Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Late Summer Hike
Sunshine and still summer according to the calendar, but it felt like fall on this recent hike along the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie. Over the river and through the woods and under the watchful eye of the Cascades we went; a familiar river but our first time together on Trail #1003. The trail is open to mountain bikes (we saw none) and horses (we saw evidence) but we encountered only a few hikers like ourselves on foot.
We walked through the quiet forest floor then crossed the river over the footbridge.
Bob took the lead through the tunnel of dense forest canopy
and I followed slowly, distracted as always by my camera. Here I got a peek of the peaks through the trees,
and here a Fomitopsis Pinicola, a common type of fungus where children may carve their names onto its soft white surface (don’t ask me how I know this.)
We walked an hour or so through the forest, stopping to rest by the river and eat our snack (candy bars and water, everything tastes better in the woods), before heading back.
We got a late start today so will have to return another time to make it to the hot springs, the promised reward at the end of the trail.
Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 
That is a beautiful bridge! How far is the hike to the hot springs?
Yes that bridge is beautiful and fun to cross! From the trail we were on it’s 6.5 miles to Goldmyer Hot Springs.. But you can also drive a rough road and take a shorter 1.5 mile trail to the hot springs.
1.5 miles sounds great to me, I have a 2.5 year old and I dont think her attention span would last over 5 miles, haha!
Sounds better to me too! And I don’t have a good excuse! 🙂
Those trees are amazing – so tall! Of course, now I want to know the story behind the fungus… 😉
Yes, here in the Pacific Northwest, we grow our trees tall! (Though not as tall as our neighbors to the south with their Redwoods.) As far as the fungus goes… I’ve always loved the woods and spent a fair amount of time in them growing up… I remember that soft, white, moist surface underneath was a great place to write something…