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Crow Pass Trail (page 5) At mile 19 I came to Icicle Creek Campground.
Crossing Icicle Creek was a bit tricky as there are multiple branches of
the creek that spread out across a wide area and one must either ford or use
fallen trees and stepping stones to cross above the water.
The area is just too wide to have a bridge go all the way across.
Just a half mile further and campers enjoy a magnificent view of Heritage
Falls from another nice campground with the Fall’s namesake. The falls are on the other side of Eagle River, but they are
large enough to be seen from the trail. At mile 21 hikers cross Dishwater Creek and enter Knob
View Camp. Hiking would have become
easier and easier, and the trail gets wider and flatter, but my feet were so
sore and legs so tired and wobbly that it was difficult lifting them over the
rocks and tree roots running across the ground. At this point I was really kicking myself for not taking the
trip over a three day period. Between View Camp and Echo Bend I took a wrong turn.
I walked up exposed bedrock and saw a trail headed to the right into the
forest and up the hill. I followed that instead of going straight over the rock to
where the trail continued along side Eagle River.
What made matters worse, there were rock pile markers on this trail so I
thought I was going the right direction. The
trail got smaller and smaller until I hit a dead end.
So I made my way back down to the top of the exposed bedrock to try to
figure out where I had gone wrong. Fortunately
there was a group of women who were doing the trail in a single day resting
there. They showed me that I was supposed to just go down the other
side of the rock. At mile 22 I reached Echo Bend Campsite.
This was the first place where I was able to reach Claimjumper by two-way
radio. She was waiting at the Eagle
River Visitor Center about three miles away.
I was surprised to hear her because the radios were only supposed to have
a two-mile range. The last camping area and what appeared to be the biggest
of all was Rapids Camp. This is
located at mile 23 of the hike. I
sat down and ate my last granola bar and rested before taking on the last two
miles of the trip. The trail here
was nice and wide, although it was somewhat bumpy from all the rocks sticking up
out of the ground. At the last mile
I entered a large grassy area and a huge boardwalk maintained by the Visitor
Center. There are well-maintained
paths all through the area, including the Albert’s Loop Trail that dropped
back down to the river on the left. But
I was eager to get off my feet, so I used the direct route straight through the
park. It was a long steady climb
up, the first continuous hill I had found since the beginning of the trail.
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