Boulder River

Driving up the highway it was incredibly tempting to throw caution to the wind and hike up high for some views, but I forced myself to be good and stick to lowland trails for another week while my knee gets back to strength. Back to Boulder River, one year to the day since my last visit. This time I brought my tripod along since it was a significantly drier day.

I was surprised to see seven other cars at the trailhead on arrival! It turned out to be a boy-scout backpacking trip along with several other parties camping out too. I wandered up the trail at my normal sluggish pace, dropping down to the river level at Feature Show falls for some photos. I dinked around here for a long time until the sun rose high enough over the ridge to spoil my fun. It's a very pretty trail on a bright day but much more atmospheric under clouds.

Goofing around with my macro lens I actually hit my turnaround time of 1pm, surprising give it isn't a hard trip. No matter though, the end of the trail is pretty anticlimactic, petering out at the river. The river was really raging and I found enough mushrooms and other small things to keep me busy. I made the return trip in significantly less time. Boulder falls was really raging loud, tempting me to drop down there, but I left for later to give myself a reason to return.

Trail conditions: Road to trailhead has some potholes, drive careful. One spot where the road passes through the clearcut looks like it might be a little undermined. Trail is very muddy in the last half and a little slick. Some small creek crossings are running above boot-depth. Trekking poles helpful.

Full trip photos here: http://www.pbase.com/billcat/boulderriver2