Oxbow Loop Trail — Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025

The temperature was 42 as we began our meander from the larger parking lot with the 2 outhouses which were clean and well-stocked with TP! Not more than half a block from the parking lot we found our first highlight of the day!: several bird's nest fungi on a log lining the right side of the trail. They are one of our favorite finds and we had not seen any in over a year! Here we talked to 3 who were just beginning their walk. They were probably in their 60's and called themselves "meanderthals"! That's us, too, plus 20 years! When we came to the junction at the first and smaller parking lot, they did the trail counter clockwise and we went clockwise. We visited with them until we came to the junction and again when we met at the bridge where we first saw the 3 river otters as they swam away from the bridge. We saw the otters from the bluff in two different areas as we returned to the TH. They were fun to watch, but they were in the distance so hard to photograph. A big thank you to those who cleared the many, many, many blowdowns from the bomb cyclone! The moss covered trees, ferns, mountain views, bluff-top views of the river and lake, blue skies and no wind made this a beautiful 3 hour outing!  There are a few moss-covered log benches along the way.