Cossatot River Hiking

We finally made it down to Vandervoort together and decided to go hiking Saturday afternoon.  Sweetie has been telling me how super the Cossatot River trail is from the Ed Banks Access to the Sand Bar Bridge.  The trail used to follow the river very closely and you had to climb over big rocks, wade through water - all that fun stuff.  So, I wasn't really very enthused about doing it.  But Sweetie kept at me and I'm so glad he did.  We had so much fun!  Take a look....

The trail is much higher up now, so no climbing over big rocks or wading through water.  It still follows the Cossatot River, but the trail is much higher now and you get some great views.  There are many natural rock beaches, like the one in the picture above.  LOTS of blue paint marking the trail - no way you can get lost on this one!

OK, I know this is an awful picture of me and could easily get me nominated for What Not To Wear, but it just really shows you how the trail winds through the woods, high above the river.  Plus, it's just a great picture of the Little Black Dog.  There is nothing she likes better than running with her "pack" through the woods.

We were WAY up high and could see WAY far away.  The river was running at about two feet and the water was so pretty and clear.

 I don't know if you can tell, but this rapid is shaped like an S, hence these rapids are called the Esses.   Anyway, I had already seen the rapid from the ground, but never from a bird's eye view, so it was cool to see it really is an S!  Reminded me of a rapid I saw in Idaho called Ladle, which looked exactly like a ladle from above.  Simple minds, simple pleasures.

This is a neat spot that I would really like to see in the Spring, with lots of water gushing over it.  We counted seven bridges on this trail.  Lots of work involved in building bridges in the middle of nowhere!

Can you see it?  Her tongue is out so far!  But a little stroll through this creek and she was ready to push on.



So, we made it to Sand Bar Bridge, turned around and went back the way we came.  The weather was warm and beautiful.  On Sunday, we hiked the Cossatot River trail that starts at Highway 246.  I was really hesitant to hike this trail, because the last time I did it I got a really bad case of poison ivy or poison oak.  It was the middle of winter, damp, and the trail was not much of a trail at that time.  I had to hold on to trees and limbs to keep from rolling down hills.  Apparently, some of what I was holding on to was poison oak.  Hey, I know what it looks like when there are leaves on it, but with no leaves....
So, I had gloves on this time, just in case.  But the trail has been totally redone and it was super.  It was cold, cold, and windy though, so no pictures this time.  I'll take some next time.  All in all, a very good weekend.