Trip Report: Cache Creek Wilderness

4.5 mi, +504 ft, -541 ft

This was a quick weekend trip, just one night. The plan was to follow the Redbud trail as far as we could, all the way to Jack Canyon if possible. Unfortunately (or not, we didn't really care) the river was far too full to even consider crossing safely, so we ended up camping for the night on the west side of Cache Creek near Baton Flat.

We'd only hiked about 3 miles, so we just hung out by the river for the rest of the evening. It was a nice spot.

We woke up the next day to a valley filled with fog. Our tent was absolutely filled with condensation, probably the worst I've ever seen it. We hiked out the only other way we could, up and over the hill to the wide valley on the other side.

We passed a variety of odd sights, including a couple old cars which appeared to have been there for a long time. There was an assortment of other old junk that had been engulfed by the muddy terrain.

I'm still not sure if we ended up on private property or not, but it certainly seemed that way as we followed the trail back to the car. As we returned west up the valley following the North Fork of Cache Creek, we passed a gate that indicated we had just left private property, not entered it. We had followed a marked pack trail from an established campground, and we didn't pass any signs or warnings, so it was all a bit confusing.

An odd, but scenic place. Definitely worth coming back to explore once the river becomes crossable.