Mud Mountain Rim Trail

I've been really enjoying planning lots of hikes to go on with my meetup group. A few of the gals asked me to share my hiking list with them, and they were all surprised at how long it is. I love to collect data. Probably one reason why I became a chemist, eh?

Anyways, one of the hikes I had read was the Mud Mountain Rim Trail. I first heard about it from Hiking with my Brother and my interest was piqued. Also, Mud Mountain is a dam and I have this weird fascination with dams, airplanes, boats, bridges, buildings, etc. I just think they are so cool!

So on a cloudy (but not rainy!) Sunday, we all carpooled to Mud Mountain Recreation Area, just outside of Enumclaw. The trail follows along the road for a little ways before diverging deeper into the forest. Soon, you end up close to the bluff that goes down to the White River.

Whiskey, our leader

The trail was rather easy to follow, except there were a few parts where you crossed old roads and you could either follow the road or the trail. Our leader, Whiskey, wanted to follow the trail, so we followed.

At the very end of the trail, you end up on a logging road next to a clear cut. It was a rather depressing end to the hike, but we decided to hike down to the river to make up for it. I'm sure glad we did!

The river is running a little high because of the snow melt, but it looked so pretty with the mountains hidden behind the fog.

The trail definitely lived up to its name. There were plenty of mudholes that Whiskey would dash through as if they were pure energy. That dog was so fun to watch!

Yes, I was talking..

 

We hiked back up the road to the trail and then made our way back to the parking lot and stopped at a view point to see the actual dam.

Not that exciting, right?

Left to Right: Susan, Beverly (with Whiskey), Tonya, Julia, Crystal and me

Beverly and I with our matching backpacks :)

Thanks for stopping by!