Union Creek Trail - The 11 Year Curse

May 28, 2017

Eleven years ago, back in 2006, we had just begun to make hiking a regular part of our life.  That  year we hiked 16 times for a total of 53.9 miles. The longest hike by far was in October when we hiked the Union Creek Trail in hopes of seeing Union Creek Falls - which we did not, due to the water being so low since it was late in the year.  We didn't do any posting of our hikes back then and we didn't even have a digital camera!  How times have changed.

Time to hike

So here we are in 2017 with almost 2,000 miles of hiking under our belts and we figured it was about time to try the Union Creek Trail again and see the falls. After all, there should be plenty of water in the creek from this winter and spring!

Vanilla Leaf was a constant companion on this hike

After arriving at the trail head located on highway 62,  we started our hike only to run into another couple heading our direction, They informed us that the bridge leading over the creek was gone and that we would have to go back to highway 62 and hike around the store and a few cabins to pick up the trail on the other side.  This in itself should have set off bells and whistles, but on such a beautiful day and with the creek full and more like a river in appearance, we continued on.

One of many trees that fell across Union Creek this winter

Union Creek looking more like a river.

As we found the trail and continued on, the first couple of miles were very nice.  The creek was beautiful and stayed within sight of the trail as we navigated around or over a few down trees with no problem.  But then the fun began. (Jaws music please)  The next couple of miles turned into an adventure as the few down trees became groupings of down trees mixed with brush.  We climbed over, got on all fours to crawl under, and in many cases made wide detours to get around the trail blockage.  Some portions of the trail were under water or completely washed away.  Oh yeah, and the mosquitoes took advantage of any stops we made while trying to figure out the trail route.  Katie of course seemed to enjoy all of this and saw no problem going under, over or around the trees and could always find her way back to the trail.  Mud and water on the trail - just walk in and through it.  And so she did.

One of the many small waterfalls along Union Creek

We eventually came to a very large side creek and had to cross by tightrope walking on a very large fallen tree that went over the creek.  When we came to a second log crossing of a side creek, Glenn found out that not all logs are sure and steady and proceeded to cool off his leg and foot in the creek as the log rolled.  At this point we were at the 3.3 mile mark on the trail even though our mileage was now up to 4 miles due to detours. We stopped and took a break beside the creek at a nice 7-foot waterfall.  No, it was not the Union Creek Falls.  That was still almost another mile up the trail.

Looking downstream at our turnaround spot on the trail.

Looking upstream at our turnaround spot on the trail.

After cooling off and catching our breath, we decided to call off our pursuit of the falls and head back, knowing that if we continued on we would be hiking close to 10 miles and that it would take another 3-4 hours to finish hiking.  So back we went through the same log crossing - under water and washed away - tree and shrub blocked detours again.  By the time we got back to the trailhead, we were very tired, hot and scratched up. We bought a couple of ice cold sodas at the store and sat down on a bench to take in the view of Union Creek once more before leaving.  After all, we probably won't hike this trail again for another 11 years.

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol