Union Creek — Tuesday, Sep. 9, 2008

Mount Rainier Area > Chinook Pass - Hwy 410

Note that there is road construction on Highway 410, just north of Chinook Pass. Not too much of a delay, though. There were two other cars at the trailhead when we set out on Tuesday, and one when we came back - all waterfall tourists, so we had the rest of the trail to ourselves. Just in case, we wore our "don't shoot me" orange, but saw no evidence of hunters. Either apparent trailhead from the parking lot will get you to the trail, but only the signed trailhead has a supply of permits. The trail is in good shape, although quite dusty in the sun. There were just enough small creek crossings to keep the dog watered. No bugs at all. Good mix of sun and shade. About 5-7 minutes from the trailhead you need to ford the river (ankle deep) or cross on a motley collection of logs. In another 5 minutes, there is a turnoff on your left that takes you down to the waterfall. This trail is pretty straightforward. There is another trail in another 5 minutes that requires a good deal more trepidation, but takes you right to the waterfall pool (where it is windy and cold!). The waterfall trail leads straight off the main trail and downhill. The main trail switchbacks to your right and heads uphill. In another 10 minutes or so (these are all slow hiker times), there's a camp on the left with a view of the biggest shelf conk I have ever seen (on a large snag to the right). At this point the trail is switchbacky and steep - it gentles out after a mile or so. The North Fork Union Creek crossing is about two miles in. It has a nice log bridge. Our dog is fearless about these things, but some dogs might find the narrow bridge a bit alarming.* There is also a horse ford near the bridge, and a horse camp just beyond. We camped at the first site we saw once the trail dropped back down to the creek. The site is large and easily visible from the trail, but required a fair bit of cross-country travel and blowdown limbo to reach. Lots of puffballs at the site (tasty!). Guy and dog saw an elk the next morning. We identified lots of plants, although very few of them were in bloom, except for the occasional pipsissewa. The Oregon grapes seemed ripe, but were too tart to eat out of hand. We also saw (among other things) vanilla leaf, baldhip rose, queens cup, lupine, foam flower, twinflower, rattlesnake plantain, woodland penstemon, thimbleberry, cow parsnip (the squirrels seemed to be enjoying the seeds), whortleberry, baneberry, fringed grass of Parnassus, and several kinds of wintergreen in addition to pipsissewa -- one-sided, white-veined and pink. *We have learned from experience to follow a strict bridge-crossing protocol when hiking with dog. First, take the dog off leash. The leash is just too dangerous on narrow bridge crossings. Next, on one-critter bridges, Person B holds the dog while Person A crosses. Person A calls the dog across the bridge and holds her. Person B then crosses the bridge. Failing this protocol, the most likely scenario is: dog runs across the bridge; Person A follows; while person A is mid-span, dog observes that Person B is not following promptly enough, so dog returns across the bridge to fetch Person B. In this process, Person A, dog or both end up in the drink. (It doesn't help that dog has no concept of how wide she is in her panniers.)