Sunday I decided it would be fun to go to Clark Creek Park in Puyallup to explore the trails. This park is HUGE! It's densely forested and has a multitude of trails to walk and bike on. The weather was drizzly but not cold. Which was nice because by the time the walk/hike/mudding was over, I had my coat around my waist and I was loving the rain falling on my face.
Around 1400, Chris, PugZee and I headed off to find the park and check it out. The first part of the hike was fine, it was a nice wide paved trail. It wound around through an open area with a playground and off leash dog park. Then it turned up into the forest. We walked along taking in the cool air and all the sounds of the forest. We came to a Y and Chris asked me, “Which way?” If we went right, it appeared to go straight up and if we went left, if appeared it would be a bit more flat. So I chose to go left.
As we walked along, the trail began to get smaller and muddier at times. There were quite a few hills and the trail was slippery, but being under the canopy of trees, it was quite tranquil. It was rainy, but you really couldn’t tell since the trees acted as a great cover for us. We came to another Y and Chris could hear a “waterfall” to the left so we decided to follow the sound of the water. This trail was not as used as the other ones we were on and it soon came to a big mud hole! There was a small tree down over the mud and Chris was able to walk across it, PugZee decided to go straight through the mud and was covered by the time he got to the other side! I on the other hand, really didn’t want to try to cross the fallen tree because my sense of balance is not so good and I envisioned me looking like PugZee when it was all done!
Chris went ahead with the dog to scout out whether or not I should even try to get across. All of a sudden, I heard him laughing and calling PugZee. I couldn’t see them so I had no idea what was going on. When he came back, PugZee was soaked! He had found a pond and didn’t realize that there was water on the other side of a concrete barrier and PugZee just jumped in! This was a good thing though, since it cleaned all the mud off of him. Chris also found several smaller branches and placed them across the mud and helped me inch my way across.
Next up, we found the “waterfall”. It was a culvert. The pond PugZee had jumped into was feeding the creek through the culvert. We were able to get across the slippery rocks on up to the gravel road on the other side. We were walking along and I heard a splashing sound coming from the creek below. I couldn’t figure out what it was so I found a trail and investigated it. When I reached the creek, I saw about 15 salmon! They were swimming up stream to spawn! They were big too! After watching for a while and taking a few pictures, we began walking the gravel road again. This led us to the Fish Hatchery. We were pretty sure we weren’t supposed to be there so we found another trail that led us back to the original trail we were on and we actually found our way out. This was a 2 ½ hour hike, not too bad on a broken toe!
What I have learned from this is that I need a good pair of hiking boots and we should take water, and maybe something to nibble on while we are out there. Hiking on an empty stomach is not a good idea. Here are some pictures from our hike…. Enjoy!
2 comments:
You take the most amazing pictures! A true photographer at heart.
Yes, you nut! Do you ever watch the news? Water and at least some food are a must for a hike like this one. Or at least consider bringing yet another hiker along. Sacrificing Chris alone would probably not sustain you for the long haul.
Well, I have to say at least you didn't get stranded, chris probably doesn't taste that damn good...LOL! Sounds like you had fun, and the pics are awesome....I can't wait to get there :-(( thx for the share!
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