2020 11 04 - State Park, William O'Brien

A couple of large beaver lodges.

No work today, I didn't call them, they didn't call me.

About noon we decide to head to a park. We had time to go further but ended up at O'Brien again.

This time we park at the visitor's center and take a walk we've done before, but backwards.

We forgot about one little thing. A hill. If we had thought about it, we could have avoided it. Wow, 20 feet up and it is a workout. I guess I will only be looking up at Mt Rainier, not down from it.

90% of this trail is flat, and a lot of it is muddy today. I think this whole trail was wide enough for two 4-wheelers to meet so social distancing was not a problem.

Where the top picture was taken, there was a well used bench and a sign about the beavers so they have been working on their lodge for a while. I don't know that I have seen one before, I am used to seeing beaver dams.

We've done enough of these trails at this park to know which ones have steep hills. The one we did was 'nothing' compared to some of them.

As we are walking back to the building near our car, I notice an eagle sitting on the edge of a fire ring so I start taking pictures so I get one when it flies away. I keep taking pictures and it doesn't fly. It can't. It is a cap on a stick.

Another nice day, no clouds. 70 something degrees but the car said 80+ when we got back to it.

None of the trail today was paved and much of it will become a ski trail once the snow flies.

Afton is the only park I can think of off hand that has plowed winter trails. At other parks you have to stay off the cross country ski trails and tromp through the snow.