Date Hiked: June 2, 2014
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)
From Tassajara Cutoff to Willow Creek: it is quite easy to follow. There are a few deadfalls but none to cause more than a gentle duck under or step over. One needs to push through a little brush but nothing serious; most of section is comfortably clear. However, Deerweed and such are pushing hikers and thus tread downslope and there is a fair bit of work needed doing to stop that. Trail section is dry until near Willow Creek at which point water is not needed.
[Editor's note: presumably the writer means to say "Tassajara Creek," since the Horsepasture Trail does not go to Willow Creek. The Horsepasture Trail starts on Tassajara Road, and crosses Tassajara Creek just before ending at the Marble Peak Trail.]
To Editor: I really did mean, correctly, Willow Creek. I've added "From" above. That should make it more obvious that I was talking about Horse Pasture Trail, which never comes close to Tassajara Creek.
[Editor's response: please review any map of the area which will clearly show the confluence of Tassajara Creek and Willow Creek. Downstream from that confluence the name of the creek is Tassajara Creek. A mile to the east, the Horsepasture Trail crosses Tassajara Creek. For more on naming conventions, where a stream below a confluence retains the name of the larger of the two streams:
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/tributary/?ar_a=1To Editor: OK. OK You are right, the by far longer creek is Tassajara. But it has confused not just me but many others (
http://cacreeks.com/ and
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/ to name two) that a nice straight canyon should be named by what "feels" like a side stream. Every one of the 15 or so times I have hiked towards Strawberry Camp, I have had the strongest feeling that Tassajara Creek, which just appears out of a side canyon, was just a side stream/tributary. The mapping does not help much because one sees a straight stream named "Willow Creek Creek". The topo map should have continued the name "Tassajara" after the junction and/or "Willow Creek" should have been named "Willow Cr.". The problem for me is that the Tassajara Creek CANYON is a tributary CANYON, in relative size at the junction, to the main CANYON which starts with Willow Creek. At least the Tassajara side canyon seems obviously smaller to me when I am walking it.