Beaver Lake, Old Sauk River Trail — Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020

We did a 'two-fer' hike today, lots of bang for the buck! First we did Beaver Lake, a short easy trail along the Sauk River. The trail is in good shape, only one significant old blowdown that's been there awhile, there is a foothold and hand hold cut in it to help. The trail is muddy in spots with slick clay mud, you will want boots. We saw 2 eagles hanging out along the river, and we could smell why, a dead salmon along the bank. Nice views of Mt Pugh once the fog cleared off.  It is sad to see the bridge collapse and the loss of the rest of the trail. I wish it would get fixed. We saw no one until we almost back to the car. Loo open no TP.

We then drove up the road, planning to hike from the west TH to Murphy Creek and back, however that TH was full, so we parked at the main TH. The loo was unlocked but some AH had vandalized the door handle so I had to use a stick to open it. This is another easy hike along the Sauk, but longer. It's a nice forest walk with some views out to the river. We hiked toward the west TH.  There has been a bridge repair at the west end of the trail very recently, the wood has not weathered. I was shocked at the number of people on this trail today, I've been here many times before and never saw this many people, even in the summer. Must be the Covid effect. Mask compliance was high.