After avoiding the park for too long, I headed back to see how one of my favorite trails weathered the winter and the pandemic crowds. On a sunny Saturday, everyone was out with a dog, a bicycle, a child or a horse. All the trailheads were full of cars. Fortunately, the little known trailhead farther up the road from 291 had a few spaces left, and I tucked my little car in for the day, shouldered my pack and headed out.  Before the pandemic, I never parked here, only hiked through. Rather than nature’s quiet, the parking lot was inundated with the sound of revving and racing engines at the ORV park which is visible in the distance.

Trail 25 is a 23 mile long loop that I sample each time I visit. I have never attempted to hike it in a day. This adventure was the north end of the loop, starting and ending at the upper crossing of Seven Mile road. Hiking clockwise, I headed out under the power lines and met several off leash dogs followed by careless hikers. The trail was muddy, especially at the creek crossing. The creek was dry, but the muddy slope on the far side was a slippery climb. After a couple of miles, the sounds of the ORV park finally faded.

I rested for a bit on one of the three benches at the top. For the first time since I have been hiking this loop, the other two benches were also occupied.I passed more hikers, dogs and cyclists as I headed downhill. A fallen tree crossed the trail on my way down, but I easily climbed over it. There were more people as I passed near the trailhead at the north end of the loop. This trail was once a place of solitude for me, but that was not my experience today.

Turning south with the trail, I crossed Deep Creek which was dry today, and climbed the rough trail out of the canyon. I saw two horses with riders on the far side of the canyon. The trail was in relatively good condition, although it was muddy at times. The lower crossing of Seven Mile road is still unmarked, even though the rest of the trail features new trail signs. I hung my hammock about a half mile into the woods for a rest, watching cyclists race by me as I hung out.

I took an unmarked cross trail up the hill to meet Trail 25 again near the noisy ORV park. By late afternoon, activity there had slowed, and it was quieter. I followed trail on the contour of the bluff edge back to my car.  It was a good 10 mile hike, but solitude escaped me today.

What a beautiful day to return to my favorite trail in my favorite park! After scouting the trailhead at Bowl and Pitcher and finding too many cars, I headed to the little used Pine Bluff Trailhead to start my hike. My car was one of four in the lot. I hike this route often, usually accessing it from the Carlson Road trailhead. Today, in addition to starting at a different location, I also chose to reverse my direction. 

I crossed Pine Bluff road and headed out on (unmarked and unsigned) trail 25 around what would me mile 10 if it was properly marked. Two cyclists passed me near the trailhead. I crossed an open meadow liberally sprinkled with wild flowers below the power lines, before crossing Pine Bluff road again and starting up toward the bluff. In another mile I saw a couple with a leashed dog, a man with an unleashed dog and a rude couple of ladies who didn’t want to give me 6 feet of physical distance. Nobody else had masks. Wild flowers were blooming in great abundance as I headed uphill.  At the bench at the top of the bluff, I sat for a while to enjoy the view and a snack while talking to a cyclist who was resting near the edge. 

As I headed on my way around the loop, I passed another 10 hikers in groups of varying size and desire to respect others space. I reflected on how good it felt to be out of my neighborhood for a walk on a real trail, not a road. I have spent too much time walking on asphalt lately.

After passing the Carlson Road trailhead, I saw another dozen or so hikers,  cyclists and dogs as I would my way up and down hills, across Deep Creek and back to Seven Mile road by way of State Park Drive near mile 15. Crossing Seven Mile road, I continued on trail 25 to my car with a final road crossing at the end. I did not encounter any park employees or signage relating to physical distancing on my 5.87 mile loop.

I stopped by the full parking lot at Indian Painted Rocks on my way home to check it out for a future outing. There were 15 cars in the lot, including one with the keys still in the passenger door. The park had placed signs there, which I included in a picture below.

Go outside, but stay safe. Be kind and respect others space while you enjoy your own.

Hiking haiku:

Hiking feels so good

Return to old friends under

Blue skies, puffy clouds

Social distancing is possible in the woods. I saw no more than a dozen people and a couple of dogs on a nine mile hike around Riverside State Park. I started at the Carlson Road trailhead, and walked along the Centennial Trail to the McLellan Overlook Trailhead. I slipped off the trail toward the river on a social trail about a mile north of power line. It loops back to the main trail at the parking lot. I walked along the road (which is also the centennial trail until 7 mile road, where I returned to the woods, skimming the fence line until I met the trail which heads uphill to the bluff and trail 25. I returned to Carlson Road on the bluff.

There was a light layer of snow in places, but I am sure it has melted by now. There was less on the ground when I returned to my car than when I started. I saw a few buttercups, mostly on the bluff in the sun.

We did a short hike at Riverside SP near the Carson Rd Trail head. We hiked off trail with our dogs on a leashes (as required) and then circled back onto Trail 25 for a 1.5 hr hike. There was some snow in places, but nothing deep. We saw a few buttercups blooming, many more leaves coming up, and even some grass widow buds. There was a fairly large tree across Trail 25 at 47.76379, -117.55968. We were able to walk around the tree, as many had done before us. 

RIVERSIDE STATE PARK

At the east end of Spokane County, Riverside State Park exists on both sides of the Spokane River.  This is about 20 miles east of the popular camping part of Riverside Park.  Here, the trail on the north side of the river starts from several pull outs from east River Road.  For much of the way there are two parallel trails, one narrow gravel one part way of the hillside and an intermittent wider trail close to the river.  Going one way on the lower trail and return on the upper one makes a nice loop.  Going east from the Starr Road entrance there were bald eagles, red tailed hawks, and very recent beaver activity  The trail ends at some old paint decorated bridge piers at the state line.

Going west from Starr Toad there is one place where you have to climb up and walk on the road for about 100 yards before going back down to the trails.  The west end terminates at some houses.  On the upper trail on this end is an abandoned orchard with some huge, old, heavily bearing apple trees.

This trail gives access to parts of the Spokane River that are not easily seen any other way.  Other than the sounds of I 90 across the river, this about four mile round trip walk is quite pleasant.