Skookum Flats — Friday, Apr. 20, 2007

Mount Rainier Area > Chinook Pass - Hwy 410

I took a Tacoma Mountaineers group of eight out today expecting rain and we were greeted with some sunny weather. We had a slow hike out to Buck Creek and back and everyone enjoyed themselves. There were still the same trees across the trail as last weekend, when I scouted it out. Some of the more difficult trees to scramble over have developed social trails around them that will be ammended on the trail clean up scheduled for May 9, 10 and 11. A couple of blow-downs were dangerous in crossing because of their proximity to the river and the unstable footing for the dismount. Trillium were out with the skunk cabbage. The salmon berries are budding, but have yet to bloom. We had a nice scramble up to Skookum Falls and noticed that someone has left a rope hanging from the wall. The suspension bridge, as has been mentioned before, is destroyed. We met four mountain bikers that were developing their skills of walking bikes over, under and around fallen trees.