One way to avoid a crowded trail is to hike early in the day, before the rest of the world is out of bed. Another way is to hike on days with a forecast of rain. I tried to head out early, but one thing led to another which led to a stop at Costco where they actually had TOILET PAPER this morning. They I stopped back by home to use the facilities, and to drop off my purchases to keep enterprising thieves from breaking into my car at the trailhead to get at my rolls.
Somehow, it was 9:45 before I was out of my car with my pack on, walking into the wilds of the Little Spokane River Natural Area. There were only five cars in the lot, so I figured I might have a quiet hike. The pit toilet was open and clean, but someone stole the hand sanitizer again. It wasn’t raining any more, so maybe the Costco stop was just good planning. I only saw one hiker on trail 501 along the Little Spokane River. I saw plenty of wildflowers and a couple of geese. The trail was in good condition, and I was delighted to be on it again.
Crossing the access road from SR291, I started uphill on trail 500 on the first of many short climbs followed by level spaces where I could catch my breath. There were lots of flowers blooming here, yellow ones and blue ones, with a few white ones sprinkled in. If you want to know their real names, I am not the right person to ask. They were collectively beautiful. Crossing the same road again at a higher elevation, I continued on an old road for a while before turning uphill on a single track section that WTA built about 5 years ago. I picked up a lot of trash along the way, including a large bottle that lost its magic filling and was left behind.
News flash to new hikers, glass doesn’t decompose. Oranges, orange peel, pistachio shells, TP, and goldfish don’t either. Please pick them up and carry them out. Even when you don’t have your dog along, which you shouldn’t in the natural area, carry a dog poo bag to fill with your TP and trash. There was a trash can at the trailhead by the bathroom. I threw away the trash at the end of my hike and took the bottle home to recycle.
I skipped the overlooks today and continued to my favorite rock overlooking the big bend in the Spokane River. There was one other hiker there, but we had plenty of space between us as we took in the view. It was almost all downhill from there, completing the loop down the switchbacks, admiring how well the work we did two years ago to mitigate damage done by a dozer fighting a wildfire has settled in and the grass and other plants have started filling in the scar.
A few drops of rain fell on me as I followed the old roadbed through the Knothead Valley back to my car. I saw a few birds along the way, and heard even more than I saw. I am not as good at naming birds as I am at naming flowers. They also refuse to sit still for pictures. When I returned to the trailhead, there were twice as many cars there, but I never saw another hiker. It was the perfect hike for solitude, which is now called physical distancing.
Rain in the air makes
A good day for solitude
Chacos on the trail
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