Muro Blanco or Arrow Creek/Basin

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Cross Country
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Re: Muro Blanco or Arrow Creek/Basin

Post by Cross Country »

Camp at Stripped Mountain Lake one night.
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Zoltan
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Re: Muro Blanco or Arrow Creek/Basin

Post by Zoltan »

I hiked up the MB last summer in early June. It was quite brutal as others have stated. The river was obviously uncrossable early on - and even as we got closer to Bench Lake it took many attempts to find a safe place to cross (we were heading up to Arrow Peak area so we had to cross eventually).

The brush is extraordinarily difficult at times, and when we reached Kid Creek, it took many hours to go a half a mile. We hit it in early afternoon and even getting to the creek through the brush was insane. There were a couple moments where I was stuck like a fly in a spider web. When we finally reached the creek it was uncrossable, so we climbed up to try to find an easier ford - no dice - too much water! We were forced to hack our way back down and camp. We were able to cross pre-dawn the next morning but it was dicey. Of course it was a pretty big snow year last year, and early season, so it would be easier in lower water conditions.

Overall it took three days, mostly due to brush and the problem at Kid Creek. It wasn't so beautiful that I would go back; there are less demanding places with similar scenery in KCNP. Maybe coming down in September or October so you could cross the creek to find the easiest path through the brush. If you do try it, prepare to be frustrated at times, and consider a very durable pack as you will be dealing with a lot of vegetation. My Conduit made it OK.
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