A good trail system supports hiking in 3 seasons and a few even offer 4 seasons of hiking with opportunities for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.   We have hiked Embleton Trails in all 4 seasons, although the upper sections are best tackled with snowshoes.   This winter, we will  hike the lower slopes then find a log along the way to sit and fasten our snowshoes.

We hiked Embleton Mountain  trails in mid-November.   Although the wildflowers were mostly gone, we saw the last oxeye daisies in a sheltered area.   The hardier mushrooms can still be spotted, with the orange-colored varieties at their finest at the end of the growing season.   There are some old growth Douglas firs on the western edge of the trail system.   We checked out the growth of the newly planted spruce trees in the upper logged area.   Streams still flow down the hillside and cedar groves fill the wet gullies.   The leaves have fallen off all of the aspens, but the off-white trunks stand in stark contrast to the green slopes.   There was a dusting of snow over a leaf-littered trail surface.    The rock faces and cliffs of the western rims still offer hard contrasts to the softer features of the area.   Heffley Lake, 7 km long, stretches below, quiet and inviting.    A few birds linger in the forests, especially when the sun comes out.

We hiked up the fenceline trail to the viewpoint trail, then down the Skyline Trail to the Old Mills Trail and back to our vehicle at the Upper Parking Lot (P2).   We checked on our geocaches, and stopped to look at the many features along the way – old growth trees, wildlife snags, crumbling stumps, lichen covered rocks, knolls and gullies, kinnickinick and oregon grape, mistletoe and old man’s beard, mullein and giant thistle, mill lumber piles, bridges and stiles, pinecones and fir cones, streams and springs, and the quiet whisperings of the forest.

A few trails should be visited in different seasons each year.    Embleton invites hikers all year.

(More information on the Embleton trails can be found in the May 2010 archives)

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