I awoke feeling energized after the previous day's hike. The sun was shining, the morning doves were cooing their morning greetings. As I enjoyed my morning fruit/protein smoothie on the front porch, I was going through my mental checklist of things that I needed to accomplish; mow the lawn, do laundry, change/wash bedding, vacuum/sweep/mop, layout the patio space ... the list was lengthy. A few of my friends were going kayaking, but the recently discovered theft of my kayak was keeping me home. I saw myself facing two decisions - stay home wallowing in self-pity but getting my chores accomplished, or go hiking. Believe it or not, I actually struggled with the choice for a few minutes. The irresponsible wanderlust side of me won out in the end, so I laced up my hiking boots, kenneled the dachshunds, loaded Zillah in the car and headed for the mountains. Destination - a revisit of the Big Creek Loop trail, which is about 30 minutes from my house. There were a couple side spur trails I wanted to explore...
The Big Creek trail is a 5-mile loop with a consistent elevation gain of 900'. After the strenuous workout on the previous day's journey over Notch Pass, I was looking forward to a more moderate hike. I recommend this trail to be hiked clockwise, however, due to a bridge closure at the trailhead, we were forced to take it in reverse, which was fine. Zillah never expresses much of an opinion on such things, so up the trail we went.
This trail never ceases to disappoint the senses. Birds serenaded us most of our trip. You are never out of earshot of running water. The trees encountered on one half of the trail are different than on the other half. Benches have been constructed along the way to give pause, either to rest a moment, or simply sit and enjoy the quiet - although this is a fairly popular trail so you won't exactly be alone on the trail. You will cross four gorgeous creeks on this trail as well; Skinwood (with it's troll), Branch, Parallel (which runs perpendicular), and Big Creek.
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| Skinwood Creek |
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| Big Creek |
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| Branch Creek |
When we came to the junction with the spur trail to the Ellinor Overlook, I unwittedly made the turn up the trail which, I'd like to point out, lures you in with the innocent look of a moderate trail. Don't fall victim to it's ruse like I did. In the next mile you will climb 1400 feet. One steep switchback after another we trudged, until we finally made it to the overlook. It was beautiful, I have to admit. The view of Mount Rainer is one of the better I've seen in quite some time, and you are able to see almost all of Lake Cushman. We couldn't see Ellinor from there, but the trail did continue on up the hillside, so perhaps another trip. As it was, Zillah and I were both fairly exhausted and I hadn't packed enough water for this intense a climb, so we headed back down.
We took our time hiking out, partly because we were tired, and partly because I frankly didn't want to go home and deal with the real world. This visit to the forest was exactly what I needed - it helped to ease my mind, and cleanse some of the bitterness, sorrow and anger from my heart. Sometimes all we need is a little alone time amongst the trees to soothe our souls.
Hike 17:52Distance: 7.5 miles
Elevation gain: 2300'
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