Jared and Indy decided to head out to do some hiking today. The target this time was the "West Fork Foss River and Lakes" trailhead, namely the goal was the first lake, Trout Lake.
Upon arrival, the parking lot was surprisingly busy.
But, it was quite in the parking area, so Jared and Indy prepared for the hike.
The hike was filled with great scenery!
Of course, Indy had to take a dip in the stream wherever possible on the way up.
The previous bridge washed out just a few years ago, but the Washington Trails Association built this new bridge. Have no idea how they got those two enormous steel beams up here and manage to span them across the river. But this bridge is definitely built to last.
Downstream from the bridge...
Jared about fell down when he came around the corner and saw this tree right next to the trail! Probably the biggest tree we've seen! And I'll tell you, the picture does not do this tree justice, but even at that, look at how big the bark is compared to Jared's hand!
That's the top of the huge tree towering up above all of the deciduous trees around it. That's not brush, but full grown trees at the base of that enormous douglas fir!
The mountains surrounding the area were really amazing.
And then suddenly the lake appeared!
Indy had to cool off!
Jared and Indy found a shady spot to have some lunch and hang out for a while. It wasn't too long of a trip up to the lake, less than 2 miles, but it was a pretty warm day at about 80 degrees and was very humid since it had rained just a couple of days prior.
On the way back Jared tried to find some spots to get to the lake outlet to try some fishing. The outlet was beautiful, but surrounded by cliffs unfortunately.
Eventually, though, where the lake outlet started to tumble down into the creek, Jared found a spot to reach it and try a few casts. He managed to hook a couple of little trout.
They arrived back at the truck and headed out. On the way back though, Jared found a road that lead up the Tye River a ways and there were a number of pull outs. The river here is really pretty, and there are actually a lot of big pools and holding water for fish. Unfortunately, it is difficult to reach the water as is often the case in Western Washington. There were a few spots though, and in places it looked like it may be possible to wade a ways down the river and do some fishing. A thought for a future trip perhaps.
