01/18/10 White Oak Hollow/East Bee/West Bee Hike

[weathermansam]

This past Monday I met up with Jay and Rebecca for a romp to the Big Tree, and then we all decided to ramble up West Bee to see what we could find.  Josh, you might be interested in West Bee.  Jay mentioned "this looks like wildflower country".  He pointed out a number of plants, but the only one I remember offhand is the rattlesnake orchid.  Found a cairn in West Bee....seen these in other spots of the wilderness....an y idea what they're marking?  

Lots of photos!
http://www.weathermansam....p/011810sipsey/index.html

On the shortcut to Big Tree:


West Bee Branch Falls:

[Rob]

A lot of interesting pics Sam, well done. Thanks for sharing. I definitely need to add this to my spring hike list. Happy Trails!

[montysano]

Re this photo: 

http://www.weathermansam....p/011810sipsey/_5023.html

My son, when he was about 7 years old, named this Warrior Rock, because he said he could imagine a Native American hanging out on it!

[weathermansam]

Re this photo:  

http://www.weathermansam....p/011810sipsey/_5023.html

My son, when he was about 7 years old, named this Warrior Rock, because he said he could imagine a Native American hanging out on it!

I would have loved to have taken a nap on top of it!  There were random two story sized boulders in odd spots in West bee I would have loved to have chilled out on as well. 

A lot of interesting pics Sam, well done. Thanks for sharing. I definitely need to add this to my spring hike list. Happy Trails!

Thanks, Rob.  West Bee isn't an easy hike, that's for sure.  There are absolutely no trails, not even a game trail for the most part.  Also, if you happen upon that cairn, apparently from what I've read it's shape signals to go to the left of it.  We never found the Saltpeter cave in this area, and this may have been pointing to it. 

One of the most remarkable things....I searched EVERY beech tree I could see, and only ran across one interesting something at a side falls on West Bee, this thing:   http://www.weathermansam....0p/011810sipsey/_5208.jpg

I've seen this "letter E" somewhere else in the wilderness as well, but I forget now. 

[Uncle Wayne]

Really nice photos, thanks for sharing them.  Did you see this formation in West Bee Branch?

[weathermansam]

Really nice photos, thanks for sharing them.  Did you see this formation in West Bee Branch?

Nope, and I'm racking my brain on this one as to where it could have been.  We hugged pretty close to the bluffs in and out of West bee, although we didn't go up any of the side creeks on the north side.  There's something similar looking to this in east Bee.

[weathermansam]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/SyN81gbCDLc&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/SyN81gbCDLc&rel=0</a>

[Uncle Wayne]

Once you reach Trail 205, stay on it instead of taking the first trail right into West Bee as most do and watch for this marker on the left side of trail 205:





The marker was still there last May. I don't remember how far up trail 205 it is but less than half a mile I believe. I marked this way down into WBB in 1990. Once you see this aluminum band, drop off into the drainage on your right and work your way down to the seasonal stream.  Follow it until it drops off into WBB canyon and go to the left of the falls about 40 feet and you'll see "steps" that will allow you to get down inside the canyon. Follow the bluff line to your left and you'll see the A frame formation in about 100 yards or so.  If you go to the right of the waterfall instead of left, and look carefully, you'll find this:



Only a very few of these have been found in the BNF.  I know of 3.

Let's keep this way into WBB secret.  

[weathermansam]

Once you reach Trail 205, stay on it instead of taking the first trail right into West Bee as most do and watch for this marker on the left side of trail 205:


The marker was still there last May. I don't remember how far up trail 205 it is but less than half a mile I believe. I marked this way down into WBB in 1990. Once you see this aluminum band, drop off into the drainage on your right and work your way down to the seasonal stream.  Follow it until it drops off into WBB canyon and go to the left of the falls about 40 feet and you'll see "steps" that will allow you to get down inside the canyon. Follow the bluff line to your left and you'll see the A frame formation in about 100 yards or so.  If you go to the right of the waterfall instead of left, and look carefully, you'll find this:

Only a very few of these have been found in the BNF.  I know of 3.

Let's keep this way into WBB secret.  

Thanks to the wonders of Google, this post now shows in the top ten when you search for "west bee branch".  It won't be secret for long. 

The eagle arborglyph that DavidR posted a photo of a while back is now in the first page of images when you image search for just the word "arborglyph" on google. 

[Joshua Szulecki]

Yeah, I've noticed that we automatically become the #1 search result for all things Sipsey. Shows how little else there is out there, I guess, and how prolific we've been.

This is precisely why I don't disclose precise wildflower locations in the clear. AND, it is why I don't like geotagging photos.

[DavidR]

It is surprising how little current factual information is available for BNF. I make sure to leave out any specific details about caves or private property pois when I post. I feel like BNF is somewhat safer than say Pinhotti in the way that most pois are more difficult to get to and perhaps that protects them, but I still only share waypoints or coordinates with people I know to some extent and feel like appreciate the forest  enough to preserve it. I read at backpacker and scour the internet doing research and haven't found any site that has as much unique and insightful information as Alatrails. It attribute that to the mobility and passion of the Alatrails members. Rock on!

[weathermansam]

Once you reach Trail 205, stay on it instead of taking the first trail right into West Bee as most do and watch for this marker on the left side of trail 205:

 If you go to the right of the waterfall instead of left, and look carefully, you'll find this:



Only a very few of these have been found in the BNF.  I know of 3.

Let's keep this way into WBB secret.  

I search for probably an hour and a half this afternoon for this and never found it.  Many of the bluff shelters in this area have been dug up, some pretty bad.

[Uncle Wayne]

I search for probably an hour and a half this afternoon for this and never found it.  Many of the bluff shelters in this area have been dug up, some pretty bad.

I search for probably an hour and a half this afternoon for this and never found it.  Many of the bluff shelters in this area have been dug up, some pretty bad.

Yeah, sorry if my post was misleading. It's not as easy to find as my post makes it sound. 

Did you find the A frame formation?

If you continue on past the A frame along the bluffline, there is a bluff shelter an old hermit used as a shelter, or so my father-in-law says.  The description of the way into WBB from trail 205 is the way he used in and out. 

[jokrswylde]

I search for probably an hour and a half this afternoon for this and never found it.  Many of the bluff shelters in this area have been dug up, some pretty bad.

This may be a silly question, but what is this?
oops, I mean the picture from above....