And today is my last day, at least for a while! Bear & I were out of the house before 6 a.m.; stopped & got a coffee & a bagel, and were at Adna about 6:45. It was already a warm, sun drenched day however, so I decided to go at least 2 1/2 or 3 miles, turn around, take a break, and then park at the Chehalis trail head & do the last couple miles.
The burning Chehalis sun… at 7 a.m.!
By the time we got back to the car at Adna, it was pretty warm for Bear. He didn’t stop and lay down, but he sure did like his water. So the split walk was a good plan.
We finally got to cross the brand new bridge at Littell! I didn’t realize it was curvy; very cool!! And it’s so pretty, with some lovely landscaping. Shady rest spot!Someone Irish lives here!It was so hazy, Mt Rainier was barely visible.The bane of my garden when I was a student at UC Davis!Approaching the new bridge, coming from Chehalis.The turn around spot; one of these days Gail & I will ride the train that crosses here.The end! Chehalis trailhead.
Short walk today! I wanted to get Bear out before I left for AK and this was perfect. I didn’t quite get to the Adna trail head on Day 15, so did that short bit today. Good thing it was short too, as it was a bit warm. Bear just doesn’t do “hot” very well!
Not much to photograph on this part of the trail. It’s essentially straight, uncomplicated, and lots of farms and houses. Pretty enough, but I much prefer the less populated part of the trail, closer to Raymond.
One more day and I’ll be done! Adna to Chehalis is only a bit over 4.5 miles, according to the map… It’s also going to be a very warm section, so it means a very early start. I’m going to try & leave as close to 5 a.m. as I can get my behind out of bed!
I think this might be the longest bridge.The cows weren’t minding the heat at all!But poor Bear doesn’t appreciate it! Plenty of water is some help though.
Now this was a beautiful, cool walk! From Ceres Hill to Bunker Creek Road was mostly very shady, and the cooler temperatures helped a lot to make this a very enjoyable walk. I did bring the daypack, chair, and water, which Bear appreciated.
The bench is a bit wobbly-use care sitting on it! The dog treats memorialize Yuba and Riley, who must have taken numerous walks on the trail. And can you believe the Minion!?
Bear did lay down once; it wasn’t hot so maybe he just needed a quick break. Shortly after that, we stopped for a long break, water, and a sandwich.
One frustration, however mild, is that we often parallel a river. But there’s no way to get down to it for a drink or a quick swim to cool off. Bear always looks at the river, ever hopeful for a side trip.
The Chehalis River
Only 5 1/2 more miles to go. I’ll take Bear on the short bit from Adna back to Bunker Creek Road, where I stopped today. The stretch from Adna to the Chehalis trail head looks like there’s very little shade, and I want to do that part all in one go. So, Bear will not be with me for the very last day. It’s 4 1/2 miles one way, which he could do easily, but coming back might really overtax his cooling system and I sure don’t want to make him sick.
We parked at Rainbow Falls State Park again, and turned right, towards Ceres Hill. The first couple miles were warm with little shade. The highlight was getting to watch some logging! There’s a machine that picks the log up, strips the branches and foliage, cuts the log, and then puts in the log truck pile. I’ve seen logging operations on Netflix, but this was my first real life logging.
Since it was already warm, I was scoping out rest spots for the walk back to the car. There’s a good one, close to the logging site, so I may get to watch more later.
We went about another mile and stopped for a water break and a rest. This is going to be my longest walk yet, and I knew I’d need this break. Nice cool shady bridge!
We didn’t stop again til we got to Ceres Hill, about 6 miles, and turned around. Bear was going great until we turned around, and then he started dragging behind me. So we stopped pretty quickly for a water break, under a very shady tree. About half the trail had been very shady, but that was going to change…
As it got closer to noon, the trees overhead didn’t block the sun, as the canopies didn’t quite meet over the trail. Bear did okay; slow, but going; until after we stopped for lunch.
Lunch break and a long rest.Thought I’d stop here for lunch; it was shady earlier!
After lunch Bear really started to slow down. We stopped numerous times for water and cooling down. This was the hottest day we’d hiked; it was 87 via the car thermometer when we got back to the car. So, I’m not sure if Bear will be coming for the rest of the trail. I was very lucky he didn’t get heat stroke.
