January 28
This morning, I will be doing a hike starting at Sweetwater Trail and Salmon Falls Road. I will cross the old Salmon Falls Bridge and head up the Darrington Trail to the new Salmon Falls Bridge which will lead me back to Sweetwater Trail. I will be hiking a loop today. The trail starts off under a canopy of oak trees.
Soon we come to an area that is underwater in the summertime, but now is a wide open plane. Like yesterday‘s trail this area also has evidence of gold rush activity. The river to our left has tailings from dredging operations and I have come to some foundations, water troughs, and collapsed bridge remnants that at one time crossed the river.
The old salmon Falls bridge is completely underwater during the summertime however, has the lake level drops in the winter it appears and is fully uncovered
After crossing the bridge, I head up the hillside on the opposite side of the lake. I can look back over the open land and see the bridge from the opposite side.
I continue back into Oak under story and get occasional glimpses of the river and the bridge in the distance. One of the oaks has a broken branch hanging from some threads over the trail. It’s a good reminder to be aware of your surroundings.
I have found a western jack-o’-lantern a mushroom. It is growing in a fan shape. That is fairly interesting.
I cross a small stream and then reach a portion of the old San Falls Road there is still some small pieces of asphalt that are being reclaimed by the earth
When the lake is full, it has many channels, extending out laterally into the valleys. The tree line shows how high the water will get when the reservoir is full.
I am getting my first glimpses of the new Salmon Falls bridge. In about 20 minutes, I will be crossing it.
As I wind back-and-forth along the hillside, the bridge gets closer with better views.
Having reached Salmon Falls Road I now walk across the bridge before dropping back down into a parking lot and the Sweetwater Trail access
After winding back-and-forth up and down through the oak under story again, I can look out across the dried lake bed and see the old bridge that I crossed at the beginning of the hike
I reached the heart parking lot having hiked 7.8 miles today. When I left the house today, I wasn’t even sure where I was gonna hike or how far I plan to go, but this was a good fit for this morning.
