MY PHOTOGRAPHS. Attached are photos showing panoramic views of Maple Canyon, where I took these photos from either Vista Peak Loop Trail (located on southern slope of Maple Canyon) or from Ziele Creek Trail (located on northern slope of Maple Canyon). Also attached are photos of trees covered with an awesome evening gown consisting of bright green moss. In addition, attached is a photograph of my assistant, Strawberry Shortcake, standing next to a little waterfall in Ziele Creek. NAMES OF THE TRAILS AND THE CREEK. For orientation, I first describe the trail that runs from east-to-west and resides on the slope to the NORTH of Ziele Creek, and regarding the trail that runs from east-to-west and resides on the slope to the SOUTH of Ziele Creek. The trail to the north is Ziele Creek Trail, and the trail to the south is Garin Woods Trail. These two trails form a stringed bean-shaped loop trail with Ziele Creek running through the center of the stringed bean. I walked in dry parts of the streambed of Ziele Creek and, in this way, explored all of the areas within the stringed bean loop trail. A bridge is easy to find at the eastern tip of the stringed bean loop trail, but I was not able to find any bridge at the western tip of the stringed bean loop trail. STARTING YOUR HIKE. The views of Maple Canyon from trailhead (located at the end of Calhoun Street) and from the nearby parts of Vista Peak Loop Trail are magnificent. Part of my day's hike was also along Ziele Creek Trail, which is located on the northern slope above the creek. In some parts, Ziele Creek Trail is forty meters above the creek, and this provides a splendid view of the tree-covered center of Maple Canyon and of the little groves of deciduous trees that find a home in isolated spots of Maple Canyon. The lowest parts of the canyon takes the form of a shady forest, and the surrounding areas take the form of a vast field of light-colored dried grasses. For starting my hike, I used the trailhead located at the eastern terminus of Calhoun Road. I parked in the dirt at the side of the road. Starting from the trailhead at the end of Calhoun Road, after a couple of minutes hiking to the southeast on Vista Peak Loop Trail, I arrived at a fork in the trail, and I took the downhill fork. After a minute on this downhill path, there is another fork in the trail, where there is a choice between taking a higher elevation trail called Garin Woods Trail and a lower elevation trail, also called Garin Woods Trail. The lower elevation trail is located deep in the canyon, and about thirty feet above Ziele Creek. SCENERY IN THE SHADE. Ziele Creek resides at the lowest point in Maple Canyon. Ziele Creek flows from east to west. Garin Woods Trail provides a view of many ferns and of trees covered with bright green moss and, here and there, you can see Ziele Creek between the trees, where the creek is about thirty feet below Garin Woods Trail. After hiking eastwards for 30 minutes on Garin Woods Trail, I decided to go off-trail and hike down the slope, and then hike westwards in the stoney stream bed for about 30 minutes, taking photographs of parts of the creek that contained pools of water, and that contained a tiny waterfall. The map on mapcarta.com shows the part of Garin Woods Trail that is near the stream, and it also shows the part of Garin Woods Trail that is higher up on Vista Peak. Google maps completely disregards Garin Woods Trail, and it gives you the false impression that the only trail near Ziele Creek is the one called, Ziele Creek Trail. Google maps shows only the half of the stringed bean-shaped loop trail that runs parallel to and is close to the north bank of Ziele Creek. PARKING AREA WITH MANY MORE PARKING SPOTS. Park on Thorup Lane or on Ziele Creek Drive. Trailhead is where these two small streets meet each other. COMPLETING THE STRINGED-BEAN SHAPED LOOP TRAIL. On two occasions in January 2021, I hiked the entire stringed bean-shaped loop trail (described above). The following problem applies to the western end of the stringed bean-shaped loop trail. On both occasions, I was not able to find any bridge that allows you to get from the northern slope of Maple Canyon, and then over the creek, and to the southern slope of Maple Canyon. Instead of taking any trail that crossed the creek with a bridge, I hiked down the northern slope of Maple Canyon, jumped over a shallow part of the creek, and then left the creek area by crawling up the southern slope of Maple Canyon. Because the southern slope that rises above the creek is steep, I crawled up using an improvised zig-zag path. Actually, I walked up (I didn't crawl up) and I grabbed any available roots and nearby branches in order to pull myself up the steep slope. In this way, I easily got back to Garin Woods Trail, and from there returned to my parking spot at the end of Calhoun Street. I hope some that that I can find a bridge across this part of the creek. read more