I was sure glad I used my daypack this trip. The little chair was great for a real rest. And Bear sure appreciated the 2 quarts of water I packed. I have a pack for him too, but he gets so hot using it; I was glad I didn’t make him use it.
Haha! 13th day is bad luck? Let’s just say it wasn’t one of my favorites. I parked at Rainbow Falls State Park, which is a lovely place. Nice and shady, although you have to drive around to Hwy 6 to access most of the hiking trails. They’re short, hilly, and just gorgeous. Some old growth forest to traipse through.
But I digress!! It’s about a half mile walk to get to the WHT. I turned left onto the trail, heading west. At the corner is Dryad’s Rest, “Dryad’s Rest is a 57-acre property in central Washington state that has been made available for LARP events, photo shoots and indie film production, to name a few. It was established in 2006 by the owner of Costumes, Period of WA.” See their Facebook page for more information, but do not go to their website; it’s been hacked. Anyway, at the corner is this really cool dragon and an old beat up travel trailer.
Bear has never heard sprinklers-he was fascinated by the click-click-click of the moving sprinklers!
It’s not a very shady section, but it wasn’t super hot today. I was disappointed to see a couple things on the trail… namely someone hotdogging with a dirt bike or motorcycle and digging a slice out of the trail, as well as someone putting out religious tracts & a sign. Ugh, that does not belong on a public trail.
We walked to the “meditation rock”, where we stopped last time. Both of us enjoyed the rest, the quiet, and wished we could swim in the river. But it would have been a long scramble down a very, very steep cliff.
The “meditation rock” is hidden by greenery until you get closer to the river.
On the way back, I saw this great berry site; unfortunately that hill is quite steep. Not a good place for me to pick, darn it! I wish that tree wasn’t dead, but the dark orange is stunning against all the green.
Now the boring part starts… From Pe Ell to Chehalis is, well, it’s not “string straight” but it’s not terribly curvy either. It’s much more urban than the Raymond to Pe Ell part. Less trees, so it’s hotter, and that part of the country is hotter anyway. Also more people, especially bikers. Not that I’m dissing bikers! I just hardly see anyone else on the Raymond to Pe Ell section.
This 4 mile section, from the trail head in Pe Ell to just past Owl & Olive, IS “string straight”. Nicely lined with brush and trees, so there’s some separation from the road. The trees don’t necessarily overhang the trail though, so there’s quite a bit that was very warm today. And we’re back to the crunchy gravel :-).
Turn up the volume 🙂We got to visit with the donkeys, at least until Bear snapped at the one he was sniffing noses with. Jerk! I’ve never seen a Paint donkey, or that palomino color either. Should have hollered at the guy going out to feed them to find out what the story is. But I didn’t even think to do that, darn!Two perspectives on the same bridge. I just love driving under this bridge; the curve of the road, the authentic railroad bridge… it’s just cool. We started early enough that a good share of the trail was shady, but Bear needed a break during the long section of sunny trail. He was one hot dog! And back at the car was all the water he wanted to drink. But we do need to start earlier in the day next time. Some sights along the trail. Such a cool birdhouse!
Short walk today; only 4 miles. Last time I stopped at the house w/all the windows-an old school I think. Also one very noisy German Shepherd and 2 younger Mastiff? pups; they looked to be 10 or so months old.
There wasn’t a really good parking place there, so I parked at the trail head in Pe Ell. A nice little spot w/an outhouse (flush toilet!), large lawn, and a couple picnic tables. Good place to stop.
The trail is graveled now and crunchy, as it will be all the way to Chehalis. Pretty section! Mostly along a creek, which I’m a little jealous of-would love to have a scenic creek at the back of our property (but big bucks to buy something like that!). Bear would love it too-he could swim whenever he wanted to!
We crossed the Chehalis River. And followed Rock Creek for a bit. That pool looked so inviting!Plants along the trail. The first two photos are of, I think, vine maple. I want that in my yard!
Planned to start at Pluvius, but the grass was too overgrown, so I went down to the next turnout, and found a very narrow, rutty trail. Beautiful day! Lots of wildflowers! I ended up about 2 miles from Pe Ell, so my next walk will be a short one. Today I did just shy of 9 miles.
From left to right, top to bottom: Starting out on the trail, giant bindweed!? (No, morning glories), unknown, wild sweet peas, and one more unknown.Little building that needs some TLC, a hammock! I’m so jealous!, the creek-probably too shallow even for a kayak.
