[Monroe hikers]

Playing-hookie getaway yields joy being out there -- away -- SO quiet and peaceful, east of Proctor Creek road. We met no one as we walked some fifteen miles of old logging roads through re-forestation above slash, and into dense forests not recently harvested, above the north fork of the Tolt River, clearly and often audible. Grouse "whoomps" and other bird sounds gave a sense of deep serenity as we moved, hearing little else than our own footfalls as we kept moving. We followed logging road #24000 up to #24500, stayed right and went to its end a couple hours out by around 10am. It petered out amidst overgrowing foliage that soaked our boots if not our feet, the land reclaiming its own. We passed over half a dozen strong streams with that wonderful water sound that feels like an every body cell rejuvenation. We retraced our route and rejoined the junction to a long lower road, #24600 into #24700, and finally turning around after 11:30am, lunching on stumps after noon. We couldn't remember seeing, going in, a fresh-looking plop of bearlike scat that appeared as we came out. A few others of this signing made us wish we could meet this guy in such evidence as we walked. In my favorite cooler (50-54F) low cloud weather, we saw -- fog backdropped -- many ridges and hilltops usually blended into these dense, deeply multilayered greens of this lovely springtime country.

Rising Road

Strong Stream

Strong Stream 2

Columbine