I arrived at 9:00 am, about 30 minutes after my planned arrival time (SR 530 is closed at Darrington in a super annoying way and I had to go around), to a small, empty lot. There's a vault toilet and some interesting signage to check out at the trailhead.
The trail starts out nice and wide and in the shade. The river is lovely and clear and cold. There are bunches of birds the entire way, but it's hard to spot them until a little farther into the hike. However, I *did* see a Barred Owl about .3 miles into it, which was a fun treat.
It gets narrower pretty quickly, and with that comes a couple of warnings:
- This trail is lined with stinging nettle - wear pants and watch your arms, especially if you're with little ones.
- Stay on the trail - this is always important but here there are parts of the trail that are soft and crumbling just off the path.
On the plus side, there are thimbleberries along the entire route.
There's a little bit of fun scrambling but mostly it's a fair path, and it's a really short little jaunt. As a fat, I can say this a truly easy walk with a little bit of up and down that gets your heart pumping a little bit, and is great for beginners to either hiking or physical activity. There's an area about halfway to the end point that has fallen apart a little due to slides but it was totally doable - just a little mud and logs.
The "lake" that you arrive at is not much of a lake (perhaps in winter?) but it is a lovely marshy area with a lot of birds and bugs and butterflies and a cool bridge that would be great for a little insta moment. I sat here for a little while and soaked up the solitude. Apparently the trail used to go on a ways but there is now a very clear end. You might be able to scramble forward but it would definitely mean getting wet - I wouldn't recommend it.
The bugs weren't terrible at all, but I DID pick up a single tick so again - wear pants.
For my bird nerds: along the way I spotted American Robins, Common Yellowthroats, Song Sparrows, Cedar Waxwings, a single Spotted Sandpiper, a Black-Throated Gray Warbler, Western Wood Pewees, Pine Siskins, tens of Swainsons' Thrushes, and a family of four Red-Breasted Sapsuckers.
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