We arrived at the parking lot around 8:30ish. There were a few cars but no one around. Across the gorgeous gluelam beam bridge and we were on our way!
We hiked to the river access view point about 4.1 miles in then took that loop down to the water's edge for lunch before heading back. In hindsight I think the extra 3/4 of a mile to the intersection with the Dingford Creek trail (I think it's called?) would have been good to see the bridge there. The river access loop we took did not have the best river access or seating area for lunch but it was all good.
My hiking partner was expecting a challenging water crossing along the way but it was bone dry this year. She had seen it booming on a previous hike and was very surprised at the lack of water this time of year.
Lots of flowers blooming along the trail. We also tried multiple Salmonberrys but frankly they did not have much flavor. But always fun to eat berries growing in the wild.
No large animals spotted but we did see a Pacific Wren, a Douglas squirrel and a very large toad in the middle of the trail nowhere near a water source. Go figure? One of my favorite things was the tree that had fallen over but still managed to stay connected to the stump with some very bendy wood. (Pic attached.) Nature is amazing!
Total round trip for this day was 8.45 miles. We ended with a foot soak in the river back near the parking lot before heading back to civilization. *Sigh*
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