Official stats: 8.4 miles, 800 feet gain
via Nutmeg orienteering: 11.6 miles, 1,900' gain (oops)

My husband and I hiked this trail for the first time today, our 24th wedding anniversary. It was sunny! The road (Palo Alto to 2880 like going to Dungeness to 2870) to the trailhead was just fine for our Prius. My friend told me the Lost Mt-Taylor Cutoff is pretty potholey. We were going to park at the large TH on the left shortly after crossing the Grey Wolf, but when we pulled in we could not immediately see the trail and opted to continue up the road, so we parked & started from the current TH. Pics of trail are at: http://www.flickr.com/[…]/

Despite obvious and much appreciated drainage work, the trail is muddy in several spots as it follows an overgrown old logging road. In fact, this trail was pretty muddy altogether; watch your step as the heavy clay content makes for some slick spots. In a short way we came to a cutoff to Cat Creek and took it, knowing from our book that it loops back to join the main trail. However, when it intersected with what we thought was the main trail (there’s a sign “Cat Creek” pointing back the way we’d come), we were confused as to whether we should go left or right. It didn’t really seem like we’d looped. We consulted our map, my husband’s GPS, and after much deliberation and dizzying logic, headed confidently in the incorrect direction. Well, that took us through lovely woods and down, down to road 2870 and the first TH. Oops. Back up we headed. Lesson: when Cat Creek intersects a trail, the right way is RIGHT. Shortly after our little jaunt of maybe a mile(?) and 700’ down then back up, we reconnected with Lower Gray Wolf.

It drops down to the river and some nice gravel beaches, then goes back up, up and well away from the gorgeous river (why?), then back down to the river at a lovely campsite where we stopped for lunch. I found a mossy rock with a great view up the river and sat watching the sunlight and water play with each other until I noticed I was shivering. Snow lingered in the moss on the rocks around me, and there was a chill breeze off the river. 45 minute respite over, we headed back up trail, again up and away, far away from the pretty river. The woods are lovely, with moss so thick it encroaches on the trail in spots. Most of the trail is well cleared, with one log to duck under on a washed out area (tread nicely rebuilt here), and a jumble to go over, under, and through a bit farther on. There is one wonky old bridge to cross. It looks a tad treacherous, but just use the center stringer that shows through and it’s easy peasy. Another campsite by the river proved too much for my husband, and I left him there basking in the sun while I continued on.

Another climb up, some lovely woods with a few downed trees easily stepped over, drop back to the river, then as you just start to climb the trail ends abruptly. You can see the washout and part of an old bridge on the other side. There’s some orange flagging on a small cedar to the right, and a social trail going steeply up. I followed it for a ways, but it’s neither safe nor pretty, so I dropped back down to the river for a few moments’ stillness and solitude, then headed back to hubby. I turned a corner to see him at the top of the hill above where he’d stopped. He was laying ½ in the trail, apparently trapped by a clever snare of deep moss and spring sun. Grinning, he said he’d come to find me but was caught in the deep, comfy moss. In a heroic rescue attempt, I too was trapped and we lay there ½-conscious in the sun for about half hour, listening to the river below us and watching lazy clouds drift through a blue, blue sky. Ahhhhhhh.

We finally roused ourselves and headed back, finding our car to be ever so much nearer on the way out without the little detour. However, I recommend Cat Creek because the main trail along the old road is not as pretty as is very muddy. We saw only 3 other hikers this whole, sunny day (though it was a Monday). Lower Gray Wolf is a nice winter or early season hike with enough moss to please anyone, lots of nice woods, and a few (not enough!) gorgeous sections right along the river.