Robinson Creek Trail- Mazama Washington

As we headed up the Methow bright and early, one hiker sleeping, we voted to change hiking trails. Originally we were going to hike Eureka Creek, a trail we have hiked before but not in the fall. So just a little farther up the dirt road we pulled into the Robinson Creek Trail Head. Oops I forgot it was the last weekend of high country buck hunt. Less than a handful of rigs in the parking lot, one horse trailer. We figured we would be fine, one hiker wearing orange. Not to far up the trail, four fully loaded hunters passed by us, not knowing where the Pasayten Wilderness boundary started I wasn't to sure how far we wanted to hike. Very polite folks, probably wondering why these crazy hikers were heading towards legal hunting area. The trail is obviously used by plenty of horses, some areas are fairly narrow at trail level and the weeds and brush get a little thick about waist high and very close to the trail. The trail is horse belly level maintained here and there. 2 Fairly good washout areas from all the rain. The trail has 2 very nice heavy bridges, built for lots of weight. Nice spots to just stand and admire the creek and views. A Few interesting mountain glimpse that make you want to go farther and check out more of the trail. We will leave that for another time when we have promise of good weather. As soon as we crossed into the Pasayten Wilderness the rain started and some fog rolled in. Every now and then the clouds would break up and we would catch a glimpse of some blue sky. The fall color wasn't the best, the large amounts of rain kinda ruined some of the color and maybe just a tad early for this area. Lots of berries red and purple a few white. Beauty Creek Falls which is at the 2nd bridge was a pretty site, I can imagine in the spring it would be even more spectacular. From here I couldn't convince my hiking partners to continue farther up the trail, so we meandered our way back to the truck, ate lunch in the parking lot. By this time the rain had moved on and the temperatures were lovely. Back down the Methow for a Blue Star Coffee and home for a nap. It was a lovely short hike even in the rain, I am not a rainy day hiker but this day turned into a great day with only a few damp spots.