Here’s what was supposed to happen today…..

Leave here in morning and drive to Skookum Flats trail. 
Hike 4 miles on easy trail, cross suspension bridge and find car that we left at that end of trail.
Drive back and pick up other car that we left at trailhead.
Go home.
Have plenty of time left to get all sorts of things done around house, etc.

Here’s what really happened.

Thing started out ok. We drove 2 cars to the trail.  We were supposed to leave Dana’s truck at the end right by this suspension bridge.  We park the truck where Dana (note the word…. DANA) thinks the truck is supposed to be left.  We then drove to the trailhead and started on our day.

Skookum Flats trail goes alongside the White River and it is pretty level.  The whole thing only gains 300 feet of elevation during the 4.5 mile hike.  Now, there are some places where it does some switchbacks  so there is some hiking involved.  But overall, it was a nice walk through the woods.

At the 2 mile point we crossed Skookum Creek and could see Skookum Falls through the trees. Warning… bad photo ahead….

The waterfall was hundreds of feet over our head and we could only get  a peek through the trees.  Folks driving on 410 (on the other side of the river) get a better view. 

We continued hiking toward the suspension bridge (and our truck).  Just a nice walk in the woods.

Anna Grace walked for a ways and then she would occasionally hitch a ride with her dad.

After we had hiked nearly 3.5 miles we started hearing folks talking about the suspension bridge being washed out.  Then we’d hear of other portions of the trail being washed out.  We weren’t sure what to do as we were almost to the end, etc.  But without the suspension bridge there would be no way for us to get across the river to where we think our car is (note the word "think").

When we arrived at the area where the bridge should’ve been it was gone. All of it.  We were hungry, tired, thirsty and it looks like we’re going to have to hike 4.5 miles back to our car.  We looked at our book with its little map, we looked for a way across the river, then we looked at our book some more.  We consulted with some local trail bikers who gave us a little info.  Then I discovered that where Dana had us park the truck and where the suspension bridge is marked on the map were 2 different locations…. about 2 miles apart.

Dana thought the book was instructing us to park on a forestry road since that road was on the map.  But when you read the directions it speaks of a parking area right by this suspension bridge.  So, our truck was another 2 miles away. The good news?  If it was parked by the suspension bridge we’d have to hike another 4.5 miles.  The bad news?  The trail that led to our truck was washed out.

Dana went down and walked along the river bed to see if there was any way we could meet up with the trail and he found a way.  A way that involved lots of climbing over logs and using tree branches to pull ourselves back onto the embankment.  But when faced with the idea of walking 4.5 miles back, I decided the river bed route was the way to go.

Eventually we reached the truck.  Hungry, thirsty, tired and with most of the day gone.  We’re tired and sore but we had a good time.  And… when I got home I did a little knitting.

Here’s the front of Monica with her ruffle and straps attached.

In other news I got the first installment of the yarn shop  newsletter sent out today.  That’s a small miracle in itself. 

Well, y’all have a good day.