I walk portions of this trail quite often, tacked onto longer neighborhood rambles. Today's included the southern side which has been "de-mudded." Someone has filled in the muddiest portions of the south leg near 15th with gravel (THANKS, trail angel!) making it much nicer footing.
We headed west to see if I could catch a better look at birds on the ponds. I brought binoculars in my pack this time, so I was able to discern a pied-billed grebe on the south pond, a first in December.
Unfortunately, my dog's archnemesis (well, he reacts, in any case) was hot on our heels so we turned south at I-5 rather than continuing north and visited the Licorice Fern Natural Area and some little free libraries as we rambled. We didn't go far into Licorice Fern as it is incredibly muddy and slick with leaves, plus I had on tennis shoes not boots, but it did allow my dog to get a drink of water. The hammock is still hanging there but other than a few pieces of trash I didn't see evidence of anyone camping out there.
Our total excursion was 92 minutes / 3.5 miles including 18 bird species (and 3 interesting books). Trying successfully to beat the next rain storm.
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