Soda Springs, Nile Ridge — Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024

The Lost Trails Found crew was back working on  the Nile Ridge and Soda Springs trails to close out our season. We started on the Nile Ridge Trail and cleared 149 logs. The trail should now be clear of all blowdowns! We also did 230 feet of tread work at the top of Nile Ridge trail. The trail is still in pretty rough shape after the fire. The tread is crumbly and hard to follow in many places and there are also many social and game trails in the area which can make it difficult to find the actual trail. Just look out for cut logs, and you should be good!

After working on Nile Ridge we moved down to Soda Springs. We removed 175 logs on Soda Springs. Soda Springs should now also be clear of blowdowns! In addition, we did a mile of brushing on the upper portion of the trail. The upper section of Soda Springs is not in a burn and is easy to follow, but as you move lower down and into the burn the trail can easily be lost. Again, look out for cut logs to help guide your way. 

All in all, we cleared 324 logs during this trip and opened up 4 miles of trail! 

Camping: We camped at the Clover Springs Trailhead. There are two pit toilets, but don’t expect any toilet paper. There’s no water at the trailhead. There were tons of great camping spots in the live trees, just watch out for the big leaner near the pit toilet. Also, you can get a decent view of Rainier from the ridge just to the west of the trailhead.

Road Conditions: FS-1600 to the Clover Springs Trailhead is rough, particularly the last two miles. I would not recommend going up to the top without a high clearance vehicle or without AWD/4X4. It's better to access these trails from the Bumping Lake side. 

Flora and Fauna: tons of larches on the drive up, and a few on the non-burned section of Soda Springs. Lots of little baby larches just starting to come in after the fire, as well.