This was more or less the route taken on our first visit, but that time there was little in the way of water. Not so this time!
There was even a bit of a waterfall towards the junction of Lagoon and Toyon Canyon trails (if I recall correctly)
The rushing water created some funny formations in the dirt:
and also made a quagmire of the trails:
here the water is pouring into a squirrel hole and rushing along some ways below the trail. It was a little eerie to realize how porous the seemingly solid roadway actually is. Somewhere along Old Briones Road there was apparently a collapse and the whole system filled in with a homogeneous mass of slop
it doesn't really look too horrid here, but that slight depression is from where I stepped and got sucked in almost to my knees. Had a moment of wondering whether I should regard this as quicksand, but was able to step backwards on to solid ground, not without effort and fear of losing my boots. Though I tried to stomp and shake the mud as I went, and to rinse it off once I reached the parking area, there were still wet gobs up to 3/8" thick on my pant legs the next day (yay for zip-offs and not having to deal with them right away!).
There was one last major obstacle, though. A large group of rather boisterous calves (weaners?) mobbed the gate too densely to get Allie through.
Fortunately a pair of hikers who had apparently turned back when they encountered my mud pit came up and were able to clear the way.
