In which we explore and get bewildered and then find ourselves again

We wanted to see where the new Whitehorse Trail hooks into the 

Bracken/Armstrong tract of the Pilchuck Tree Farm.

Usual Suspects and Motley Mongrels : Santa Jim, me, Patty, and Sirie
accompanied by puppy Ferret/Carrot/Barrett, Roo, Connor, and Marco
photo by S. Neal

On New Year's Day, Jim and I explored about 2.5 miles of the Whitehorse Trail from the trailhead near our house, and during those explorations we found a place that looked really familiar....but where exactly, did that spot occur on the riding trails at Bracken?

Today, we headed out with friends and dogs to find out.

Santa Jim consulted the map we made from our walk on New Years,
overlaid it onto the topo map, and threw it onto his phone for our
day of exploration.

The intersection point is just beyond the bridge, at milepost 10.5(ish)

Patty and Connor

Head north at the road intersection.

A nice view of the river

Important Plot Point:  go right at the SPEED LIMIT sign.

Here's the map of our track, including the wrong turn we accidentally took onto private property.

red x's are private.  light blue is muddy.  dark blue is good trail.

The property owner gave us directions, and within a few minutes we were where we wanted to be!

Unnamed puddle

This trail isn't used much, but Jim and I
remembered it from years ago.

The old trail has been logged recently.  The problem with logging the woods in winter is the astonishing amount of mud created by the log trucks.

Half-frozen mud.  Passable, but not ideal.

Even with a gravel-armored roadbed, the trucks really rip up the track

On higher and drier ground, the people walked more easily and the dogs wallowed a bit less.

The trail was less messed-up here, and all the riders
recognized exactly where we were.

Santa Jim was in charge of the map track.  

And soon...

Back on the Whitehorse, headed for the trucks...and for lunch!

Pretty good, eh?