7 November 2011, Lorena’s birthday

Sunday was a fine autumn day, made all the more enjoyable because I’d finally wrapped up my nagging chores on the 14th edition of The People’s Guide To Mexico. Our revision of the book is a year overdue, thanks in large part to the tremendous block I’ve experienced in actually sitting down and making those changes that require my input. I’ve never experienced such a deep and disturbing reluctance to write as this. What makes it even more puzzling is that once I knuckled down and began the work, it went quickly and easily, literally a matter of perhaps 12 hours of actual research and writing. I did the absolute minimum, of course, but considering that Lorena and Churpa had been much more thorough with their changes and additions, my small contribution is hopefully enough to produce a credible new edition.

[meteor_slideshow slideshow=”south-fork”]

So, to celebrate this milestone and to take advantage of an unusually mild November day, Shannon and I hiked into the Edfro Creek wildlife reserve. This 170 acre reserve was created by the Whatcom Land Trust (www.whatcomlandtrust.org) to protect elk, eagle and salmon habitat along the east bank of the Nooksack river’s South Fork. There is huge logging pressure on the entire ecosystem bordering the river from Saxon to Hamilton but as far as I know the Edfro Creek reserve is probably the only significant piece that is designated for wildlife habitat.

In the last few years I’ve run across intriguing map references to a “South Fork Trail” along the east side of the river but as yet I’ve not found any other information about this trail. My guess is that it was originally a Nooksack Indian trail into Skagit Indian territory. After the arrival of the whites, I assume the trail would have been used by prospectors — both the South Fork and Skookum Creek (which empties into the South Fork) experienced brief gold rushes over a hundred years ago, at a time when any major Indian trail would have still been in use.

I became aware of the trail while trying to find a passable route by bicycle from the Blue Mountain logging road to Hamilton, a small town east of Sedro Woolley on the North Cascade Highway, about 25 or 30 miles south of our cabin. Our friend Mike Savatgy had done this trip by bike some twenty years ago but his recollection of the route is very vague. Also, there have been so many changes in the logging roads and stream crossings that it was anyone’s guess if a continuous connection still existed.

In late spring of this year Steve Zellerhoff and I rode our bikes into the west side of the South Fork valley, on a system of logging roads that begin near Innis Creek. I hoped to gain enough of a view of the east side of the river to judge whether or not the logging roads were continuous from the gate at Saxon, all the way to Hamilton. As we soon realized, however, the valley is too large and the forest still so dense between the clear-cuts that we couldn’t get more than a vague sense of where the roads might connect.

A couple of months later I went back by myself for a three-night exploration. I found that the Innis Creek roads have been broken by deep “water bars” which prevent taking a bike farther to the south. (Removing the bridges and digging major water bars supposedly indicates that these roads can be taken off the DNR’s maintenance schedule and won’t be used for at least 40 years.)

When I realized that a route fairly close to the river wasn’t possible I backtracked a bit and rode my bike up the mountain, hoping to find a connector road at a much higher elevation. Instead I ran into the same problem — water-bars or dense regrowth on all roads leading south.

I continued to scour the internet for information on the South Fork, including a possible reverse trip on the river itself, from Hamilton to Saxon (and on to Acme). I was quite surprised to find only a few vague and fragmentary trip reports but nothing that describes more than a short piece of that entire stretch — which baffles me, given that the map indicates convenient put-in/take-out points. Are there major logjams in the river or dangerous falls or rapids? I find some references to a waterfall near Hamilton, in the vicinity of the Larsen Bridge, but nothing with its precise location or size. Otherwise, the entire run of the river from the Larsen Bridge to Saxon, perhaps 20 miles or more, is still unknown.

Several weeks ago Shannon and I set off to explore the east side of the river by riding our bikes on the logging roads that go southeast from the confluence of Skookum Creek and the South Fork, at the Lummi Salmon Hatchery. This ride took us high above the South Fork Valley, a climb of over 2,000 feet. We finally turned back when the road appeared to be crossing over the mountain, eastward, into another drainage. We speculate that this road was (or “is”) the “mainline” logging road shown on some maps. If this is true, it is also our best chance of actually reaching Hamilton, though at this point I’m doubtful that the logging companies have allowed this connection. In fact, after so many tantalizing but frustrating explorations, I’m more or less convinced that the state and private foresters have some kind of agreement not to connect these road systems.