We were in need of a quick overnighter...

We hit the trailhead at about 11:00 on Saturday and found the parking area near capacity. We pulled on boots and packs, signed in on the sopping wet pages of the trail register and at about 11:30 began what should be an easy four and a half mile hike to the campsites at the river ford.

The weather was a cloudy and cool. But that just makes for nice hiking. At about one mile from the trailhead, the trail crosses a small saddle and cuts east along the south slope of the ridge above Boulder River. There's a large camp site at the saddle, occupied by a scout troop. Just beyond the camp, the trail enters the Boulder River Wilderness. From this point, we no longer see clearcuts on the hillsides around, just the plantlife and the river below to our right. The trees were mostly cedars and hemlock. Trilliums and dog tooth violets were in bloom along the trail, along with the salmon berries.

The trail is mostly forested with some openings with views of the river with its tumbling rapids and deep pools. Also along the south bank were waterfalls dropping into the river. Truly a beautiful sight!

The trail is crossed by several streams, some small enough to step across, some in deeper ravines requiring a bridge. Most of the bridges were fine, but one puncheon bridge was obliterated by a fallen tree (imagine a log three or four feet in diameter broken in two like a matchstick by another tree!). Another puncheon bridge (near the end of the trail) was shaky, and the posts for the (missing) wire ""handrail"" were broken off. There is a path down into the ravine and up the other side. Going to camp, we opted for the ravine route, as the bridge was looking really slick.

Along with the two bridge problems, there were 11 instances of blowdown we considered major (either had to detour off trail to cross, belly crawl under or over). One of section covered 30 to 40 feet of trail.

Blowdown and bridges behind us, we reached the campsites at the old river ford. There used to be a trail (still shown on some maps) from the south bank of the river to a pass on the south side, but the trail is gone now, and no indication of where it comes to the river bank.

We picked a nice site right on the bank. There were nice views of Mt. Bullon from our campsite and other areas along the bank.

I awoke the next morning to the yellow in the canopy of our tent glowing. Could it be? Sun? THIS weekend, when it was supposed to be raining? Sure enough, blue sky and sun! We lingered.

We made our way out the trail somewhat reluctantly, but we were feeling good for the night out. On the way back, we braved the wobbly, ""handrail""-less puncheon. It wasn't too bad, but I think in the future, I'd use the ravine trail.

We passed lots of hikers out for dayhikes, many with dogs. Be took a lunch break at the saddle. In looking down at the campsite, there is a large square out of logs, kind of like someone at one time had built, or started to build, a cabin there. With many of the stumps in the area having been notched for springboards, it's possible that someone had built a cabin there once.

We did see lots of mosquitos. Larger and slower than we're used to. That made it nice for killing them before they got to us. We saw two different kinds of hummingbirds (enjoying the salmonberry blossoms) and a cicada as well!

Over all a wonderful way to spend the weekend!