Hazel Creek - Bone Valley

Date:2/7/15
Distance: 19.2
New Map Miles: 4.1
Total Map Miles: 766.6

The hiking choices are getting slim for this map.  After hours of contemplation, I decided it was worthwhile to go get Bone Valley and Hazel up to Cold Springs.  This will leave a backpack from the Tunnel to Nowhere to Hazel via Jonas with a return trip on Cold Springs.  So with this plan in mind, I left the house about 6:10 and headed for Fontana Marina.  I arrived about 8:00, paid my $50 bucks and set sail.

 The day was just gorgeous.  It did start cold though.  It was especially cold on the boat as the big one with the enclosed cab was broken, so we took an open pontoon boat.

 At Ollie's Cove, I left the boat behind with a 4:00 scheduled pick up time.  It was about 8:30 when I started hiking.  I was cold enough from the boat ride, that the climb up from the lake didn't warm me up.  I wore 3 fleeces for about an hour.  After 1 mile, I turned onto Hazel Creek.  It is an old road that is still used by the park service.  It is right beside Hazel Creek for most of the hike, so while road hiking isn't too exciting, this one was very scenic.

 After 2 hours and 6.3 miles, I arrived at Bone Valley.  It apparently got its name when a cattle drive got caught in bad weather, and lots of cattle died in the valley.  The bones were present for many years.  The only ones I saw were on the sign.

Bone Valley is only 1.8 miles long, but it has 5 creek crossings.  The water was very cold.  It made my feet hurt as bad as I've ever felt.

At the end of the trail is the Hall Cabin.  By the time I arrived, I was freezing having walked in the water five times.  I hiked in my Chacos for most of this trail.  At the 1st crossing when I put them on, I left most of my pack behind to lighten the load for the short hike.  I really regretted this as I wished I had a fleece to help keep my core warm.

 Unfortunately, Bone Valley is an in and out, so I got to wade 5 more times on the way out.

 By the time I got back to my stuff, I was shivering.  There was ice frozen in the edge of the creek and the air temperature was pretty close to freezing as my bite valve kept freezing.  I was thrilled to get my boots back on.  It took about 1/2 an hour before I had feeling in my feet.

I had several scraps and cuts on my feet as well.  Some from the straps of the Chacos and some from kicking sticks with numb feet.  I had to tape them up a bit before I hiked too far.

 I continued on up Hazel Creek 1.3 miles to the Cold Springs intersection.  I still had a little time, so I turned on Cold Springs and hiked about 1/4 mile before I reached another creek crossing.  I had no desire to get wet again, so I turned back at this point.

Back at Hazel, I noticed that the Cold Springs trail continued across Hazel.  I walked up the short distance and found the NPS bunkhouse.  It didn't appear to be occupied.

I enjoyed a few more nice water features on the way back to Ollies

I got back to Ollies about 3:10.  I laid in the warm sun on a warm rock for about 1/2 hour before the shuttle arrived.

The hike was long, but didn't have much elevation change.  The creek crossings made it tough for February.