But the map says...

“We have the map, right?”

“Yes”

“So let’s drive up this road (points to map) and make this loop. It can’t take all that long!”

Leaving the Donkey Creek campground, where we were staying the weekend, we drove up Marble Creek till we came to a split in the road. Straight ahead FS321 followed the river, so we took FS758 heading up Eagle Creek. The idea was that if you follow this road, it would eventually lead up to Hobo Pass and loop back via FS321. By the map it looked clear enough.
Our drive wound up Eagle Creek and dropped down to Lines Creek where we stopped at the start of the “Famous Lines Creek Trail”. Along the way we gathered firewood, spotted deer and enjoyed the vistas provided up and down the ridges.

On the map it looks like you drive past the trail head and cross a creek then take a left and follow the road up over Hobo Pass. What we did was just that, but take out the over Hobo Pass part, and add drive ten miles up a road that eventually started disappearing, then back track to the trail head at Lines Creek. We scratched our heads and studied the map. It looked like if we head down towards Clarkia, we would cut back left and then head over the pass.

Off we drove. After a couple miles we met a log truck grinding up the road. We pulled way off out of its way and started second guessing ourselves. Five minutes passed and we decided that we had gone too far so we turned around and followed the truck back up to where it cut away. It was obvious that they were logging below this point and that the truck traffic might be bad. We talked about it a while and studied the map and finally turned around again and headed down toward Clarkia. This time we were extremely cautious as we wound down the road.

We came around a corner and ran into an intersection where three roads merged. Sitting there was a pickup with a logger talking on his CB. Linda asked him if we were on the right track and he assured us that we were going in the right direction. He sounded like other people have asked him the same question before; he smiled and said “Oh, you’re doing the loop, yeah you on the right track!”

A couple miles on down the road we found the cut off over Hobo Pass. We looked at the junction, compared it to the map and decided that the map is an abbreviated view of the roads and trails, so when traveling you must double the distance, hold your course and look for a logger.

At the top of the pass we veered right and drove two miles to the Hobo Cedar Grove Botanical Area where we took a mile long hike through the towering Cedar trees. It’s a pretty amazing place. Though the day was hot and sunny, the temperature in the cedar grove was almost to the point that you would want long sleeves. The trail was well maintained with numbered points of interest along the way. We walked fast and took a bunch of pictures. By now we were three hours into or small wood gathering adventure and for the first time in a long while we were without water or snacks.

When we travel anywhere we usually pack food and water enough to feed an army, but this drive was so spur of the moment that we didn’t pack anything.

We hurried back to the jeep and drove the seventeen miles down Marble Creek to our camp at Donkey Creek. We ate lunch, unloaded the firewood and then I went fishing, rounding out a great day.