Phantom Creek
We had just finished running Cedar Mountain Road with a trip down Metberry Gulch thrown in. It was time to do the last trail of the day, Phantom Creek.
Finding the trailhead was easy since Walt had the tracks on his GPS already. We turned left onto the trail and we weren't too far into the trail when we passed the first of many spur roads. We decided to skip any spurs and stay on the main trail this time, though, so we passed by it.
Not long after the first spur we were at the intersection with the big loop. Turning right and doing the loop counterclockwise seemed like the best choice. We drove past the huge parking area and headed down the trail.
We enjoyed a nice easy drive through the woods. There were a few cracks in the trail from run-off but for the most part the trail was smooth.
Phantom Creek itself was a little larger than we expected but still just a little creek. We had fun crossing the creek, and this was the only water we would drive through on the trails we ran on that day. We could see a lot of the Hayman Fire scars on the second half of the Phantom Creek loop, scenery we didn't see on the first half. The burned trees on Signal Butte to our right was a sight to see.
Before long, we were back at the intersection of the loop and heading for the trailhead. We all mentioned how we needed to return to this area again to see more of the network of trails that begged for exploration.
We all had a blast snaking our way back to the fire station to complete the huge loop we ran for the day. We aired back up and reconnected our sway bars. Half of us headed for home and the other half of the group had a great dinner in Conifer, which is always a nice end to a day on the trails.
Reports from Other Days: 2
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Phantom Creek. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
