Hoofin' It on the Whitehorse~

After the grand-kids left with their parents, Butch & I decided to go ahead & hike the Whitehorse Trail.  We started at Haller Park & walked over the Trestle.  Looking up - we were thrilled to see the Osprey now in place!

Osprey sits atop the Haller Trestle

 Many thanks to Sarah Arney, for spearheading the effort, the Arlington Arts Council & our own Centennial Trail Coalition for contributing the funds to help with the purchase & mounting for the installation of the beautiful Osprey.  What a wonderful work by artist Dan Brown that is now permanently perched on top of the Haller Trestle!

We headed to Resilience Arch & admired the new bricks that are much higher quality with deep etching that will hold up to the elements.  From there - we were on the ballast rock of the old rail line.

On the Trail~

 Such an absolutely gorgeous day - walking along the river was so enjoyable.  We were about a half-mile out when we saw bikes coming toward us!  At first I thought it had to be horsemen - I'd Never seen bikes on this trail!  Too much heavy rock!  But no - it was indeed two men on bikes!

All the way from Darrington!

I am literally 100% sure that these two are the first to have traveled this trail point-to-point!  With only three bridges left to be decked, they had those to detour around on the highway - which was challenging.  Otherwise - it was the rock that made the journey a long one!

Slide Area

Our next surprise - the area of trail that was impacted by the small mud slide, was completely cleared away!  (Using the word small, in comparison to the horrible slide that is foremost in our memories.)  Not at all small when it comes to the man hours that it took to clear all the broken trees & mud away.  Many thanks to Snohomish County Parks & our hard working Park Rangers!

Views of the Stillaquamish~

Throughout this part of the trail, it's easy to take your time, take in the fresh air & appreciate the beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

Almost to Cloverdale~

Butch wanted to continue on to Cloverdale & see the new survey work.  I'm hopeful this is preliminary in preparation for the repair & completion of this section, so critical to everyone looking forward to enjoying the west portion near Arlington.

Interior of the barn roof~

 We met the property managers of this amazing place, originally part of the tree farm properties.  Then operated as a nursery - at least the year I first went through this area.  It was a thrill to be invited in to see it.  The owner has future plans to restore the barn which already sports a new roof!

Up in the loft - was the surprise of the day :-)  Just too crazy fun & can you imagine the sound - especially with the wood acoustics of the barn?  The remaining old barns in this area are such an asset to our rapidly urbanizing landscape.  Private property owners wise enough to know this & preserve them - deserve our thanks.

North Fork of the Stillaquamish - toward Arlington

Beautiful from either direction~

In sight of the Arch~

I didn't have my GPS, so still need to check my records, but should have the distance recorded from a ride.  Round-trip was probably about 7-miles :-)  About half way back I thought of a quote from "A Knights Tale" - Chaucer:  "To trudge: the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of a man who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply soldier on." 

My feet were speaking volumes by the time we got back to the park :-)

North on the Centennial Trail~

Crossing the Haller Trestle Bridge

I'd wanted to get out on this stretch of trail for a while, with the tree farms now closed - the choice was easy.  The slightly cooler temperature too, was nice.  Just a few families at Haller park; wading & splashing in what little water left in the river.

At Resilience Arch

The Coalition had ordered new bricks from a different supplier & found a new person to do the engraving.  A higher quality brick & higher quality etching.  We're hopeful that people using the trail will notice & place orders.

Commemoration of our ride~

To order a Brick~

Soon, we were on the prettiest part of a separate area of the horse trail -

Even here in the shade of the trees - it's dry~

The grass, along side the paving - was so dry that Farah was slipping.

Toward Bryant~

It was great that the mowing got done before things dried out, making it easy to set a medium trot & just go.  There were just a few people out this morning.

Horse trail mowed too~

This is one of Farah's favorite sections :-)  On our way up to the bridge over Pilchuck Creek.  No need to wonder why the trail was so expensive to put in - when you consider all the obstacles.

Pilchuck Creek from the Bridge

It's absolutely, deeply worrisome to see this beautiful little river going dry.  I was hopeful earlier on - when we first knew this drought was going to be bad, that we'd keep flow through until at least the end of Aug.  Now - I'm not so sure...

Unimproved Trail - into Skagit County

   We went on past the barn & followed the unimproved portion of the trail up to where it stops at Hwy 9.  There was still quite a bit of water in the wetland here & flowing in places along the trail.  I found a spot in the shade, with grass for our lunch break.  There was a small area where Farah could get down to the little creek for a drink.  On the far side was one of the largest Douglas Fir's that I've seen in forever.  So big & standing so silent that I did a double take at his amazing size.  Tucked away in the shrubbery - I hope it continues to stand hidden & safe - forever.

Back across the Trestle to Haller Park

We stepped up the pace on the way back.  The bugs were awful, I had to get off twice to spray Farah's face.  We both still came home with fresh welts...  (At Bryant, a little girl was just finishing up her apple as we came by.  Farah was so happy to take the core!  :-)  At the far right, in the photo above - you can just see how far out of the water the end of the boat launch is.  Several feet at least!  Farah was watching the kids playing.

Down in the river bed of the Stillaquamish!

It was so warm by the time we got back, that we took the sandy trail down to the water.  Every step Farah took, we chased little minnows - now just trying to stay alive in the rapidly disappearing & warming water.   The blob is pretty scary - so is the long range weather forecast.  It will take many months & lots of moisture to even begin to return us to the wonderful mild & wet Pacific Northwest that most of us enjoy so much...

In the meantime;  I'm going to ride where I can & hope that the forecast for a cooler than normal fall will help mitigate the drought.