Whoa! Short walk today! But oh man, we killed it speed-wise! First time I broke a 16 minute mile! But I don’t recommend walking that fast. No time for pictures or sniffing out whatever Bear smells. Probably nasty other dogs’ pee etcetera.
Racewalkers go 4.5 To 5.5 mph. We were going roughly 3 ‘and a bit’ miles per hour. But it felt really really fast! I underestimated the distance I needed to go, and the time I needed, to get back home, shower, & head to my quilt meeting. I also-oh so dumb!-forgot to double the mileage. Only a 2 1/2 mile walk… but in reality 5 miles, stretched to almost 6 miles. I always forget about the “return miles”!
Although I wouldn’t want to walk that fast all the time-no time for sniffing, pooping/peeing (for Bear that is!), and taking pictures-for a mile or so, it’d be a good idea to stretch my lungs. I was really surprised I cooled out & my heart rate returned to normal as quickly as I did.
I ended at the beginning of the closed section, before the 2 railroad bridges that are getting replaced. And I got caught! Someone was driving down the trail to the bridges that need repaired, and wanted to know if I lived there, did I know the trail was closed. Yes and yes, & “I’m on a time crunch! Gotta go, no time to chat!”. Oops. I don’t typically do that kind of thing, but I did, selfishly, want to get to a good stopping place. Which happened to be just before the closed section.
The church I think is so pretty. Love the colors & textures of all the leaves!Lovely farm. I used to want that!I did sneak a couple pictures in…
Two walks! Ten miles! I took the littles (Becky the Boston, and Tyler the Puggle) from the VW house to Doyle Road today. We met up with the Labrador (I forget his name, but he’s a sweet boy), on the way back. Becky of course, the brat, wanted to beat the crap out of him, but I finally convinced her to be a sweet girl and she was glad to finally kiss noses. Tyler initially grumped, but then ignored him.
Short walk,because Miss Becky shouldn’t really walk very long, thanks to her luxating patellas. I love walking with the littles; much more relaxing than with Bear. We get to meander, and sniff, although because two dogs are tugging at leashes, it’s harder to take pictures! We also happened to see three railroad spikes, while walking the 2 littles and later w/the Bear dog. Yes, it’s “rails to trails”, but why today?? And I did not pick any of them up! What do I need w/railroad spikes?
With Bear, I started at Doyle Road and went all the way to a farm road, mile post unknown, so I took a picture so I would know where to start next time. Rusty orangy red roof on a barn with no house close by. It’ll be easy to find for our next walk.
We went through Lebam, which I cannot help thinking of as Mable; Lebam spelt backwards. Named after the founder’s daughter, according to a friend of mine. Why backwards? Why not Mable? There’s a school and a fire department; as well as the store (closed) & the tavern, also closed. Bummer! Could be a cute place to stop & have ice cream or a soda on the way to Chehalis.
And then through Frances, which may be incorporated (or not), but does not have a store or tavern, closed or open. But there are houses. A few anyway. And no speed limit through Frances, unlike Lebam & Menlo.
I really do like the walk from Doyle Road to Lebam. Lovely forest, cool and quiet. You do have to jut over from the trail to the road, to avoid the broken bridge over the creek. Didn’t know about this the first time I traversed the trail and I ended up bushwhacking down the bar ditch & up the other side. This time I remembered in time to use the cut over from the trail to Robertson Road and skipped the bit of trail to the end of the road. Lebam is just past this, where there is a really good parking area for horse trailers & bike carrier vehicles.
The rest of the trail is the usual mix of gravel, scattered large gravel and dirt/grass. Some shady bits, some sunny bits. I managed to hit a cloudy coolish day, though I still brought water for Bear. And at the tag end, we encountered a pickup driving on the trail. Looking for a loose horse. I hope they found said horse! Unfortunately I didn’t get details & I’ll never know the outcome.
Starting out. Love the grass! Must admit, I am not fond of the “scorched earth” practice most Raymondites practice!Lovely bridge. Maybe next traverse I should record all the bridges?Gail & both love this little house.Grassy, natural trail! End of the line today.Lots of wildflowers of course! And salmon berries! Who knew they are in WA too!?Grape-like plant. What the heck is it?They eat leaves, the little buggers!And one of the spikes I saw. Why’re they popping up now?
The Sporadic Packrat 