as my first choice instead of EP1

2. Nights 2 and 3 will be spent outside of this chisos basin area and somewhere along the dodson trail. I was planning on spending night 2 somewhere near the Homer Wilson Ranch and night 3 somewhere near the dodson trail/juniper canyon trail junction. I was wondering if these areas are suitable to set up camp... I don't know what the terrain is like and if it is recommended to camp in the general vicinity of either of these locations(within 1-2 miles). I prefer campsites with some type of view, so that's what I'll be looking for.

3. I will be caching 3 gallons of water at Homer Wilson and leaving with 2 gallons on me. I will reach the cache by the end of the 2nd day or beginning of the 3rd day, depending on where I decide to camp the 2nd night and if I actually need the water or not. Having cached 3 gallons at the Ranch, I will have 1 gallon per day for the rest of the hike back to the car. I will be watching the weather and probably check back here before I leave and see what water sources are flowing, and maybe if there is water at Fresno or somewhere else along the trail I will cache less water but for now that is the plan. Does this sound good?

I am still working on an alternative itinerary in case these campsites aren't available when I go, but for now, what do you think of my plan?

[Homer67]

Nice!  It's a bit adventurous, but it sounds doable. 

My wife and I recently did a variation of the Outer Mountain Loop; we started at the Dodson trailhead, up Blue Creek, South Rim, SE Rim, back out Boot Canyon and Down Juniper canyon to the truck. We took our time on this hike.  We skipped out on the Basin this time; it was our desire for this hike to feel as remote as it could. We zoned in C05 at the bottom of Blue Creek...it was glorious! 

We camped off of the Dodson on C04 one evening after we hiked up from Fresno Spring.  It was so cool!  Someone was flashing a light down from the [SE?] Rim and they responded when we flashed our headlamps back up to them!

There are a good many trip reports of the OML (many of them quite recent) and hikes in the Chisos.  Here is a link to a list of them on this site put together by Mule Ears:

http://www.bigbendchat.com/portal/forum/your-trip-reports/backpacking-trip-reports-index/

Enjoy your trip!

Homer

[elhombre]

I think you have a great plan.  It is going to be some serious work, but you get to cover some great desert ground.  I would suggest you drop your water of at Homer Wilson the night before.  The sun goes down early so you might as well get something done in the dark. 

Stay anywhere that is open on the SE campsites; they are all good. 

You are going to be limited in campsite selection when you get down to Homer Wilson.  The last one you pass will be at Cedar spring.  The next one you go by after Homer is right on the trail before you get into Blue Creek for the 2nd time and start heading East again.  I know people stay right around Homer, but you will be sleeping in the creek bed.  Maybe someone else can give you a better idea for the area. 

The ten miles along the Dodson is going to be the crux of your hike.  3 gallons of water is about right if the weather gets warm during those days.  There are great campsites along the Dodson trail as you approach the Juniper trail junction.  Once you clear the main two mountains on either side of the trail, and the trail starts turning North, you will walk by a campsite every 5 minutes.  The one I like is at the edge of the drainage you come to after climbing up out of the drainage.  It is big,open and flat with a killer view all around. 

If you are getting tired and don't want to climb all the way back into the Chisos.  There are two campsites below Juniper spring where the trail makes a turn to the East.  Or an illegal one going up hill on a saddle where the zone camping boundary is located.  The walk out will be up Juniper Canyon and down to your car with only enough water weight to get you back.  You could still climb Emory.

I did not see any campsites along the Emory Pk. trail

[steelfrog]

I kind of have a different take.  If you are even a decently strong hiker, that's not a lot of miles in that amount of time.  Your biggest day distance/gain will be up Juniper Canyon, Emory and all that; from there, you're only an hour from the Basin.  But that trip is about, what, 6 hours?  Are you going to be doing a bunch of photography or something?

I'll be there with my Bro in late Jan--the 25th to the 29th I think.  We're doing a Sierra Quemada fest--ET, BR, Dominguez, Pt 5917.  Maybe we'll run into each other!

[jeffblaylock]

Since you will be able to cache water only at the ranch house, I'd recommend reversing your itinerary:

Day 1: Hike up Pinnacles, side trip to Emory Peak, continue up Boot Canyon to South Rim, get water from pools in drainage, camp at SW4.

Day 2: Hike the Southeast and Northeast Rim Trails, descend Juniper Canyon Trail. Camp 1-2 miles before reaching Dodson junction.

Day 3: Finish Juniper Canyon Trail, hike Dodson Trail, get water from Fresno Creek, hike to a great view of Dodson.

Day 4: Finish Dodson Trail, get cache from HW ranch bear box, lunch at the ranch, hike up Blue Creek Trail. Either zone camp BELOW the zone camping boundary OR reserve designated site in Blue Creek.

Day 5: Finish Blue Creek Trail, hike down Laguna Meadows trail to Basin TH.

As for your specific questions, there is no longer an Emory Peak campsite. TM1 is the closest to that trail, and it's a nice site. The terrain of Dodson is mostly open desert on either end and big ups and downs in or near drainages to ridgelines. Views are best at the ridgelines, though it's windier there. There are several places where people have obviously camped at key points along the route. You do not have to use these, but it is often easier to do so than strike out off the trail and discover a relatively empty, flat spot.

