Day 1

October 21, 2019

Sowats Trailhead to Kwagunt Hollow



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Today's Route Stats:

   Distance:  3.5 miles

   Elevation Gain:  0  feet

   Elevation Loss:  2350 feet

 

It was really cold last night -- below freezing.  It took us a while to get packed up.  We then drove to Sowats Point in my 4Runner.  My car was packed full, including the roof rack.  It took almost an hour to drive the 30 miles of dirt road.  By the time we started hiking, it was already mid-morning. 

The trail starts out with a gradual descent, then contours over to a steep talus slope.  You only drop 600 feet in the first mile, then another 1200 feet in the next 0.9 miles.  Although very steep, the trail is in very good condition.  After 1.9 miles and a drop of 1800 feet, we turned off the Jumpup-Nail trail and continued hiking down Kwagunt Hollow.  I have  always found water in the drainage below the lower clump of Cottonwoods, about 35 yards past where the Jumpup-Nail trail makes a sharp turn to the north and out of the drainage. There was some water there this time too, although none of us needed any.

 
Jumpup-Nail Trailhead Near Sowats. Cottonwoods.  We Left Trail Here. Kwagunt Hollow.

 

There is an intermittent trail most of the way down Kwagunt Hollowto Jumpup Canyon.  There was also intermittent water all the way.  We stopped part way down to check out some pictographs.  We had hoped to get all the way to Jumpup between Kwagunt Hollow and Sowats Canyon, but when we came across a nice campsite near the bottom of Kwagunt, we decided to stop for the night.  We were all pretty tired, especially me and Rich.

 

Pictographs in Kwagunt Hollow. Pictographs in Kwagunt Hollow. Campsite in Kwagunt Hollow.


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