Beaver Lake: Reggie's First Complete Hike
Four mile hike in the books for my three year old!
We started Beaver Lake, an old road converted to hike, without my kid carrying backpack. Reggie was a bit concerned, but never looked back. Along the first stretch we noticed all of the Salmonberries blooming and some fresh Skunk Cabbage. The girls did not like the smell of the Skunk Cabbage.
At about one mile there is a washout. It was passable for us, but would have been too scary on an extremely wet day. I held Raichel and Reggies hands down and around the obstacles. Just after this there is a few hundred yard stretch riddled with cracked ground. Raichel called it the earthquake zone and I deemed it a possible future washout.
At about one and half miles is the lake. The long bridge offers a picturesque spot. We ate lunch on a blowdown across just passed the bridge and it started to rain. A couple of ladies encouraged us to go on so I dressed Reggie up in he Tuffo Buddy rain suit. Recommended by Karyn Gaffney in Episode 3 of the Cascade Hiker Podcast.
We pushed on to the trails end... another washout, which I have heard now thwarts the original trail that continued on to meet up with the Mountain Loop Highway again in a different spot. The sand is abundant, but there is a passable water section and a steep short climb down to get there.
We enjoyed our view from above and then turned around. There is a section of large cedar trees between the lake and the river here. It is another great part of this easy walk. We hiked most of the way without a hitch, only stopping for a couple short breaks.
As is our tradition when hiking out of Darrington, we stopped off at Mountain Loop Books and Coffee for some hot Cocoa! The girls love it there and I enjoy the conversation with Tony the Barista (owner).
