FIERY GIZZARD 3/15/19 TO 3/17/19

Lots of waterfalls in the Fiery Gizzard. I believe this is Foster Falls.

This statue was in the center of town and represents the trial of the furnace.

This was a basecamp hike and required a shuttle. Fortunately, one of us (who had a prior injury) was willing to stay at camp and pick us up once the rest of us hiked to our end destination.

I have to say that I was floored by the beauty of the place and was not expecting to see so much beauty and so many waterfalls so close to town. I just wish there was more land around this place – it seems like it should be in the middle of a national forest or something.

The overall difficulty of the trail was a bit challenging I have to say. The first section was pretty easy trail but after a while you get to boulder/rock fields. These rocks will keep you looking down or else you will fall down with a bruised ankle or ego.

Then you cross your first gorge – which is a very steep descent down steps that are way too small unless you have size 6 shoes. Then back up the other side. I think by the time we were done we had crossed 3 or 4 steep gorges that required you to hang on to hand rails. Awesome!

My main gear for this trip was my Kelty Range Tarp; “>Black Diamond Distance Trekking Poles – I have the aluminum version that’s adjustable. “>Vasque Breeze Low 3 shoes; Enlightened Equipment Revelation Quilt; “>Thermarest Prolite Plus Sleeping Pad

Too high for me to jump LOL We camped in the Father Adams Campground sites 1 and 2. We were pleasantly surprised with the abundance of firewood that was easily accessible. The sites were roomy too but you’re limited to 4 people per site for these standard sites.

This is the boardwalk from the parking lot to the overlook.

We were pleasantly surprised with the abundance of firewood that was easily accessible. The sites were roomy too but you’re limited to 4 people per site for these standard sites.

The fire pits were outstanding and to be honest the entire campsites were great.

Waking up in my Kelty Range Tarp. They discontinued this tarp for whatever reason. I like it on particularly short or car camp hikes because it isn’t light and is best for base camp hikes.
It’s quite large inside and out – the inside space is outstanding and roomy! It’s very simple to put up because it’s just a rectangular pup tent. And that’s another reason I like it – because reminds me of my old school pup tents I used when I was young.

I forgot to get a picture of my new “>Thermarest Prolite Plus Sleeping Pad. This was my first trip with it and basically it’s an item that I would only use for car camping trips. It is fairly heavy at 1lb 15oz and quite large in diameter. It really beats the heck out of blowing up a back country air mattress and is pretty comfortable, though thin.

I will admit, I was skeptical with it being only 1.5″ thick and thought for sure I’d be laying on the ground but the reviews stated otherwise so I gave it a shot. Wow, it did impress! I wish it was 2″ thick I will admit but this pad works just fine at 1.5″ thick.

I brought my LuminAid Packlite Terra on this trip. Generally I’ll bring it on trips where I’m not concerned about extras. Although it packs small it is kind of a luxury item.

Above is where we started our hike after a short drive and shuttle. One of us volunteered to shuttle and wait for us at out campsite. This really made it nice, although the shuttle was relatively short compared to a lot of our shuttles that usually end up being one hour plus easily.

I really enjoyed this hike for a multitude of reasons. Some I can’t put into words but others I can. The condition of the trail was nice and the canyons were beautiful. The waterfalls was outrageous and a major bonus on this hike that i just didn’t understand until I experienced all of them. The rock formations at the beginning of the hike were pretty amazing. I could go on because there are several more things that made this hike outstanding.