Mill Creek
This was our first time running Mill Creek as a group and we followed directions from Dave and Jed. We ran Red Elephant first, then Mill Creek, then Bill Moore Lake. It was a great day!
It started out rocky and fun and it wasn't long before we got to the clearing next to the creek, where we had lunch. There were quite a few mosquitoes because the season had been so wet, but a little bug spray held them off. The dogs ran around and played and we had a great lunch. We were passed by one SUV there.
The rocks after the lunch spot were fun to play on and so were the rocks down to the first creek crossing. The water was a couple of inches deep and running very clear. We had awesome weather and the scenery was beautiful.
We played on the rocks as we made small climbs and descents on the trail. It wasn't long before we were at the Empire Hilton.
We got out to check it out and Jon noticed he hit his rocker panel and rear corner at some point on the rocks. He had also dented his rocker on Red Elephant Hill so his day was full of trail damage.
The cabin wasn't really clean but it was well-stocked. There were cardboard boxes flattened and attached to the walls, so it was probably pretty warm and comfortable in the winter. There were lots of pictures attached to the walls of people actually at the cabin, so they must be frequent guests. It was pretty cool to check out. At that point a truck went by us, just as we were leaving.
The rocks got even more fun past the cabin and we all enjoyed ourselves. There was one steep section that came down some big rocks to a clearing, where we turned left to cross Mill Creek a second time. We turned left there after the creek and continued on.
We got to another intersection and it looked familiar -- it was Red Elephant Hill at the very end of that trail. We turned right to continue on with Red Elephant Hill. Jon, Jim and Bob R. headed down the Bill Moore Lake trail while the rest of us went up the hill to go to the lake.
We'll probably include this trail every time we do Red Elephant Hill and Bill Moore Lake. It was more challenging and the cabin was cool to see.
Reports from Other Days: 5
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Mill Creek. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
