DuPuis - Red Hike

A couple of months ago we hiked the "yellow" trail at DuPuis; next up was the "red" trail, which we were able to do this week. Just like last time, the posts didn't quite match up with our map, so we did a bit of back-tracking. However, it was a beautiful day, we had a great time, and we completed our goal.

The plan was to park at the Pond Picnic Area, walk down the road a bit and take the Red Trail counter-clockwise, head north on the combined red/yellow segment, skip the little detour to the Equestrian Campground (since we'd already done that), and return along the Red Trail to the road and then back to the picnic area.

In actuality, we came to a sign that sent us due west, and even though there weren't any blazes along that path, it did get us to the road. However, we didn't come out along the trail we should have, so we went clockwise back along that path. We could have then retraced our steps, but we didn't feel like crossing the two creeks again, so took the easy route along the road back to the car. (And we didn't need to "connect the dots" because we had already done that section before.)

We started as planned, going down the road to find Post #11, then heading west (via #13, #15 and #17) to Post #19 at the boundary.

The next little section was a repeat from our May hike, south to Post #23. Then it was back to the east and the road, where we found Post #27 (via #21, #25, and #29).

 

Up to this point, our feet had stayed dry, but that changed once we crossed the road, passing Post #62 on our way to Post #58.

On the combined red/yellow trail, we headed toward Post #50, but never actually found it. Instead we ended up at this unnamed post, which directed us west to Post #13. It didn't make sense, and there were no blazes, but we did end up where it said we ought to.

And instead of heading directly to the car, we did take the last bit of red/pink trail back to Post #8 so that we could cover every foot of the Red Loop.

Our reward? Delicious Christmas ham sandwiches with nice cold drinks back at the picnic area!