Thunder Creek

May 16-17, 2015
Foothills B3 backpack trip along Thunder Creek in Ross Lake NRA. Hiked to McAllister Camp. We were fortunate to get another group to swap so we could have the group camp for our party of nine. No more spaces were available at McAllister for Saturday night. Obtained our camp permit at the Wilderness Info Center. Very nice forest camp on the creek with its own group throne in the forest.
Snow of course was long gone as planned, making this a good early season choice.
Very nice warm weather reaching the 70s in the afternoons. We did not experience large numbers of mosquitos. One young deer visited with us during breakfast hours.
Distance to the group campsite is 7.5 miles one way, with only 750 feet NET elevation gain. Four members of our group took an early morning hike up to the Junction Camp for views of peaks, adding about eight miles roundtrip and about 1100 vertical feet.
Crossing about eight creeks on rocks and six creekcrossings on good bridges was uneventful. A couple of our party used wading shoes one time. The one major blowdown spot required some moderate work to negotiate each way.
All in all a nice leisurely trip due to the excellent weather and conditions. Driving time from the Park and Ride at McCollum Park (Mill Creek) was under three hours each way.