Swofford Pond — Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020

My wife and I walked this trail as part of a camping jaunt at Mayfield Lake.  The trail starts at a pullout along Green Mountain Road; there's a pull thru driveway and porta potty (which was in pretty good shape) - bring your Discover Pass.  The trail is flat (a bit mooshy in places) and follows along the south end of the pond, offering some views (but no fishing as the trail doesn't touch the pond - park on waysides along Green Mountain Road if you want to fish).  The trail crosses and overlaps some private roads (one appears to head up to Green Mountain Road, the other to a hayfield).  Keep track, the trail starts back up after a couple turns.  There is a conifer forest about a mile in; the clover and sorrel provide a deep rich green to the forest floor.  Inexplicably, the trail, which is not marked at the beginning, offers several "hiker" signs (depicting two people walking) placed on unset fence posts leaning on trees, as if it's a project not quite finished.  I wrote Tacoma Power requesting them to add signage.  The trail crosses Sulphur Creek, which has a falls (we hear) but there is no access, short of an overgrown deer trail, from here.  Bugs could be a problem without a breeze, and wear long pants!  There were some nettles along the thinner portions of the path.  A nice, quiet nature walk to get away from a noisy campground.