Beaver Lake — Monday, Mar. 30, 2026

     I'm hiking with a dog now, so headed for this trail a second time.  The first time was a few years ago with a group doing trail maintenance.  The trailhead is right next to the Mountain Loop highway south of Darrington, WA.  The road is also paved to this location, and then becomes gravel farther uphill (southerly). The trail heads down a short grade and then intersects an old logging railroad grade.  At first the railroad is on a fill section, and then it crosses into a cut section.  At one point to the right I could see lots of skunk cabbage starting to grow in an adjacent bog area.
     In about a mile the trail abruptly ended at a drop-off.  Ahead of this location there is a large pile of logs that I suspect was swept into the former trail location by the December 2025 floods.
     I could see footprints in the sand down below but did not know whether one could continue any farther, so I turned around. I have since looked at other recent WTA trip reports and there is a way to scramble up and over the root balls and get to the trail on the other side of the washout.  I also noticed that the Sauk River has returned to its normal channel and is no longer using the overflow channel at this location