As for water, personally, 1 gallon per day is not enough for me. If you follow the route in this post, you would have opportunities to find/store water at (1) trailhead, (2) upper Boot Canyon, (3) Upper Juniper Spring, which is sometimes hard to find, (4) Fresno Creek, and (5) Wilson Ranch. Your longest dry stretches are Juniper Canyon and the climb up Blue Creek to the trailhead. This should keep you from having the schlep 3 gallons across the Dodson Trail -- that's gonna hurt.

Also, Colima Trail is literally just a convenient cut-off to get horses from Blue Creek to the water in Boot Canyon. Nothing terribly scenic or worthwhile there. While the route in this post does not hit most of the Southwest Rim, you will get most of the same views from the upper portions of the Blue Creek Trail.

[TexasAggieHiker]

Sounds like a pretty good itinerary.

Your day 3 is going to be pretty long.  While only 10 miles, the Dodson is a rough 10 miles, especially with two gallons on your back.  But completely doable.  If you don't have a filter, I recommend getting one.  Then you could leave your cache with less water and re-fill at Fresno Creek.   There are several places as you get close to Juniper Canyon road to camp that have great views.

There is a nice place to camp close to Homer Wilson.  If you turn to the right as you exit the red rocks area, there is a nice place to camp just off the trail.

As has been said, EP1 campsite has been closed.  There are no other sites on the Emory Peak trail.  Toll Mountain is the closest site.  The climb up Emory and back on takes about 2 hours.

Enjoy!

[catz]

I second Jeff's "reverse" route.  I also second the suggestion that you cache water at Homer Wilson the night before.

You should invest in a water filter, or at least water purification pills.  I think it is likely that there will be water at the major springs--especially Fresno Creek and Juniper.  Be sure to confirm this, though!  You really don't want to lug any more water than is necessary; it weighs 8 pounds a gallon.

[Homer67]

We hauled a good bit of water over the Dodson; my wife carried a gal jug, 3-L hydration bladder and a 20 oz, I had the same plus an extra gallon of water.  It was a bit of weight, but I could not rely on water at Fresno (there was water there on Nov 12th).  We had enough to get to the Homer Wilson, barely.  We rolled in with about 4 oz!  Combine that with the 4-season tent and it gets pretty heavy!

I'd prefer the hike up Blue Creek more than the hike up Juniper Canyon!

[MetalMan]

Thanks for the replies and campsite suggestions/information. Homer, thanks for the link... there are a LOT of trips to look through!

elhombre - I would love to cache my water the night before, and I will  if I have the time, but not counting on it. I have a 1,700 mile drive to split into 2 days, and plan on reserving a campsite at the chisos basin the night before my trip, so I can wake up as close to the trailhead as possible. But, I don't expect to get there until late my 2nd day of driving.

steelfrog - I know the mileage isn't too much, but that's kind of what I want. Daylight is at a minimum in January, and I want enough time to set up camp and go explore here and there. And, I take way too many pictures, so that eats up a lot of time as well. I might see you then, I'll be there around the 23-27th.

 My alternate route was going to be the reverse route of this route I suggested, I just hadn't planned out which campsites to stay at which nights, etc. I will definitely consider using that reversed route as my first choice.

When I first started planning this trip, I had the impression that you can't count on water anywhere along the OML unless it had just rained. So, I've been planning this trip as if there is no water along the way. I'm used to hiking in places where water is not an issue, and I just filter a bottle or two as I hike from a nearby river of lake. I will be bringing my filter, and if I find out that there is a definite water source flowing at the time of my trip, I will CERTAINLY cut down on the amount of water I bring. I don't want to haul that much weight if I can help it. Anyways, you guys seem pretty confident that there will be water at Fresno creek, huh? Is there an active thread for current water reports, or should I just ask the park rangers the day of my trip?

[steelfrog]

Yes--see this page for the springs report...

You are not the same metalmountain from 14ers.com that I met on Humboldt in August are you?

[MetalMan]

Yes--see this page for the springs report...

You are not the same metalmountain from 14ers.com that I met on Humboldt in August are you?

Nope, that's not me. Thanks for the link, but it didn't show up in the post...

[steelfrog]

http://www.bigbendchat.com/portal/forum/members-only-photos-and-reports/springs-report-dec-8th-13th-2011/msg112956/?topicseen#new

[catz]

1700 miles in two days!  Man, that's a lot of driving.

The link references mostly springs/water sources that aren't on your route.

When you ask at the ranger station about water, their standard response is almost always, "Don't count on it".  Still, it doesn't hurt to ask.  When you've finsihed the hike, be sure to give a water report to them so maybe they can help the next guy.

That said, and regarding water sources directly on your route,  Fresno Creek is among the most reliable in the park.  Frequently, water is readily available right where the Dodson Trail crosses that drainage.  Recent posts, however, have said that you need to go down the drainage a short ways--a hundred yards or so--before finding the water. 

Recent reports have also indicated the presence of pools (if not actual running springs) at both Boot Spring and upper Juniper (there's also a lower Juniper spring but I don't recall any recent posts about it).  I suggest you ask about these on this site just before you go.  If the response is positive, ask about exactly how to find them.

If you wait until the next day to cache your water at Homer Wilson, you have kind of defeated the purpose of camping in the Basin in order to be close to the trailhead.  Round trip from the Basin to Homer Wilson is a good hour.

[steelfrog]

12-2 weekend there was plenty of water in Boot Canyon.