Breitenbush River Hike

The other weekend, we went with some friends and hiked along the Breitenbush River, near the Breitenbush Hot Springs.  The Hot Springs were closed, and we would have needed reservations to get in, so we didn't visit them.

We'd done the hike once a few years ago, and I'm remembering the river being lower and the air being hotter, so I'm thinking we went in late July or August (I'm not finding an entries in the blog about the hike).

This time around parking was a little challenging -- everyone had been chaffing under the COVID-19 lockdown, and the usual pull-over at the trailhead had been commandeered by a bunch of folks for camping (?and dog training?).

The hike is a little challenging in places, as one has to go single-file over fallen trees which have been repurposed as bridges.   For the most part, though, the trail meanders alongside the river, alternately winding between evergreen trees and brushing up to embankments.

Eventually, we had to turn around because a flood had taken out a bridge over a major tributary to the Breitenbush River.

The wildflowers we saw were mostly finished, I'm thinking if we'd come the first week of May we would have seen more blooms.  The only ones I recognized were trillium, (I want to say) larkspur, and columbine.  There was a lot of Oregon grape.

Another semi-washed-out trail led to an overlook above a deeply carved gorge.  There was a kind of ladder, really a downed log with some notches carved out of it as anti-skid holds for one's feet, but they were slippery.  Just as I finished saying, "Well, this isn't so bad; now watch me fall on my butt," I slipped and nearly landed on my camera.

The view was cool, though; it was the sort of place you'd expect a re-enactment of "Das Rheingold."   It was also the sort of place that you wouldn't want to fall into.


Along the way back, I took a ton of photos of the shadows of trees, and flowers, and mushrooms, and leaves.  I only got a little behind everyone, no more than a minute or two.  Or maybe five.