Took advantage of the sunny and dry weather to check out Taylor Mountain. I started out on Holder Creek trail. A warning: there is an unsigned fork in the trail about 0.92 miles from the kiosk. Taking the left fork takes you onto an unofficial trail that parallels Highway 18, and peters out / becomes very steep as it goes. It appears that this may end up on private land. The official trail goes right at the fork and down to Holder Creek. However, the creek was running high enough that I did not attempt to ford it, since the water was more than ankle deep.
Instead, I turned around and headed to the Holder Knob trail. I think the WTA description of this trail having views of Rainier is outdated. The trees have grown up enough that the views to the south are peekaboo at best. I followed the left section of the loop and connected to Road A to get back to the trailhead.
In the beautiful weather today, there were a lot of wildflowers blooming, including bleeding heart and trillium. I saw many butterflies, the usual variety of birds including a bald eagle, and 2 garter snakes. I saw only 2 other groups of hikers and a lone mountain biker, but probably half a dozen groups of equestrians, which was not surprising since I counted 16 horse trailers in the parking lot.
This was a great hike with very achievable climbs. The trails were in great condition, no blowdowns and only a few muddy sections. I will be back to explore more of the south end of the park. The solitude on such a beautiful day was quite welcome.
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