We parked just outside the road closed sign and headed out. The road is in great condition, and is currently being worked on. I wonder if they are going to try to open it.
Finding the trailhead was tricky, we missed it the first time, probably due to talking too much. But it is about a mile and half from where we left the car. The road curves sharply to the left, and the trailhead is on the right. As of 10/7, there were rocks on one side of the road and pipes on the other side and no trash can. If you pass a road sign that says something about 8 miles, you went too far. We also discovered at the end you can get on the trail by going into the river bed. Just stick to the left side of the river bank.
Once you get into the river bed, there are some pink/green markers tied to trees. Try to stick to those. There are rock cairns too, but sometimes they will lead you off in the wrong direction. Once you exit the trail, you don't go very far in the river bed before you see the entrance back into the forest. It is marked by a traffic cone. Pay attention to the cone. I didn't the first time and took an adventure through the river bed. It was a fine adventure, but that river bed is not somewhere you want to be for very long due to the geohazards in the area. When you are in the river bed (you go in a little further in the trail as well), stick to the left side.
For being an unmaintained trail, it is in really good shape, but it was nice to join the Wonderland Trail. There was one area where we had to carefully climb up some roots and then climb back down. From the junction, the Tahoma Creek Suspension Bridge was just right around the corner. When I climbed down a little bit under it, I was excited to see a bear down by the river. He was not not nearly as excited to see me and bolted off into the forest.
From the bridge, Indian Henry's was a 1.8 mile hike. We started hitting snow once we started climbing up in elevation. The trail was still easy to follow. The patrol cabin provided a nice, dry place to eat lunch. We stuck around for a little bit to see if Rainier would show, but it was shy. Oh well, we will just have to come back again. And then it was back the direction we came.
I'm our return through the river bed, we got turned around again, but we're able to find our way out by spotting the CAT machine. We just worked our way towards that and popped out on the road. It is so easy to get turned around in the river bed!
I loved this hike! I think that we hit it during the perfect time. Fall leaves turning, and a little bit of snow. I wish the mountain was out, but like I said, it only gives me a reason to go back. It was also incredibly quiet! We saw three other people the whole day, and two of them were biking on the Westside Road. Doesn't get any better than that!
Comments