Читать книгу Afoot and Afield: Portland/Vancouver. A Comprehensive Hiking Guide онлайн

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After all the road walking it is a pleasure to be back on trails as you go very gradually uphill, first beside a seasonal creek and then looping to the right as you ascend a forested hillside. The alder- and fir-lined trail winds uphill all the way to a junction with Cow Ridge Road at about 4 miles. You turn right, walk along this gravel road for 0.1 mile, and then go straight on an abandoned road blocked by a berm.

This wide route goes steadily but not steeply downhill for 0.8 mile to the upper edge of a large clear-cut, where you gather the hike’s only significant views of the Northrup Creek Valley and a forested ridge to the south. Instead of crossing the clear-cut, turn right and follow a trail that skirts the edge of the logging scar down to the Northrup Creek Road. You turn left, walk along this gravel road for 0.15 mile, and then turn right onto a signed foot trail.

The path goes 150 yards through a lovely, low-elevation deciduous woodland featuring dappled sunshine and tiny wildflowers to a bridgeless crossing of Northrup Creek. By midsummer you can usually rock hop across this stream, but for most of the year getting to the other side requires a chilly ford. Just 100 yards past the ford the trail reaches the edge of a large meadow that is a favorite haunt for a small herd of elk. The trail turns sharply right here, entering the forest rather than crossing the privately owned meadow, climbs rather steeply for 0.25 mile, and then levels out shortly before coming to the end of a primitive dirt road. Turn left and follow this little-used road for 0.3 mile to a gravel pit, and then walk along a better gravel road to a junction with Foster Mainline Road.