The road past Kachess Campground is washboarded and has some snow and ice, but isn't too bad. On a Wednesday, we had the entire trail to ourselves.
There is boot-packed snow on much of the trail. The trail could be done in hiking boots, but my YakTrax were a welcome addition. There are a number of creek crossings, which would have been easier with hiking poles.
We hiked in a little more than two miles. I can imagine the trail might be a bit brush-crowded in summer, but in winter it feels delightfully roomy, and provides beautiful views of Hibox Mountain and Rampart Ridge.
Identifying plants in winter is an interesting exercise. You don't have flowers or fruit to help you out, but there aren't nearly as many plants competing for your attention either. And who knew devil's club looked so interesting without its leaves? We also noted vanilla leaf, rattlesnake plantain, salal, pipsissewa, kinnikinnick, one-sided wintergreen, Oregon-grape and wild ginger.
There was a good variety of mushrooms, all frozen solid. We identified sulfur tuft, yellow foot, an elfin saddle, and chanterelle, among others. A hiker a day or two before had clearly been hunting for hedgehog mushrooms, and discarding yellow foot mushrooms along the trail when they turned out not to be hedgehogs. Yellow foot are perfectly good eating, too!
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