203/207 hike

[jnunniv]

I'm considering a "loop" hike of 203/207.  One car at each trailhead to make things easy. 

There are quite a few posts that describe 203 as being less than desirable, but they are also over 3 years old...  How is the condition of 203 now?  If you were going to do this combo, would you start at 203 or 207? or does it matter?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

[bramblypines]

Both 203 and 207 still have a lot of down trees from the tornado.
The forest service put the work out to bid so wild south was not
allowed to finish clearing them. Check with the ranger station or
the forest service website to see if they are open. I am not sure
when the contractor will start working on them.

[jnunniv]

My bad.... I should have checked their website first. 

According to the forest website, 203 is open. Would you suggest a 203/200 hike?  Which direction of travel?

[bramblypines]

Ending at the Sipsey picnic grounds would probably be the easiest. If you have already
done 200 and want a change you can hike the west side of Borden creek and cross at
the junction with the Sipsey also since you are on the west side you would be close enough
to go to Falls Creek falls. You are looking at 7-8 miles, a good day's hike. I believe 203 is open
but not totally cleared so it may be slow going in some places.

[Ewker]

Both 203 and 207 still have a lot of down trees from the tornado.
The forest service put the work out to bid so wild south was not
allowed to finish clearing them. Check with the ranger station or
the forest service website to see if they are open. I am not sure
when the contractor will start working on them.

do you have a link to the forest website for Sipsey.

Thanks

[weathermansam]

Current trail closures

[Roscoe]

203 has been cleared from end to end and is a beautiful trail. 207 has had Wild South work crews comming in from the North and South and has had all but the middle one mile cleared and from what I've seen it should only have normal blow downs. You have to squeeze thru some blow downs on the horse trail that links the north end of 207

[stoic12]

I called the ranger station last week to inquire about reopening timeframes - lady there said 206/209/204 corridor (209 from 204 to 206 isn't listed as closed on website but she indicated that it was) will likely not be reopened until February 2012.  I was in there the week after the tornado not realizing it was officially closed and 206 was a total disaster.  209 from 204 wasn't in bad shape at all - guessing 209 between 200 and 204 isn't bad either as the tornado path ran basically from north of ship rock over the bluff to the big tree/204 area.  She said FS has bid the work out to a contractor but they still have to use hand saws and have estimated a February completion date.

[weathermansam]

I ventured down Thompson last weekend looping out after camping on Quillan.  There are two really bad sections, from the eye down to where the trail turns uphill toward Auburn Falls, and from the last major intermittent drainage until Almost the White Oak Hollow junction.  The middle section is pretty clean.  There is damage on Quillan and along the stretch of Hubbbard between the junction of Quillan and Thompson.  Here's some photos from the trip if anyone wants to see the damage.  Page 4 and 5 are from Eye of the Needle to the Thompson trailhead.  http://www.weathermansam....091611camping/index4.html  FYI, the chiggers are pretty crazy out there right now.  Worse than the ticks. 

[wirerat123]

Me and the little lady did 207 this weekend, and there was a ton of blow downs starting about a mile and a half in.  It was rough going, and only got  worse the farther we got in.  The trail has obviously seen a lot less use as there are times where it literally blends into the wood and is hard to keep up with. 

We hopped to the other side of the creek and carried on and it didn't get any better.  In fact at about the 2 mile mark it was near un-passable, it was a slow go, and I wasn't hanging anywhere near any tornado damage.  It got dark and we ended up camping under the stars next to a cliff face.

Still beautiful out there.