[seattlehikertoo]

I hadn't been up the old Mason Creek Trail since my son, Mason was born in 2007. I don't know why. Perhaps I have been lulled to sleep by the multitude of boring switchback highways being put in as replacement trails throughout the Alpine Lakes region. Nevertheless, I had forgotten how beautiful the old trail is with the creek raging along side you. I pulled into the exit 42 turnout around 1pm, where I was greeted by the usual array of shell casings. I noticed more blue this time, and some shot-up pornographic magazine pages on the short path leading to Mason Creek. Perhaps some people were playing spin-the-bottle, and someone got angry, and/or they felt there wasn't enough lead for the birds to eat. The boot path following the creek up to FR 9030 adds an extra 600 vertical feet of gain and .56 miles, and another 2 tenths to the Ira Spring trailhead. Once on the main trail, at the main creek crossing

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(approx 3/4 mile from the TH), where they are building a new bridge (for God knows what reason)

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, you go another .15 miles (9/10 miles from the Ira Spring TH, 1.65 miles from Exit 42 start), you'll see a left turn blocked by rocks and sticks at elev 2575 ft.

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It switches back westward and in 1/4 mile, comes to an obvious fork

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with the old ridge trail marked on the USGS quad. I went left and headed for the creek. The trail is in excellent shape, and becomes incredibly beautiful when it follows Mason Creek nearly all the way to Mason Lake. There are some large trees in there, and the creek is raging considering how little snow we've had this past winter. The moss and the flowers are pretty as well, including some wild orchids. The creek trail gains 1600 feet in 1.7 miles before joining the Mason Lake trail. It's only a 1/10 of a mile to the lake from there. It's another 1.7 miles to the Defiance summit from the lake outlet following the regular summer trail. There is no snow on the trail, and a few minor boggy spots where in a couple of cases, someone placed some strategic rocks to keep your feet out of the mud. For the rest of the trip, Ill let the pictures do the talking, including one my 3rd-grader decided to annotate. I did the best I could on the flower pics with the subpar iPhone 5s.

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Finding a mushroom along the old Mason Creek trail

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4250 feet of gain and 10.1 miles round trip from Exit 42 turnout (3650 feet, 8.6 miles round trip from the Ira Spring TH)

[phillyjon]

[Backpacker Joe]

I always liked that old trail. Got you going in a hurry.

[Studebaker Hoch]

[joker]

It's a great thing that there are trails and routes (and bridges ) for everyone! Nice pics of the mossy creek zone.

[Stefan-K]

lovely! I love that trail too. and Ava's sentence with "so that gets me thinking" in the middle of it. cosmic. before you know it you'll be taking them up McClellan...

[touron]

Nice!

[iron]

nice moss pics!