It's been way too long since I hit the trail so this Memorial Day I traded my traditional car camping and backyard BBQ's for a nice solo hike. I didn't get to the trail head until a little after 1 pm and there were only 2 other cars there. I only ran into 2 groups of people the whole hike and we were all courteous and respectful about giving each other the recommended breathing room.

The trail starts out pretty clear and easy going, but quickly gets pretty grown over. There are a fair amount of nettles overgrowing the path so I highly recommend pants and long sleeves. I wish I had a rain layer on my bottom half. I was just wearing leggings and they protected me from nettles, but because it had been raining, I got pretty wet from brushing up against the wet leaves. Luckily, they dry quick! There were also quite a few trees down that I had to climb under or over, but all were pretty easily manageable, with the exception of one large one that is down on a slope and goes all the way down to the river. It's easier to get over than it is on the way back because the ground is lower on the other side. Again, I made it happen, but depending on your physical level (or willingness to scramble), you may not want to deal with it. A small portion of the trail was muddy, but again, it had been raining. With hiking boots, it wasn't bad. 

All of that said, the scenery on this hike is beautiful! You follow along the Saulk river a good chunk of it with very little elevation so between the rush of the water and mother nature's soundtrack, it was an easy and relaxing hike. The forest floor was in full bloom and there was plenty to look at and admire along the way. The lake at the end was serene and bursting with wildlife! There were multiple beaver lodges and I saw a couple beavers in the water making their way home. There was also an assortment of song birds, a wood pecker doing its thing, frogs, and even a salamander. I stood on the boarded off bridge/view platform for a solid 20 minutes just taking it all in before turning back around.

Easy hike with lots of stinging nettles and soon to be salmon berries. Wear pants. Parts of the trail was narrow and overgrown but mostly pleasant with a few trees down to climb over.

Tadpoles galore at beaver lake and a few other wildlife sightings of a garter snake, frogs and a few cool bugs.

Parking lot was full on a sunny 80° Saturday. Passed a lot of people which is undesirable for me on a trail but it was what it was. My man & I did not go to the trails end, maybe a mile in and turned around. Wildflowers present, salmon berries coming in ~2-3weeks.

**There is a tree down that requires some light climbing to pass over it. If you are pretty much in shape you will be OK, the surrounding roots are firm enough to act as handles, nothing crazy. No extra gear required for us, mid twenties people.


*****The stinging nettles are something to watch out for on this trail. Wear long pants or else they will get you.

Couldn't get to trailhead for Peek-a-Boo Lake so detoured to Beaver and Whitechuck instead. Was a beautiful and quiet drive through Darrington, no complaints with traffic car nor people-wise. Stunning, tranquil, many random offside viewpoints offered panoramic views. 

In my home stretch of lowland hikes before the snow melts!  Beaver Lake was first on my list, and I was pleasantly surprised by this one.  It's pretty much a straight path forward, but there are many side trails out to Sauk River on your right.  The second such path leads to a USGS monitoring station, but if you drop down the rock steps, you'll reach a nice little beach along the peridot water.  I couldn't find a trail at the end of the beach, so I retraced my steps.  

There's tons of skunk cabbage growing along the swampy sides, and I think they're quite beautiful in the sunlight.  Yes, the slide/blowdown is still there, but it's easily navigable if you go down by the beach which you'll want to anyway to see pretty Mt. Pugh which is so stark in the distance.  This was my favorite part of the hike.  You climb the embankment (follow the footsteps) back up to the trail where you'll soon reach Beaver Lake (more like a pond).  I didn't see any beavers unfortunately, but I did see their wonderful dams.  Maybe the beavers gnawned down that bridge so we couldn't cross and disturb their little beaver city!

I headed over to White Chuck Bench, but hadn't read the directions so clearly, and followed the brown sign on the left of Mountain Loop Highway that said "White Chuck Bench TH 6 miles," to get to the upper trailhead instead of going towards the lower trailhead via the White Chuck Boat Launch.  However, after reading trip reports for that hike, it appears that these are 2 ends of the same trail and that the middle is really overgrown and full of blowdowns so they no longer realistically connect.

I just made it to the trailhead with my Forester although there was a bit of snow and some potholes (esp at the beginning of Road 23).  The first part is very easygoing, well-maintained, and meanders around the serene forest.  Once you start heading down, the trail rounds a bend where you'll cross a bridge over falls, then see a view of Mt. Pugh sandwiched between two other mountains.  This was the nicest part of this trail IMO, and as I sauntered along thinking I'd eventually reach White Chuck River, little did I know I never would.  This trail is somewhat misleading because at some points it feels like it's winding its way down to the river.  In fact, you'll run into more and more questionable blowdowns and hopefully finally give up like I did.  I went about 3 miles in until I started getting a weird feeling and then sulkily turned around because I was too tired to do any more "exploring."  This hike has the potential for some nice side trails that lead to the river, but so far there aren't any that I could find.

All in all, still a wonderful day of hiking although I reminded myself to prepare a little better next time.  You can actually get good views of White Chuck River and Mountain from Road 23, and I paused to take photos at one point.  Spring is just around the corner, so enjoy those winter hikes to the max!