Last week’s cold snap provided an interesting opportunity to do some winter hiking.  Normally when you think winter hiking, you think “snowshoeing” but in this case, we decided to explore a low-lying frozen rainforest.

The trail along the Old Sauk River in Washington’s Mountain Loop Highway region (3.5 miles from Darrington) is a good December destination because it’s flat, and low enough to remain snow-free most of the winter.  But that doesn’t mean it isn’t cold.

The geography funnels cool air through the valley, and when we set out it was about 20 F which made the ground water do some really cool things (pun intended).

Here are a few photos from our 3 hour hike:

Ice formations spring up like mushrooms out of the damp rainforest soil

The Old Sauk RIver began to freeze, then dropped, leaving behind halo formations

Ferns and mosses were crisp and stiff with frost

Water that had soaked into wood – like these bridge planks – came squeezing out in the form of ice crystals