The name of this park is too long, if you ask me. It doesn’t even fit on the sign properly. As if that’s not bad enough, they put Tolt River twice on this one. In case you missed it the first time, I guess. Nevertheless, it’s a lovely park that, although it’s close to home, neither of us had ever been.
It was already 50° and sunny at home by 9 o’clock, and we dressed for that. Oops! It was about 10° cooler and foggy at the park.
We saw lots of gnawed tree stumps but didn’t espy any of the toothy beavers.
Before very long, the paved trail leads to the RV (!) area of the park. Either it is closed for the season or the $35 (!) per night fee is an effective deterrent. On the far side of that area, the bridge crosses the river where the trails begin in earnest.
 |
| Oh, the suspense! |
 |
| On a mission. |
TBG suspected that if we kept going up, even though there is little elevation gain along these trails, we might rise above the low-lying clouds and find the sun.
 |
| Suspicions confirmed! |
Not long after locating the sunbeams, we met up with a nice local hiker and her pup, who recommended we take a short spur to a viewpoint. Always listen to the locals is one of our rules. She apologized for the clouds obscuring the view of the Tolt River Tolt River, as if it was her fault, but we thought it was kind of cool. Besides, the whole walk out was completely in the sun, so totally worth it for that alone.
 |
| Going our own way. |
Back at the trail junction, we gave the pup plenty of scritches and parted ways with the friendly local. Although we were once again in the trees, they couldn’t keep the sun out, and at one point, the air was so warm it stopped us dead in our tracks, while we soaked it in.
By the time we were back at the bridge, the sun had burned through the ground clouds, but while it wasn’t cold down here, it was chillier than up on top.
 |
| Oh, boy! |
We decided we still had energy to continue on the trails that lead out along the Tolt River Tolt River. We did not sight any bears. About a half-mile in, we did, however, sight too much water over the trail to continue on, so we called it a day. It is possible to do 12 miles in this park, and our boots got in about seven of them. Except for the dearth of critter-sightings, not too shabby for a mid-winter trek!