A cloudy Sunday afternoon with a hint of rain provided solitude at Riverside State park after my first mile. The parking lot was full when I arrived at Bowl and Pitcher, which I expected on a Sunday. I crossed the swinging bridge and headed north on trail 25, enjoying the river washing along below me. I saw a few hikers before I passed Devils Toenail rapid a mile downstream, and then I had the trail to myself for the rest of my hike.  The light rain must have scared the other hikers home. I just pulled out my rain gear and kept hiking. I continued to the trail 10 crossover, and hiked uphill, across the Centennial Trail and more uphill to another section of trail 25 on the bluff. Turning south toward the Larch Grove, I followed the road like trail, opting for the single track through the grove, both for the trees and the easier grade. I continued along the bluff, through a very old fire scar to trail 210 which descended almost to the swinging bridge. A short hop south on trail 25 around some lovely basalt piles, across the bridge again, and I was back to my car after a relaxing 6 mile walk.

We took our 4 1/2 month old 5 pound puppy on her favorite hike through the woods. We decided to take Trail 25 and followed the river since it was so beautifully majestic after all of the recent rain runoff. After a short rest on the bench overlooking The Devil's Toenail, we cut over to Trail 211 and looped back to the swinging bridge. There were many others enjoying the near perfect weather, but the trail never seemed crowded. After all that rain the week before, the mosquitos were out in force. As long as we were walking, they stayed away, but when we took a break to chat with other hikers, they took advantage.We love this trail complex for a  few different reasons.

1.  Dogs are allowed. Our dog loves going here because, you guessed it, there are other dogs on walks. We took her the first time when she was only 9 weeks old and and weighed 2 pounds and the trail was still snow covered. She just loves going on adventures!

2. There are a variety of trails, including the Centennial, so we can vary it up and try different loops and combinations

3. It is close to home. It's nice that we can spend more time on a trail than we spend getting there. Obviously there are others we like elsewhere, but this complex is handy.

I have included pics from several different hikes.

What a difference a week of sunshine makes! Today I hiked across the swinging bridge from Bowl and Pitcher to Trail 25, turning left and following it along the river, around the loop and up and down the bluff to Trail 210 which brought me almost all the way back to the swinging bridge.  

I encountered a few patches of mud or ice, but most of the trail was firm and dry today. Spring is here, summer is on the way, and I am happily hiking in my Chacos again.  Almost all of the snow is gone, and what little remains is easy to cross.

Today felt like spring, except for my feet. The day was warm and sunny. By the time I reached the bench at the high point of my hike, I had shed all my warm layers. My feet were still slipping and sliding in the soft snow, despite the microspikes wrapped beneath them. The trail from the Carlson Road Trailhead was well packed, although part of the trail 25 loop hadn’t been used, so I followed the tracks up trail 401 instead. Near the top, once again, the tracks did not follow the trail to the bench. I stayed in the well used rut which follows an old road instead of breaking through the snow where I knew the trail was. 

After a break for lunch and a few pictures of Mount Spokane, I kept hiking south toward Deep Creek Canyon, which I could see from the top of the bluff. The downhill sections were a challenge, so I took them slowly. Fewer hikers had been this way, but the trail was easy to follow. By the time I reached the road crossing, much of the trail was melted out and muddy. I continued across the road on the trail, but I did not find any tracks there. It seems all the other hikers took the road as a shortcut to the parking lot.

I kept to the trail until the corner of Inland Road and 7 mile. I crossed 7 mile and followed the State Park Road to the parking lot and beyond on the Deep Creek Trail, returning to my car on the Centennial Trail. The road was muddy but passable. Once I was past the gate, there was a well packed path to follow on Deep Creek Trail and the Centennial Trail. They are both showing signs of melting out, but it will take a while.

On a sunny Saturday morning, I needed a spring hike. Even though it was 17° out and breezy. Perhaps because it was cold and windy. Be sure to wear warm clothes, boots,  jackets, hats and gloves.

After parking at Bowl and Pitcher, I crossed the swinging bridge with a group of 5 adults, at least 5 under 5 year olds and a dog.  I quickly left them behind as I turned north on trail 25. This part of the trail system has seen much use since the last major snowfall two days ago, and the trail is well packed but not icy.

Conditions changed as I turned uphill on trail 210. There were a few boot prints on the trail. I added snowshoe tracks to the mix. By the time I finished my loop hike, there were snow bike tracks going up the hill as well.  As I hiked farther from the swinging bridge, there was less evidence of other trail users. There were little tracks crossing the trail in places, left by local wildlife harvesting seeds from nearby plants.

I followed trail 210 until it joined trail 25, then continued on trail 25 to the Larch Grove. I was following tracks which were well filled with snow, but indicated where to find the trail.  I left large snowshoe prints behind. There was a tree across the trail just below the larch grove. I took the switchbacks up through the grove, making tracks where there were none before. I rejoined trail 25 and made more new tracks all the way to the top of trail 10. Shortly before trail 10, I detoured around a large tree across the trail. If I go back with my little saw, I might take a few limbs off to make it possible to hop over the tree.

Descending trail 10, I followed a few boot prints until the small jog to the left on trail 213 which had been groomed to corduroy with a set of ski tracks. Several snow bikes left prints there too. I continued on trail 10 all the way to the lower loop of trail 25 by the river, following my boot prints from a week ago to the Centennial Trail, then other’s tracks on the final downhill.

Snowbikes had been by on this part of trail 25. There were also little wheel tracks which confused me until I met the lady with three dogs. One of her dogs was paralyzed, and had a pair of wheels tucked under where his back legs would hit the ground. He was happy to be hiking too.

I followed the bike tracks and an increasing number of boot tracks all the way back to the swinging bridge. While I wore my snowshoes for the entire hike, I did not need them in the immediate area near the swinging bridge. Many folks have hiked from the bridge down to the bench overlooking Devil’s Toenail rapid and beyond to where trail 25 approaches the Centennial Trail. If that was the entirety of my hike, I would have been fine in boots.  I saw one other pair of hikers with a dog as I was almost back to the bridge. Other than the folks I mentioned, I was hiking by myself. Saturday solitude at Riverside, amazing.