Bike Ride to Buckley

We were both feeling good and the weather was glorious, so we strapped the bikes to the car and headed to Orting.

Ugly Orting parking lot, but beautiful view of Mt. Rainier

The Carbon River, as seen from the trail

Some parts of the trail past South Prairie were forested

A lot of the trail looked like this as we approached Buckley

Happy biker

Here we are, Buckley.  Not pretty, but darn it, we waited over thirty five years to be able to bike from Orting to Buckley.

We turned around at Buckley and started looking for a lunch spot.  This offshoot trail will someday lead to Carbonado, but today there was no good place to sit down, so we went back to the main trail.

We went back to South Prairie and stopped at the park there, with this view of South Prairie Creek

South Prairie Creek, further downstream

Another view of the Carbon River

This outing was so much fun.  The foothills trail is finally getting in to the foothills, after all these years.  

Stats: 

Round trip=25 miles

Elevation gain=466feet (per GPS)

Bike/drive ration=4hours/2hours=2