It's been a minute since I posted my last trip report, but I feel like I need to start up again posting more, for all of us who are old-and-slow (or folks with young children). Here goes.
The sun on Thursday screamed at us to "GET OUTSIDE" so I looked up trip reports for one of my favorite nearby hikes (Big Creek). But it looks like it still might have snow higher up, so we went to Ranger Hole instead.
We were immediately greeted at the old guard station to two Pileated Woodpeckers who were hammering out some kind of agreement in the big trees. One high, one low. We searched and searched but could not see them. So we traveled on.
I love this little hike. Though it's still not spring enough to see plants actively budding, you can sense the anticipation and glee just below the surface. Any day now, the red huckleberries will bloom and the vine maples bust out.
Ranger Hole never disappoints. The color of the Duckabush River is spectacular. We lounged for some time in the sun hoping to see a Dipper zip by (which we did).
This is a short hike, and when we got back to the car, a picnic table was IN THE SUN. So we had our lunch and reacquainted ourselves with how to drive to Murhut Falls (thanks WTA for the tip to combine these two hikes).
Both the paved road to Ranger Hole and the gravel road to Murhut are fine, as long as you keep a good watch out for potholes on the gravel leg. The Murhut trail has two small trees across the trail just a short ways from the start (Chainsaw anyone? It would only take a minute to cut these out of the way, but they are easily navigated if they are still there when you go.)
We did not see a single person on either trail today. I'm sure a sunny day on the weekend would be different.
Get out there and walk these two trails and it will settle you right down.
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