This will be short on talk, since I'm short on time.
Another "overnight", since I got another extremely late start this week due to some personal stuff that had to be taken care of. My original plan was a much longer figure 8 that included Big Creek Gulf and the Greeter Loop, but I spent Tuesday night near the Collins West Access/TH at the campsite of the same name, and did the Collins Rim and Historic Stage Road to the Connector to camp at the Sawmill campsite last night, then out this morning via Collins Gulf.
I'm pretty much always sleep-deprived, and had worked the night before, been busy through the day, then driven up to TN, so I knocked out 14hrs of sleep Tuesday night. Got 11 more Wednesday night, so I feel great now!
Tuesday night in camp. "Testing" my OR Filament over, instead of under, my OR Ferrosi. Can't believe it actually fits, but it's doing fine for me at 25F like this, in spite of the Filament's paltry 1.76oz of fill.
Beginning the "Boulder Crossing" early in the Collins Rim Trail. I took a few pics to show my new Osprey Exos 58's color, since it looks better in person than online. I'd ordered a black one on sale for ~$175, but the dealer ran out and asked me if I'd take blue, so I figured I'd give it a chance. Turns out I really like the blue.
High in the 40s, but my thermostat is cranked up this time of year, which might explain how I'm getting that Filament jacket to go so low when I considered it a 40F jacket last fall.
More of the Boulder Crossing:
The Collins River flows into the Gulf, and there is a suspension bridge for crossing.
From the Collins Rim.
Cascade at the beginning of the Historic Stage Road.
Skinny Falls
This morning I visited Schwoon Spring, but did not crawl down into the adjacent 30' sinkhole or explore back in the cave to check out the bats or anything-did all that a couple times before.
Schwoon Spring approach and the spring with cave that it "springs" from:
Massive boulders dot the nearby creekbed.
Fall Creek Sink, where the creek disappears underground, and a couple of Fall Creek.
Horsepound Falls and the new blue Exos.
Couple of the Collins Gulf Trail.
Suter Falls with a little snow.
Which turned into a brief mini-blizzard as I was finishing up and headed toward the TH.
All in all, a fine little overnight hike, not to mention 25 hours of sleep!
