057
Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area
11/13/2011
Well...it's back to Boen Gulf in the Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area again after a groovy hike in there last week. The participants were my brother and myself. We did not hit the trail until 11:00 a.m. Saturday morning morning...a bit late by my standards but he is a later riser than me. The day was cloudy and windy as a mother...20-30 mph...temp around 55. We parked at the official "Wilderness Access" on County Road 6 about 1/2 mile off Hwy 21 and headed down the trail. We jumped off the trail to follow the right branch of Boen Gulf Branch to Magnolia Falls and then to Woods Boys Falls. The water was flowing just enough to make the falls perty...but hardly optimal. There seemed to be no way down into the valley from here so we traversed the south rim past Stahle Falls for a good ways with no luck finding a crack in the bluff line to crawl down through. We did finally find a path down a little ways past where the middle branch enters the right branch. There was a really nice hollow in the side of the bluff that I am sure some human must have lived in at some point in history, but a glance around provided no quick evidence of this. From here it was very steep to the valley floor where suitable campsite was procured. By now it was 3:00 p.m. so camp was set up and firewood gathered and neatly stacked in preparation for an evening of sitting around the fire. The low temp was only 55 and the night was comfortable yet windy...with a near full moon dodging the clouds. It had cleared up quite a bit and there was actually sunshine in the morning. We needed to get back so camp was struck and we hit the trail by 7:30 a.m. There is a well traveled trail that makes it's way up the ridge between the middle and right forks and it took no time to make it back to our vehicle. We did pass a campsite occupied by a sleeping dude in a lean-to tarp that never heard us passing even though we talked and rustled leaves and farted as we strode by....some people can really sleep. The total trippage was a mere 5 miles and was very enjoyable to partake of. Brush and downed tree factor was moderate.
