Old Sauk River Trail 3-24-2019

AppleWatch Stats:  4.62 miles RT, 82 ft of elevation gain.

My pups will be hanging out with my Mom next weekend, so I wanted to do something with them today.  So I took them up to the Old Sauk River trail.  This used to be a favorite hike for Cedar and I when it was less improved/well-marked and there were less people.  We were in luck today and had the entire trail to ourselves clear up until we got back to the trail head.  It was absolutely wonderful.

The trail was for the most part clear of snow, but there were stretches of packed/slushy snow.  Nothing my yaktrax would have helped with, and a nice extra calorie burner.

I always think of the beautiful Sauk River when I think of this hike, but the forest is absolutely lovely.  Great towering Douglas firs and other conifers, broken here and there by stretches of mossy maples.  Today the woods were ringing with various bird songs, and we even startled a grouse.  She was too quick to get a photo.  

Of course the Sauk River is definitely the jewel of this trail, it's music always in earshot.  There was a male common merganser floating in a calm area and a kingfisher flew by while Cedar, Luna and I had a snack on the riverbank.

Old Sauk River Trail 4-14-12

Needing a decent but shortish hike to break in my new hiking boots, Dave, Adventure Dog and I headed for the old reliable Old Sauk River trail.  It was just as lovely as always and despite a sunny weekend, it was just as quiet as usual.  The mountains on the way were gorgeous.

I was delighted to see my first trillium of the spring blooming!  Other flowers were making an appearance as well.

The river was clear and inviting, but still just a bit too cold to put our feet in.  Dave and Cedar got pretty close though.

These stripey fungi were very cool looking.

Also really interesting was this pair of common merganser.  The male is white with a blackish head and red beak and the female is gray with a rust brown head with a crest.