Riverside State Park - Trail 25, Riverside State Park - Bowl & Pitcher & Spokane River Centennial State Park Trail — Thursday, Mar. 16, 2017

Today's hike was an adventure. Spring runoff is filling and overfilling our local streams in Spokane, and our eponymous river is no exception. It is flowing fast and muddy today. We headed to Bowl and Pitcher to hike one of my favorite 3 mile loops. We crossed the river on the swinging CCC bridge, which was swinging in the wind, much to my dog's terror. We found spring runoff cascading down the crib steps on the far side, which we could work around by walking on the wood beams holding the steps together. As we turned right at the top of the steps we started on the ice which has formed on this well traveled trail. The ice continued beyond the junction with trail 211. We took trail 211 toward the Centennial Trail, walking on ice most of the way. The Centennial Trail was clear of ice, but watch out for dog leavings which have appeared now that the snow is gone. We continued about a half mile on the Centennial Trail until the point where it nears trail 25. We turned back on trail 25 which usually descends toward the river. Today, it descends right into the river. My last two pictures show where the river has flooded the trail for about 50 feet. It is possible to walk along the bank and keep your feet dry, which we did. The trail here is pretty rocky, so if you want to, you could just wade through. It was a bit too cold this evening for us to try that. Once we were past that point, we encountered more ice, with the ice increasing in frequency and quantity as we neared the trailhead. There was one tree down across the trail, which we easily stepped over. Spring is late this year, but the warm weather we are experiencing will melt these trails soon. Most of the snow is gone, and the remaining ice is in places where it has been compacted all winter and the sun does not reach it for many hours of the day. We saw at least 10 dogs on and off leash on a Thursday afternoon. We saw even more dog poop on the trail. Please remember that when the snow melts, what your dog left behind does not, and pick it up from the trail.